Mobile operator Bite Latvia has announced that its business subscriber base grew by 15 percent year-on-year, and that the number of SIMs used by corporate customers increased by 21 percent. The operator attributed the increase, at least in part, to the introduction of the integrated ICT platform One IT, in cooperation with the Latvian technology company Latnet. During this past year, Latnet was consolidated with Bite Latvia.

The most popular services under One IT are mobile and fixed telephony, smart call management and server administration, as well as round-the-clock support for PC networks, IT services, and technical support.

Tarifica’s Take

We have written on a number of occasions about the value to mobile operators of developing innovative, value-added solutions by partnering with technology developers. In their search for new revenue streams, MNOs have found that offering own-branded ICT systems to business clients is an excellent revenue source, as well as a way to enhance their brands and boost customer acquisition and retention.

In this instance from Latvia, the introduction of One IT, an ICT platform whereby a broad array of services vital to enterprises and SMBs alike are offered on an integrated basis, has resulted in a measurable and substantial increase in subscriber base. The even larger increase in the number of  corporate SIMs should translate directly into increased revenue from use of these services. In short, this case is strong quantitative evidence that this sort of offering is well worth the investment involved. In fact, One IT has been such a good investment that the operator chose to acquire the technology developer it initially partnered with the develop the offering. Mobile operators looking for new opportunities with business customers may wish to consider emulating this example.