Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Your customers are working on mobile data projects right now. If you get this right, you will quickly generate high margin recurring revenue and, due to higher EBITDA multiples for mobile data, increase the value of your company. Your mobile data partner will need to give you the tools to win these 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. Ideally they will also be an independent MVNO, providing access to all the UK mobile networks and hundreds of operators globally. 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. Mobile data is easy to sell, support and bill, when you partner with the right channel supplier.

Real-time Management Portal

When we first started working on major mobile data bids with our partners, none of the tenders even mentioned self-service portals. Today nearly 30% include parent-child online management panels as a minimum requirement. 

It’s no surprise that we see this change primarily in second generation projects. End user companies that have rolled out multi-site IoT/M2M deployments have found them impossible to manage manually. From capacity management to usage and fault diagnosis, everything is so much easier with real-time control. 

When these projects come up for renewal the need for a comprehensive portal moves from Desired to Essential. With specialist third party bid consultants involved in helping companies write tenders, this is only going to increase.

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 Internet of Things (IoT). Fortune Business Insights predict this market will be worth £1085 billion by 2027.

The opportunity for the channel is significant. We may not find ourselves supplying car manufacturers with SIMs for self-driving cars, but 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 under 200 new partners in 2021 and now has over 1000. COVID-related projects fuelled early demand but these temporary revenue streams were quickly dwarfed as our partners’ customers started to look at mobile data projects they had on the back burner. We recently put 30,000 multinetwork SIMs into iPads for one of our partners’ public sector projects.

In the channel we are seeing an exponential rise in demand for mobile data SIMs and not only for use in 5G/4G routers, pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up. Mobile data SIMs are being fitted into signage, gaming machines, vending machines, monitoring devices, sensors and ATMs as standard. SIMs are being used in wind and solar farms, measuring and tracking key variables.  They are also used in smart TV cameras, which roam internationally. Everyday manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for mobile data and, as we accelerate towards 5G, this is unlikely to slow down.

1. With 4G+ download speeds around 300Mb/s available to 90%+ of the population, mobile data is now a credible alternative to fixed line, as well as a great 100% SLA, backup story. It is also the only practical solution to replace millions of PSTN lines in the next few years. Only around 20% of resellers sell mobile data but by 2025 every reseller in the UK will have to have it in their portfolio. As is always the case with disruptive technological change, early movers win more market share and ringfence their customers from competitors.
   
2. Every reseller/MSP has at least one significant IoT/M2M opportunity in their existing base of customers, and mobile data aggregators like Jola are helping to find and win them. Resellers need experienced hands-on support with key customers, so the only practical option is channel-only suppliers, with a proven track record and robust processes.
   
3. The financial markets value mobile data EBITDA at least twice the multiple of fibre and broadband. With self-service, fully automated portals like Mobile Manager, it is easy to sell, manage and bill.

4. Mobile data is more than just IoT. Vendors offering too few options and no control will fail to connect with the thousands of resellers trying to develop differentiated and converged solutions for their customers.
   

 Jola

Jola is a mobile data aggregator and MVNO, which means that we offer services from all major UK networks and hundreds of networks globally. We have been selling mobile data to the channel since 2014, and we understand our partners’ pain points and the needs of their end-users in each vertical market. Over time, we have developed a unique portal that gives you the control and visibility you need to manage global SIM estates – control you can even extend to your customers. We have also developed unique hardware solutions that save our partners time, helping them create a great customer experience, maximise their margins and minimise costs for their customers.

Choose an aggregator

Jola is a multi-award-winning MVNO and mobile data aggregator, which means we offer services from all the major UK networks and hundreds of networks globally. We sell a wide range of options, including Fixed IP and Private APN, and we are a well-established, channel-only company. On average, we launch two new products and product extensions every month, so you will always have a differentiated offering to resist being commoditised. We have our own IP addresses and number ranges, and our superfast HA network runs over Cloudflare, the world’s #1 DDOS protection company.

Choose an automated management portal

We give you complete control over your global SIM estate with Mobile Manager, which has been developed over eight years into an award-winning, market leading portal. Should you wish, your customers can also have access to our white-label portal so they can see directly how much data they are using in each device and make decisions accordingly. We help you uncover opportunities and win them, with solutions end users just cannot buy from anyone else. Our objective is to help you reduce churn, increase ARPU and improve the overall value of your business.

Make sure you can bill and support solutions easily

We work with partners to help them overcome the traditional pitfalls in billing and support to ensure your customers remain happy with the solution they have bought from you and continue to buy from you.

Many roaming SIMs in the UK come from foreign mobile networks and have profiles that allow roaming in the UK and the rest of Europe.  However, through the UK channel, most M2M and IoT applications, using un-steered roaming SIMs, actually never leave the UK. These customers are paying for European roaming they never use and because they often come with a European IP address they may be suitable for some applications but not usually anything that requires web browsing.

In response to this, Jola has created a competitively priced, UK IP addressed, un-steered roaming SIM that provides access to all the UK mobile networks the customer needs with none of the networks the customer doesn’t. Private APN options are also available for customers who need to build a secure private network using mobile connectivity.

Adrian Sunderland, CTO, commented, ‘Jola has built a fully redundant, highly scalable IP edge network specifically designed to deliver high performance and secure mobile data services.  The network is built on technology from Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare and Cisco and underpins our Fixed IP and Private APN services.

Our Private APN enables partners to establish secure, private 4G networks, with no set-up charge, and low monthly fees. All of these services are delivered via Jola’s award-winning, self-service management portal, Mobile Manager.

We have a trusted six step process to help partners uncover and win opportunities and we believe we are best-placed to help the channel grow lucrative revenue streams by offering the widest range of differentiated mobile data solutions in a market-leading, automated management portal.’

According to Ofcom 8500 organisations in the UK have a RID code but, despite it being the fastest growing product in the world, only around 1000 of these sell mobile data. Why is this?

Resellers feel it is dominated by the mobile networks direct.

Well, yes it is, or at least until recently it was. However, early movers in this market are now hoovering up huge deals by working with aggregators offering products (like Multinet and eSIM) that the networks cannot deliver but their customers demand.

Managing thousands of SIM assets is difficult and resellers have been burned by high overages in the mobile voice and data market.

Agreed but aggregators that offer a real-time comprehensive portal remove the headaches associated with ordering, provisioning and managing SIMs and have eradicated unexpected data overages completely.

It’s hard to sell and too niche.

Resellers often conflate mobile data and IoT. IoT is a subset of mobile data and requires resellers to either partner-up, or develop their own sector ecosystem. Conversely M2M projects for applications like CCTV, coaches, signage and car parks often only need a specialist router and a SIM.

The ARPU is too low and the margin is eroded by the MNOs direct.

Again, you’re probably thinking of IoT projects and the mobile data market is far bigger than just IoT. That said aggregators now have powerfully differentiated IoT solutions that help resellers beat the networks and at decent margins.

The market is not worth the effort.

Seriously, does anyone really still believe this? Mobile data is now the fastest growing ICT product in the world and mobile data companies are valued by the market at 3x the value of traditional comms companies.

The healthcare sector has been adopting new technology to assist with medical activities for some time. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has developed at a much faster pace in this sector, which presents opportunities for the channel.

Medical professionals are adopting new ways to treat patients and avoid unnecessary in-person treatments, and IoT devices have helped make this possible. Smart thermometers have been used to measure temperatures, and wearable IoT devices are used to track patients’ vital signs. Smartwatches and heart rate monitors gather data that can be remotely analysed by a physician.

Challenges

Data security and patient confidentiality are critical in healthcare. The industry must protect itself from hackers, and patients must feel comfortable that their personal data is secure.

Opportunity for the channel

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 increased for real-time communication and remote monitoring.

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

Andrew Dickinson was the only mobile data representative on the panel “How will next generation digital infrastructure revolutionise channel business models?” at Connected Britain alongside panellists Carl Peters, European VP Solutions Engineering, Zayo Group, Chris Fraser, Managing Director, Aspire Technology Solutions and Aidan Piper, Chief Executive Officer, Welcomm.

The messages were clear.

1. There has been a silent revolution in mobile data with download speeds up to 300Mbs available in most parts of urban UK. These technologies have recently been made available to the channel. Jola’s partner base has more than doubled in two years and smart MSPs and resellers accept that mobile data must be in their portfolio.
2. Every reseller/MSP has at least one significant IoT/M2M opportunity in their existing base of customers, and mobile data aggregators like Jola are helping them find and win them.
3. The financial markets value mobile data EBITDA at least twice the multiple of fibre and broadband. With self-service portals like Mobile Manager, it is easy to sell, manage and bill.

Jola

Jola is a multiple award-winning mobile data aggregator, which means that we offer services from all the major UK networks and hundreds of networks globally. We sell a wide range of options and are a well-established, channel-only company. We are innovative and we launch on average two new products and product extensions every month. We operate in many different vertical markets with market-leading specialists, so we understand the specific needs of each vertical and can help you productise differentiated solutions. We give you complete control over your global SIM estate with Mobile Manager. Your customers can also have access to our white-label portal so they can see directly how much data they are using in each device and make decisions accordingly. We help you uncover opportunities and win them with solutions end users just cannot buy from anyone else. Our objective is to help you reduce churn, increase ARPU and the overall value of your business.

There are many reasons MSPs decide to migrate mobile databases. It is often driven by the needs of their end user. Because of the hassle of potentially swapping out thousands of SIMs, the decision is usually not made lightly. However, there are driving forces such as the need to access newer technologies, the need for a better deal and the flexibility to change suppliers and not be tied in.

4G is preferable for M2M and IoT customers because of its speed, but moving to 4G may involve switching thousands of SIM cards deployed globally and upgrading devices, which is an operational headache with a large associated cost.

The ability to manage data estates directly to track usage is also preferable. End users do not want to run the risk of regular data overage charges and need to know that they can upgrade and downgrade their data SIMs to meet their specific requirements.

No one wants to be tied into a long-term contract with fixed pricing. The ability to protect margins and remain competitive is essential to MSPs, and end users require solutions to be flexible.