Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

As many of you are aware the staff at Jola have all worked together before at Griffin. Griffin was a channel ISP that won multiple awards and was regarded by many as the UK’s leading white label broadband supplier to the channel.

Griffin predicted early on that when internet connectivity became fast enough and reliable enough, that there would be a market for cloud-hosted applications. Griffin invented managed broadband and enabled hundreds of resellers to become virtual ISPs.

Prior to the launch of MOPS (Griffin’s Managed Online Provisioning System), telecoms providers selling internet connectivity did so on a commission basis. As the market converged, they saw suppliers more as competition and needed to take back control of the customer experience. To eliminate the risk and maximise the value of their businesses, they wanted to provide broadband under their own brand. The prospect of becoming an ISP in 5 days was appealing.

Griffin developed MOPS to meet this need and helped the telecommunications channel grow new revenue streams from ADSL, SDSL, ADSL2+, FTTC and leased lines.

Could the same thing be happening with mobile broadband?

4G is widely available in the UK with typical download speeds of around 20Mb/s and theoretical speeds of up to 150Mb/s. We have seen a surge in demand for data-only SIMs in devices other than smart phones. Business users are keen to use 4G to connect devices to the internet, especially in areas where broadband connectivity is slow. The issue for many is one of management. Unlike FTTC, which is largely unlimited (usually with a fair use policy), mobile broadband is sold with monthly usage allowances with financial penalties for overusage. Pricing is high and there has been no easy management portal until now.

Jola has grown over 24 months to be one of the largest suppliers of mobile SIMs through channel, in the UK. This is primarily due to the growth in demand for mobile data and our unique ability to provide the means for resellers to manage their mobile broadband estates.

Reliability

A mobile signal is usually only unreliable when it is moving. A 3G/4G broadband signal when stationary often delivers a faster and more stable service. In fact, most resellers and their customers would probably prefer to use mobile broadband for everything if it weren’t for two things; cost and risk.

Management

Once a SIM is installed in a device (handset, laptop or vending machine) the user is often blind to usage until they get a warning or a bill. They usually don’t want a device to stop working once the SIM has reached its allowance, equally they don’t want the shock of enormous out of bundle charges. Jola is successful because we offer great rates and a management portal that allows resellers and their end users to activate, SIM-swop, monitor usage, cease or bar SIMs. We also have a unique overage protection facility to protect customers from bill shock.

According to McKinsey, revenues from mobile data are set to increase dramatically in the next 7 years to over £11bn.

Factors driving growth are the availability, speed and reliability of 4G (39.5 million subscribers in 2015), the trend of embedding data SIM cards into devices and the availability of cost-effective SIM-only packages on 30-day contracts.

UK SMEs are turning to their trusted IT and telecommunications suppliers for help sourcing mobile data SIMs. Their suppliers need good management portals to control their burgeoning estates.

Jola offers a range of 4G UK, EU and Global tariffs on 30-day contracts starting from around £7 per month. The company has recently launched Mobile Manager, an online management portal for ordering and managing estates of mobile data SIMs. The portal communicates with the Vodafone 4G network, enabling Jola partners to create customers, manage activations and instantly control SIM swaps, bars, ceases, tariff changes and bolt-ons.

Jola is one of the channel’s largest mobile data providers managing thousands of SIMs all over the world. The company is experienced in developing and managing portals for the channel and has just launched Mobile Manager.

Mobile Manager is an online management portal for ordering and managing estates of mobile data SIMs. The portal communicates with the Vodafone 4G network, enabling Jola partners to create customers, manage activations and instantly control SIM swaps, bars, ceases, tariff changes and bolt-ons.

Mobile Manager gives partners complete control over their mobile data assets. In most cases end users don’t want their mobile data SIMs to switch off when they reach capacity, but they also don’t want to pay much higher out-of-bundle charges. With Mobile Manager, Jola partners can set up alerts to monitor usage limits per customer. They can then automatically pause the SIM or use the overage protection facility. Mobile Manager is a white label portal with parent-child functionality, so partners can extend functionality to their own customers as if the software was their own.

According to McKinsey, Machine 2 Machine SIM revenues are set to increase dramatically in the next 7 years to over £11bn by 2022. Demand is being driven by the availability of fast, cost effective, reliable 4G and the development of smart devices.

IT and telecommunications companies servicing the UK SME market are experiencing this surge in demand first hand and are looking for a trusted supplier with a comprehensive management portal for maximum control and minimum cost.

Small businesses are looking to 4G for faster, more flexible connectivity on a monthly commitment. Their IT and telecommunications suppliers need a management portal to manage large estates of SIMs, where they can monitor usage and alert users approaching their data limits, back-dating bolt-ons to the beginning of the month to completely avoid additional monthly charges.

Each year, millions of Brits cross the channel to visit mainland Europe and further afield for business and leisure. For business users it is essential to stay connected whilst travelling to check emails, access documentation and for navigating to meetings.

Use your own

When you travel you can use your existing minutes and data with EuroTraveller or WorldTraveller for a small additional daily fee. You can also buy bolt-ons for additional data, European, World or roaming minutes.

JolaMobile

JolaMobile is a very cost effective and flexible SIM-only business mobile service provided on the Vodafone network. There are three main packages to choose from which include standard UK minutes, texts, 4G data and non-geographic number minutes on a 30-day rolling contract. You can easily add additional minutes such as non-geographic, Ireland, European, European roaming, World and World roaming. You can add EuroTraveller and WorldwideTraveller, additional data and roaming data as required. We also offer mobile broadband in the UK, EuroData and WorldData SIMs.

Recent research from YouGov suggests that there is now a 50/50 split in mobile users on contract and SIM-only deals in stark contrast to the previous year where only 16% of contracts were SIM-only. Both types of deals have grown in the last five years however SIM-only deals have grown the most. Since 2010 the percentage of phone owners with contracts has decreased from 80% to 67%.

Do you have business customers asking for SIM-only bundles?

Every penny counts when you are running a small business, particularly for those just starting up. Keeping a lid on everyday bills means freeing up more cash to help a company grow. Even small changes, such as reviewing mobile contracts, can attribute considerable savings.

SMEs are moving away from long-term expensive, inflexible mobile contracts in favour of SIM-only deals, often on monthly rolling contracts.

Have you thought about adding SIMs to your product portfolio?

Jola offers the best Vodafone SIM-only deals for SMEs via partners and has doubled the data allowance on each package.

With no handsets to support and excellent service, this is an easy additional revenue stream. Our end user deals are better than any available from the mobile operators and you earn a good ongoing revenue on every penny your customers spend with us. We offer both reseller and dealer schemes.

Best mobile SIM-only deals for business

Coming out of contract?

If you have come out of your current mobile contract, you may want to consider sticking with your existing handsets and choosing a SIM-only deal. 

Going SIM-only you are not tied into a contract and can upgrade, add or cancel employee contracts on a monthly basis. Your existing provider may be pushing you to sign another lengthy contract and entice you with the latest smart phones but do you really need them for all your employees?

There is an amazing selection of smartphones on the market and finding the right one to meet business requirements is not always straightforward. If you need a high-end camera, you may consider the iPhone 6s Plus, or if you are trying to be more productive away from the office, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 could work better for you. If you are looking for an affordable phone you can use at work and at home with the kids, Moto G is a good pick.

If you’ve been waiting for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge you shouldn’t be disappointed. Both phones feature dramatically improved dual pixel cameras for faster autofocus and better low-light pics and they have water-resistant designs.