Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Demand for mobile data is growing which presents a fantastic opportunity for the channel to increase ARPU and the overall value of their businesses. The challenge many partners face is finding the opportunities and winning them. Selling solutions their customers cannot buy from anyone else, uniquely solving a problem, simplifying rollouts and saving them money.

Jola launched the MRG™ – Mobile Data Revenue Generator - to help partners do that. ‘Rev Up’ is their new partner incentive scheme rewarding their fastest-growing partners using the MRG™ with VIP hospitality packages to the British Grand Prix.

“We launched the MRG™ as a tried and tested process to find and win mobile data opportunities. Partners in the programme have transformed their businesses and become specialists in providing secure, reliable mobile data solutions to digital signage in supermarkets, trackers in cranes and CCTV cameras in car parks. Rev Up is an opportunity for more of our partners to get involved in the MRG™ and a chance for us to reward and share their success.” Cherie Howlett, CMO.

3G

3G will be switched off, by UK mobile operators.  This will leave many end-users in the lurch with devices that only support 2G and 3G such as vehicle trackers, payment terminals and industrial handheld devices.  This will be a great opportunity for the channel to provide new devices and SIMs supporting 4G and 5G. 

5G

Most of the population will be able to obtain 5G which will drive adoption in higher bandwidth applications.  For SME businesses, FTTP will likely provide the best performance and value for money.  Where FTTP isn’t available then 5G will make SoGEA-based broadband look pedestrian in comparison.  5G hardware will continue to come down in price whilst improving performance.

PSTN Switch-off

The PSTN switch-off will continue to be an opportunity.  Most large operators and many resellers will underestimate how many end-user businesses have PSTN lines in locations where there is no need for high-speed broadband.  PSTN replacement solutions using 4G are easy to sell at a lower cost and higher margin than the PSTN lines they are replacing.

Cybersecurity 

The growing threat landscape is driving more and more companies to put cybersecurity at the heart of their IT and telecommunications strategy.  Providing secure services is now a hygiene factor and demonstrating compliance with the various information security standards will be essential.

AI

AI has evolved from a niche, experimental technology into a critical tool businesses rely on to drive innovation and efficiency.  This is driving the need for more bandwidth in a variety of applications.  For example, we’ve supplied SIMs into vehicle applications where video is being streamed back into the cloud to be analysed by AI to monitor driving standards, support insurance claims and even provide almost real-time collision avoidance on construction sites.

Satellite connectivity

Competition in the LEO satellite space will drive down prices and satellite may be in the mix with fibre and 5G for delivering small office and branch internet connectivity.

M2M/IoT

If you have customers in retail they may be struggling with their connectivity for smart kiosks, digital signage and CCTV. In the NHS contracts are being won for connected smart devices in ambulances, hospitals, police stations, fire stations and even on boats for the Coast Guard. In transport and logistics mobile broadband solutions and tracking devices are a priority. Each reseller in the channel has a huge mobile data opportunity waiting to be won and Jola can help you uncover and win it.

Demand for mobile data is high

With the sunsetting of 3G, the PSTN Switch off and the rollout of 5G, demand for mobile data solutions has never been higher. Resellers and MSPs are in the perfect position to take advantage of this. They are looking for reliable suppliers who can help them grow high-margin, recurring mobile data revenues increasing the overall value of their company.

Specialist wholesalers offering support

Wholesale suppliers are helping channel partners to win deals, usually competing with the direct sales arms of the mobile networks. They are aggregators with access to all the networks and often an independent MVNO in their own right. These suppliers provide automated portals with real-time APIs offering zero-touch provisioning and management through a single self-service portal.

The most successful of these will be highly innovative, with a constant stream of relevant mobile data and IoT products that the networks would otherwise take years to develop and launch. When you partner with the right channel supplier, mobile data is easy to sell, support and bill.

Excellent win rates

The prospect for the channel is significant. ICT resellers already enjoy strong relationships with businesses and the public sector having sold them a range of IT and telecoms infrastructure. Within this customer base, opportunities for mobile data solutions exist in asset tracking, digital signage, mobile WiFi, monitoring and utilities, which Jola partners are winning.

Profitable opportunities

Mobile data is an easy product to sell and provision and needs very little support. Jola signed just over 200 new partners in 2024 and now has nearly 1500. One of our partners recently won a huge deal for thousands of RoamNet data SIMs for use in phones and tablets. Using our unique QR technology eliminated the need for physical SIM cards, making the rollout quick and easy. QR codes are also a significant step towards minimising e-waste and removing several operational headaches. SIMs roam over hundreds of mobile networks and are managed via a single platform – Mobile Manager.

Jola SIMs also operate ANPR cameras, CCTV cameras, vending machines, digital signs and tracking devices around the world.

No additional resources required

Our partners don’t have to add any more people in billing or accounts departments to support these deals. SIMs provision immediately on Mobile Manager, so you don’t have to wait to start generating recurring margins. As soon as customers put that SIM into their device, you’re billing for it.

Target existing customers

Our advice to resellers looking to get into mobile data is to speak to existing customers, understand their requirements, and partner with an aggregator who provides differentiated solutions that will help you win against the vanilla products offered by the Mobile Networks. Find out about their current projects and challenges. Once you have established your customers’ requirements, we can help you position your mobile data solution for maximum margin and customer satisfaction. 

When you come to sell all or part of your business, mobile data profits are valued at up to three times those of traditional IT and telecoms products.

Find out more

Contact Jola and ask us about our MRG programme and Rev Up incentive programme rewarding fast-growing partners winning lucrative mobile data solutions in retail, security and the public sector.

Challenges

The biggest challenge sellers in the channel face is competition. Suppliers need to know their USPs and how to educate the market on opportunities. It’s about communicating how you help your partners solve problems and win opportunities the competition can’t.

Understanding the customer

The B2B buying process has undergone significant change in recent years. Surveys have shown that when SMEs are buying ICT they 1. Research the web 2. Approach existing suppliers 3. Ask peers for recommendations. Unsolicited approaches by phone, email or IM are disliked and may hamper your chances, especially when used in isolation. Your salespeople are your most expensive resource. Profile your customers to understand their challenges and make sure they know you are the go-to partner who can help.

Winning deals

At Jola, we help partners identify customers with requirements for mobile data. We help uncover challenges and pitch unique solutions that cannot be matched.

The biggest waste of your time is the deal you don’t win, so we help partners qualify and pitch opportunities they can, using the six-step Mobile-data Revenue generator process.

The best test of a new supplier is conversion rate. A channel-only vendor with a growing partner base and financials is a good sign because it means their partners are closing large contracts. Most vendors say they have a channel programme but there is little substance behind the fluff. Ask for evidence and references. Pull their accounts!

Make sure your vendor has products that can be easily productised and billed. They should be provisioned, managed and supported through a mature, well-established, API-enabled, real-time, self-service portal. Ask for evidence that the products are reliable and easy to support. Make sure you don’t lose control of the process and the relationship with your end users. Your salespeople will be reluctant to sell anything that might damage the rapport they have with their customers and/or put core product lines at risk.

Key opportunities

PSTN-Switch-off – There are mobile data opportunities for lift lines in shopping centres, hotel chains and car parks.

3G Switch off – There are SIMs out there about to stop working, which need replacing.

M2M/IoT – If you have customers in retail they may be struggling with their connectivity for smart kiosks, digital signage and CCTV. In the NHS contracts are being won for connected smart devices in ambulances, hospitals, police stations, fire stations and even on boats for the Coast Guard. In transport and logistics mobile broadband solutions and tracking devices are a priority. Each reseller in the channel has a huge mobile data opportunity waiting to be won and Jola can help you uncover and win it.

Mobile data solutions are a huge growth area for the channel because they can replace traditional fixed lines as well as provide reliable connectivity for a plethora of new M2M applications, of which digital signage, ANPR/CCTV cameras and tracking are just a few examples. Book to bill is days rather than months and recurring margins are reasonable. Most MSPs and resellers partner with a single wholesaler, rather than try and deal with the MNOs directly. Specialist aggregators have developed differentiated channel products that end users cannot buy from the MNOs directly and are better priced. The best suppliers will have a suite of intuitive software tools and a portal to make the management of multiple suppliers easier, and less risky with maximum control and margin realisation. Recent innovations in global multinet SIMs and QR codes offer the channel alternatives that their customers need and which will save them money.

Criteria

Choosing the right supplier will tick all the boxes for resellers and MSPs to move quickly into selling mobile data products. Wholesale suppliers will need to give channel partners the tools to uncover and win deals, usually competing with the direct sales arms of the mobile networks. They must be an aggregator with access to all the networks and ideally, they will also be an independent MVNO. Most importantly everything must be automated, with real-time APIs offering zero-touch provisioning and management through a single self-service portal. 

The most successful of these will be highly innovative, with a constant stream of relevant mobile data and IoT products that the networks would otherwise take years to develop and launch. When you partner with the right channel supplier, mobile data is easy to sell, support and bill.

Collaboration

The prospect for the channel is significant. ICT resellers already enjoy strong relationships with businesses and the public sector having sold them a range of IT and telecoms infrastructure. We help partners uncover opportunities and win them with solutions end users just cannot buy from anyone else. Jola has a six-step proven process to help businesses go from a standing start to building a very profitable recurring revenue stream from mobile data. 

Why sell mobile data? 

Your customers are currently working on mobile data projects, and demand is predicted to increase dramatically over the next few years. If you get it right with M2M and IoT, you will quickly generate high-margin recurring revenue and due to higher EBITDA multiples, you will increase the value of your company.

According to McKinsey, revenues from mobile data are set to increase dramatically over the next five years. Factors driving growth are the availability, speed, and reliability of 4G, 5G, and IoT. Statista says the number of IoT devices worldwide is forecast to grow to more than 25.4 billion by 2030. Fortune Business Insights predicts this market will be worth £1085 billion by 2027.

People think IoT is very low revenue and you’ve got to win hundreds of thousands. You don’t. You can often get a decent ARPU of £10 to £15 on thousands of devices and sometimes margins over 40%, so it’s a really attractive line of business to pivot into.

Your mobile data partner will need to give you the tools to win deals, usually competing with the direct sales arms of the mobile networks. Your supplier will need to be an aggregator with access to all the networks and ideally, they will also be an independent MVNO. Most importantly everything must be automated, with real-time APIs offering zero-touch provisioning and management through a single self-service portal.

They will need to be innovative, with a constant stream of relevant mobile data and IoT products
that the networks would take years to develop and launch. When you partner with the right channel supplier, mobile data is easy to sell, support and bill.

The opportunity for the channel is significant. ICT resellers already have strong relationships with business customers for IT infrastructure, asset tracking, digital signage, mobile WiFi, monitoring and utilities.

Mobile data is an easy product to sell and provision and needs very little support. Jola took on just over 150 new partners in 2023 and now has over 1400. We give partners revolutionary solutions they can’t buy from any other supplier such as global roaming SIMs which roam over 4 networks in the UK and hundreds globally for voice, data and SMS activating thousands of SIMs from a single QR code and secure pre-configured plug-and-play solutions for digital signage. We give partners more choice with mobile data solutions for every customer in any market globally.

Jola took home two awards at the Comms National Awards last Thursday night at the Park Plaza Hotel in London. We won Best Partner Programme over £10m turnover and Best Partner Portal for Mobile Manager. We also won Highly Commended for Diversity Equality & Inclusion.

The judges shortlisted over 200 entries, a record number, from 101 suppliers and resellers including other well-known channel businesses such as BT Wholesale, Talk Talk Wholesale, Giacom and Gamma.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola's CEO, commented, “We are thrilled to win these awards and proud to sponsor the Mobile IoT Reseller categories. This is an incredible achievement, and I want to extend my thanks to our suppliers, partners, and amazing team for their continued support and dedication. It was a fantastic evening.”

The Park Plaza was packed with Jola partners and prospects on 25^th September 2024. Over eighty channel partners and prospects gathered to hear about Jola’s innovations and how these are creating high-recurring margin opportunities for resellers and MSPs. With legacy mobile and PSTN networks being decommissioned, there is no better time for the channel to sell mobile data.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola’s CEO welcomed partners and explained how Jola has built on carrier technology to create a secure network and unique solutions, that are easily packaged, sold and managed on Jola’s award-winning white-label portals. Jola’s CSO, Lee Broxson highlighted increasing customer demand across key verticals for innovative mobile data solutions, from digital signage to tracking devices. Ben Merrills, Jola’s CTO spoke about how products are designed, developed and tailored to meet the exact needs of end users whilst delivering high recurring margins for resellers. He teased products launching soon such as managed Teltonika routers, 5G eSIMs delivered via QR codes and satellite connectivity solutions. Magnus Wright, Jola’s Head of Sales explained key case studies in each vertical market and how Jola helps partners find and win these deals to help grow their businesses. Guests were invited to enjoy a networking lunch with the Jola sales team to start the discovery process and uncover deals partners are most likely to win.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola CEO, commented, “This was our largest partner event to date, reflecting the current surge of interest from the channel on mobile data. Established Jola partners have increased the value of their businesses and added millions in recurring margins over the last few years. The market is still growing and every MSP and reseller should have a mobile data proposition. We had great feedback on all of our speakers.”

In many workplaces, the option didn’t exist to regularly work remotely and as a result, companies didn’t necessarily provide the UC and collaboration tools required.  COVID changed all that and remote working became mandatory for most of us.  At first, we used the tools for multi-person video calls, but quickly started sharing screens and in many cases moved to mass participation web conferences.

Shift to all IP

We predict that the country will be split into businesses with type A and type B resellers. Type A resellers will already be talking to their customers about the PSTN switch-off and guiding them towards appropriate solutions in plenty of time, potentially saving their customers money whilst making more margin. Type B resellers will be too busy to worry about 2027, so they won’t proactively do anything about the PSTN switch-off.  As a result, they might lose some of their customers to the proactive Type A resellers. Alternatively, they will be having a very stressful time in 2027 when suddenly their customers are being bombarded by warnings coming from every direction about their services being disconnected and then rushing to prevent that from happening.

What partners want

Partners want easy solutions to brand, sell, support and bill. They want happy customers, placing all their available business with them. They want healthy recurring revenues to help increase the value of their businesses.

In the annual partner satisfaction survey, Jola scored a Net Promoter Score of 55, categorising the company as ‘great’, with 44% of Jola partners giving them 10/10 and 95% scoring them 7 or higher. In the comments, Jola partners praised Jola’s products, pricing, portals, people and service.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola’s CEO, commented, ‘I am happy with our NPS score and the feedback we received from partners. We have over 1400 resellers choosing Jola as their preferred mobile connectivity supplier. Our relentless product development continues with a list of unique products you can’t buy from anyone else designed to help partners differentiate and win bigger deals. We continue to grow and invest in people, products, platforms and processes. We have a fantastic team dedicated to supporting our growing partner base and it was great to see so many of them named in the survey.”