Anton Emmanuel's Blog

Telus Corp. recently announced a $1-billion investment aimed at vastly expanding Vancouver’s fiber-optic footprint. A move mirroring that of competitor Bell Canada (BCE) in eastern Canada. Fibre-optic connections bolster speed and network capacity to a large extent. And with data demands from consumers increasingly rising, fiber-op connectivity is rapidly becoming the norm. What interests me, however, is how the various Canadian telcos are adopting, implementing, and cerebrally marketing these network upgrades to strengthen their value propositions.

As an employee of Rogers Communications, I have experienced first hand how moves like this can intensify competition

My role with Rogers is within their Consumer Retention Division focusing primarily on wireless and home-based telecommunications service. Consequently, I work extensively with groups of customer-service-reps to understand what drives customer churn. That is, why are people leaving us?   To uncover insights we looked to one of our largest competitive threats: Bell Canada.

I have listened to hundreds of calls from clients requesting to disconnect their homes services to instead connect with Bell. Their reasoning varies greatly, but a common theme is Bell’s new fiber-op network. Clients seem fascinated and allured by this new technology. This was strange, because respectfully speaking, many of the clients that I personally solicited for feedback didn’t have much understanding of what technological enhancements they would actually receive. They simply knew it was supposedly faster, more reliable, and…..Fiber! What’s more, Bell had wireless set-top boxes, a feature which seemed to resonate with clients.

As the business model canvas illustrates, a value proposition should encompass either a solution to a customer problem, or the satisfying of their needs. In essence, a  business’s key features should match a customer’s problem or need. As evidenced from my personal experience with clients, the value message does not have to be overcomplicated. In Bell’s case it was simple: customers want faster internet, check; customers want greater bandwidth availability, check; customers want mobility in their set-top boxes, check! Through a combination of addressing client needs, solving client problems, and matching key products/needs. Bell has a stepped up their game, and placed pressure on Rogers to respond with an equally, if not more, valuable proposition.

Information was sourced from this Globe and Mail article.