Gamma's acquisition of a core mobile network infrastructure in 2014 was its first step on the road to launching an exclusive business mobile service to the channel. Following the roll out of the new service in June to existing mobile partners Gamma last month threw the doors open to what Rob Davis, Head of Converged Products, claims is a rare opportunity to take on the big boys.
The UK's business mobile market is fiercely competitive and Gamma has made a name for itself as an ambitious competitor with the determination to go up against industry monoliths as well as smaller rivals. Last month Gamma added considerable muscle to its mobile campaign with the launch of a business mobile service that better enables reseller partners to square up to bigger companies with a converged fixed and mobile capability exclusively configured for business customers.
"We hear from our partners that their business customers want a better overall mobile service and one that is supported by someone who understands their needs," stated Davis. "Gamma Mobile, together with our channel partners, can make both of these a reality with bolt-ons like MultiNet providing coverage from multiple UK networks from the same SIM, as well as business class support from their channel partner who can provide near real-time control over network provisioning, barring and usage alerts using the Gamma portal that has direct links into the core of our mobile and fixed network."
Gamma has been delivering mobile services for business customers through its channel partners for more than eight years, offering a high level of control, ownership and flexibility. "However, we wanted to take it to the next level by investing in our own core mobile network so we could give channel partners more of an edge when competing with the large mobile networks," added Davis. "So we've invested millions over the last two years building our own mobile core network and integrating it with our fixed line network. Since it is focused exclusively on business customers we're building the features that business customers want most, such as the aforementioned MultiNet bolt-on for providing increased coverage across multiple UK networks, and a business grade voicemail platform with options for different greetings inside and outside office hours and much longer message storage."
Alongside fixed line and data services Gamma Mobile is a key area of the firm's product portfolio, aligning closely with a growing number of business customers who are demanding more services from a single supplier. Furthermore, resellers want the operational benefits of having fewer suppliers that are able to offer a high level of automation and support. "The response from both existing and new partners has been positive and we have increased our team of mobile specialists who are working closely with partners as part of the transition to the new service," added Davis.
Positive partner feedback has prompted Davis to forecast strong growth in the number of resellers taking up the mobile service. "Many resellers and dealers tell us they are increasingly frustrated by the large mobile networks continually changing their commission plans and channel strategy, costing them money and reputational damage," stated Davis. "As with our other services we aim to be fair to our partners on mobile and expect this approach to help increase both the number of existing Gamma partners that sell Gamma mobile as well as helping new partners sell some or all of our services."
For more than ten years Gamma's portal has been central to putting resellers in control of the services they sell to customers, and its evolution has been a focal point of ongoing development for many years. According to Davis, the portal is also a boon to resellers of Gamma's new mobile services.
"Many telecoms companies rely on call centres and manual processes to make simple changes such as adding network bars or doing a SIM swap," said Davis. "But this adds delays of often up to 48 hours based on standard network SLAs of a 24 hour response time added to a 24 hour network change time. We are committed to developing and giving resellers the tools to do as many network changes as possible in as close to real-time as possible while their customer is on the phone, which is the only way of providing a true business class service."
Davis reiterated that the Gamma Mobile service gives channel partners margin opportunities by combining both the operational savings of working with Gamma's portal for all fixed and mobile services as well as the ability to win more business from the big mobile providers with a differentiated mobile proposition. "We're pleased with the level of engagement, feedback and sheer enthusiasm of ideas from our partners in terms of which business services they would like to offer customers but have struggled to get other mobile providers to take on-board," added Davis. "The Gamma Mobile roadmap is partner-led, so watch this space."•