Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Retailers like supermarkets, department stores, restaurant chains and petrol stations are creating private networks to carry financial transactions over IP, from multiple POS systems, often favouring SD-WAN networks with 4G back-up. Depending on their size and the complexity of their requirement, they typically choose a trusted supplier, with experience rolling out and managing solutions in their sector.

Customers

They are not sure which network is best in each location, when the 4G back-up will be used and how much data they will use. Sending engineers to site to establish the strongest signal is a time consuming and expensive exercise. In addition, they regularly receive high data overage bills, which can be as much as tens of thousands of pounds a month.

MSPs

Managed Network Providers are experienced at designing, rolling out and managing solutions however many have struggled with managing multiple in-country 4G suppliers, with multiple manual ordering processes and a lack of visibility across the SIM estate. They have no direct control over SIM assets and cannot aggregate data across countries.

Demand for digital signage is increasing in the run up to Christmas, with many supermarkets investing in digital advertising solutions in their stores. Digital advertising boards require 24/7, reliable connectivity that can be rapidly deployed. Typically the advertising screens belong to a third party who are unable to use a fixed broadband connection. MSPs are looking for mobile broadband solutions they can control and manage across multiple sites.

Jola’s Solution

Jola offers a unique solution for MSPs which includes intelligent routers with a wide range of data connectivity options. Jola’s portal, Mobile Manager, gives MSPs the ability to order and manage mobile SIMs and eSIMs globally.

Jola is a global IoT MVNO, providing the UK’s first multi-network eSIM to the channel, offering the best possible service in any location. Our eSIMs offer value for money and have a UK IP address.

Jola’s Intelligent 4G Routers are designed for mobile broadband and large scale IoT rollouts. Devices are pre-configured with the Jola App, allowing auto-configuration. As a result, there is no need for manual configuration on site. Routers can be delivered to store, ready to install, saving valuable time and set-up costs.

To bolster security, Jola can add additional safety measures, to prevent a third parties accessing the routers. Firewalls can be implemented to restrict WiFi connected devices from reaching router management interfaces, whilst leaving the router able to reach the internet. Secondary Ethernet interfaces can be enabled for router management, so the only way to access the router GUI can be via a connected LAN cable. We can also hide the SSIDs to ensure routers are not receiving constant connection requests by third parties over WiFi.

Jola has partners deploying pre-configured, intelligent 4G connectivity for digital signage in stores all over the UK and Europe, negating the need for site surveys and manual configuration.

12 months ago UK, 30-day ex-VAT wholesale 4G data was c30p/GB. Today it’s c3p/GB. Average tariff-based prices.

If you’re a connectivity reseller you probably just stopped reading this. Either because you already know about 4G and are slightly miffed the cat’s out of the bag, or you’re researching 4G suppliers.

The pandemic has had the same effect on mobile data usage as it’s had on Microsoft Teams. When organisations send all their employees home, and Openreach can't deploy engineers to install or fix broadband, what are the alternatives?

Jola Partners pivoting into 4G, uncovered opportunities in their customer bases, far beyond homeworkers. 200,000+ SIMs for education, NHS, digital signage, buses, taxis, car parks – the list goes on.

Where the 4G SIM is in a fixed location, adding an external antenna can boost the speed 10x, and at over 100Mb/s 4G is suddenly a viable backup for Ethernet. 

When 5G is available on the tower, resellers have a profitable upgrade path to offer customers.

Average latency on 5G is typically 1ms vs 4G at 40ms and ADSL at 15ms. So there are reasons beyond speed, to upgrade.

IoT/M2M is the hottest growth sector in ICT. c7bn devices will be 20bn-30bn globally by 2030.

How can the Channel ride the IoT wave, without committing to a high risk ‘build it and they will come’ strategy?

Common to every IoT project is M2M – connectivity. This is the biggest opportunity, but presently the domain of MNOs offering single network SIMs and a BYOD solution.

Intelligent Connectivity breaks this dominance.

In an IoT project the endpoints need sensors, managed by a gateway, attached to a 4G/5G router. Significant processing power is also required to collect data and allow remote management. Every deployment is different so there must be the capability to write custom apps onto these devices.

eSIM releases the MNOs stranglehold on the M2M market. Analysts predict there will be more than 2bn eSIMs deployed in IoT projects within 5 years.

Since Jola launched their combined IoT Router/PC/Gateway in March 2020 we have had thousands of orders. MSPs are shipping our devices worldwide, pre-loaded with a 450-network eSIM that downloads a config as soon as it’s plugged in.

We recently rolled out 600 units in weeks for a faultless digital signage project.

Given the quick spread of COVID-19 and restrictions on movement, our daily lives have required more time at home and more usage of data for work and leisure. Some of our customers working in sectors unable to trade during lockdown have been adversely affected.

Resellers in our sector have experienced a slow-down in orders for core products, such as broadband and Ethernet, whilst others have seen an increase in 4G solutions for homeworkers, keyworkers and students.

An easy product for resellers to add to their portfolio to meet current demand for reliable internet connectivity, is 4G. Typical packages include a robust 4G router, with an external antenna and an unlimited data SIM. Most people don’t appreciate how fast 4G is. 4G is on average three times faster than 3G and by adding an antenna, speeds can be increased ten-fold.

Some companies are also offering site surveys to recommend the best network signal strength and an installation service.

A good way to market these packages is to add them to your website and allow your customers to order them directly. You may wish to drive traffic to this web page by investing in online adverts and Google AdWords. In addition, you may wish to communicate the package to existing customers via email and telephone campaigns.

The best way to track the success of the campaign is to monitor traffic to your web page, investment in marketing, emails sent, calls made, responses received, and orders placed.

Margin in Mobile Online is a channel event organised by BPL Business Media Ltd, the team behind Comms Dealer, Comms Vision and the Comms National Awards. It is taking place on 16^th and 17^th September 2020. The event is designed to promote the current opportunity for the channel to get into mobile. It will highlight how easy it is to add mobile to your proposition, differentiate your offering and generate profitable recurring, revenue streams with minimal effort.

There has never been a better time for the channel to be adding mobile solutions to their proposition. During lockdown Jola has recruited 113 new partners selling mobile.

Our SIMs are used in buses, coaches, trains, taxis, homes and offices in 4G routers and IP CCTV cameras. They are used in tracking devices for goods in transit both in the UK and abroad, by road and by sea. They are being used in schools, universities, halls of residence and student accommodations. You can find them on building sites and in new smart homes. We have SIMs in digital signage in well-known supermarkets and on motorways. Our SIMs are used in cranes and lifts as part of safety devices for lone workers at height. They are also found in wind and solar farms around the country. Internationally, our SIMs are used in back-up devices for petrol stations and shops.

In the public sector we have won bids with local authorities for our SIMs to be used in body cameras, push-to-talk radios, personal alarms, monitoring systems, gates, tablets and phones. We believe every reseller has a live opportunity for mobile data within their customer base today and we can set-up and onboard new partners within 5 days.

In our speaking slot on 17^th September at 10.30hrs we will introduce our portfolio, which includes unlimited data SIMs and multi-network eSIMs. Our eSIMs are not what you might think. They are not the consumer eSIMs you find in Apple Watches. They are plastic, triple-cut, industrial M2M, eSIM cards or embedded industrial eSIMs. They are cost-effective, multi-network roaming data SIM cards. You may not think there is money to be made in IoT, but in every vertical market, there is an IoT opportunity that needs a SIM card, from vending machines to monitoring devices. IoT SIM card deals tend to be much larger and much stickier and you can win them against the mobile carriers with a differentiated, cost-effective, multi-network, roaming product, that won’t need replacing any time soon. We have partners who are winning deals against the MNOs in retail, the public sector, construction, security and transport and logistics.

COVID-19 caused businesses to adapt quickly to remote working, to ensure business continuity during the pandemic. It highlighted a critical need for digital technologies and innovative solutions in healthcare, to cope with increased demand and enforced restrictions.

The healthcare sector is in desperate need of technology to avoid unnecessary visits to surgeries and hospitals and to protect frontline workers. Opportunities for mobile broadband, cloud-based telehealth software and mobile data, flooded the market, as demand for real-time communication and remote monitoring increased.

Patient experience has changed dramatically during the pandemic, with patients encouraged to wait for doctor call backs or arrange a video call. Phone systems are being upgraded, telehealth software is being rolled out and smart devices given to mobile healthcare workers. Some stadiums, hotels and exhibition centres have been turned into pop-up hospitals and the channel was called upon to set up communications and monitoring equipment.

Jola partners have been providing fast, reliable mobile broadband connections, telephony solutions and M2M/IoT data SIMs for monitoring devices and CCTV cameras, managed in Mobile Manager.

ISPs have been looking for an efficient and inexpensive, 4G back-up product, and a solution for remote endpoints on SDWAN and MPLS networks. Until now there has only been device-based layer 3 or VPN products to choose from.

What’s Jola’s Solution?

Jola is the first MVNO to offer a true ‘layer 2’ 4G product designed specifically for ISPs. Every ISP with L2TP infrastructure for fixed line broadband and Ethernet should be able to consume Jola’s Mobile L2TP service, with no modification to their edge network.

What is Jola’s Mobile L2TP?

Jola’s Mobile L2TP gives ISPs full control over routing and IP addressing, facilitating the creation of fixed-line failover, pre-ethernet and stand-alone internet access services. Mobile L2TP provides access to all four UK mobile networks and 450 networks globally.

What problems does it solve?

ISPs can now interconnect at layer 2 directly into the Jola eSIM MVNO platform in London (or any other AWS connected location in the world) – with the option of failover to a secondary location for the delivery of resilient services. The solution is inexpensive, reliable and straightforward to set-up. With un-steered multi-network eSIMs, ISPs are not tied to any particular network and no longer need to do a site survey to determine the best signal – globally.

Most resellers focus on acquiring new business and many don’t address churn until it is too late.  If you want to grow your business effectively, managing your churn pro-actively, from the outset, is essential.

You can’t grow your business if for every new customer won, two existing customers are lost, yet by reducing churn, your bottom line can be improved.

Acquiring new customers is much more expensive than retaining the ones you have.  Also, the probability of a successful sale with an existing customer is much higher than that of a new prospect.

Strategies for managing churn

Start by setting realistic objectives and KPIs. Make sure they are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

Gather information

By analysing churn figures, you may start to understand why your customers are leaving and put a plan in place to turn things around.

If your customers are on short-term contracts in a price-sensitive, commodity market, like mobile broadband, they can give 30-days’ notice and move to a cheaper provider very easily. Customers will move to get more data at a reduced monthly cost.

Red Flags

You may already be aware of issues within the company. Sales may have raised issues relating to competitor offerings, and billing managers may have reported complaints, resulting in withheld payments. If you know where the problems are, you can start to put processes in place to address them.

Depending on the issues raised, you may want to compare your offerings and look for differentiated services. Consider reviewing your ‘buy prices’, on-boarding processes and customer support.

By being proactive and being in constant contact with customers experiencing pain points, you may be able to resolve issues and help to reduce churn.

Prioritisation

Where do I start? Start with your biggest customers by spend. Focus on customers you want to save and who can be saved. 

Resellers have been supporting care homes by providing smart devices used by both residents and care workers to raise alarms and track the health of the residents. They have also been installing CCTV cameras to increase security and video telephony solutions to facilitate contact with family members.

The challenge care homes face with 4G data is the lack of visibility and control. They manage an estate of 4G devices and SIM contracts, but cannot monitor and track usage, which results in monthly data overage charges.

Specialists are partnering with Jola to provide solutions which include Jola data-only SIM cards, which can be aggregated and monitored within Mobile Manager. This means that usage can be spread across the estate with heavy-use devices taking the un-used data allowances of lower-use devices.