Page 9 - Telecom Reseller AugSep 2014

August/September 2014
Telecom Reseller 9
Hear That Ringing? That’s

Millenials Calling for Providers

RADER
part of the worker base in the U.S.
Many folks believe that this new, younger
by Bryan J. Rader, CEO, customer, only seeks wireless service. They
Bandwidth Consulting LLC
work on their iPhone, look at power points
Aon their tablet, and troll the internet with a
wireless data card. No need for a digital voice
s more and more millenials line, right? Wrong! This audience - a large
(20-somethings and 30-somethings)
are moving into the workforce, they
percentage of whom work from home - are a huge opportunity for the telecom reseller who
are re-shaping how telecom companies selling offers voice over IP services. Even though they
products to small business. Many of these may not be a “traditional” consumer, they can be
younger customers did not grow up on AT&T, a very solid base for business growth.
never heard of WorldCom, and probably thought While the digital VOIP business continues
the Baby Bells were an awful choir band their to add customers in the single family market
parents listened to on the radio. Yet, they are (just look at the recent results of public cable
beginning to influence the decisions made by companies such as Comcast and Charter),
small companies, and are becoming an integral
there are many observers who believe that
the traditional phone business is dead among
younger, millenials, who often don’t live in single
family homes. Their argument is that young
people only use wireless, and wouldn’t consider a
digital phone service.
But this is not true. The multi-family market
(also known as MDUs) represents roughly one-
third of the U.S. housing stock, and includes
apartments from upscale to low-income housing, I I
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military housing. It is a sub-market that skews younger, more mobile, lower income levels,
and has a higher percentage of international
customers.
And yes, this consumer is very much interested
in digital phone, if offered in the right way.
In the past, big Cable companies would
include phone as part of the triple-play bundle,
and require consumers to take it just to get the
best pricing on services they really wanted. This
marketing approach worked very well for the past
decade, as Cable companies built their phone
business by taking share from the Telcos. But
now that the market has matured, service
providers are looking for new angles to continue
selling digital phone to the right targeted
consumer.
Without the bundle requirements, many
service providers targeting the MDU market are
doing very well offering phone service. Their emphasis has been on price ($20 to $25 a month
depending on the feature set), and low barrier
to entry (no term commitments or triple-play
sign up requirements). And successful service
providers have targeted customers who still want
a home phone.
Who are they? According to the Independent
Multi-Family Communications Council (IMCC),
a national trade organization of independent
service providers to the MDU market, they are
apartment residents who work from home, who
have poor cell phone service in their community,
who might not quality for an expensive wireless
plan, or who make a lot of international
calls. Some providers are seeing penetration
rates in the 50% range. Others are selling phone
service on a bulk basis (meaning every single unit
in the community gets the phone service paid for
by the Owner).
This market is ripe for new entrants (or
vendors selling new features). The opportunities
are endless, and are often overlooked by large
Cable and Telco providers. Or, in many cases,
the bigger providers miss the mark by trotting
out single-family marketing plans for the MDU
world. Thiswillneverwork. Itrequiresan PREMIER PRODUCT
The ANPI Premier Partner Program delivers something few other
understanding of the MDU environment, and serviceproviderscan–premiereverything.Ourfull-featuredHosted
how to identify the opportunities to capture PREMIER COMPENSATION
UC solution includes an easy-to-use widget-based Customer
target customers.
Administration Portal, plus an Agent Portal for quoting and ordering.
This could be a great new market for PREMIER NETWORK
companies in the telecom reseller space looking We also have 18 years of experience, a private nationwide IP
for ways to capture millenials. One place to PREMIER SUPPORT
network, a generous compensation plan and best-in-class support.
begin your research might be through the Join our Premier Partner Program today. Call (877) 936-3003 or
IMCC organization (www.imcc-online.org). I PREMIER COMPANY
visit anpi.com/partners.
think I hear the sound of “opportunity ringing”
already! TR

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