Suri outlined the challenges facing mobile operators as they deal with ever-increasing complexity, including a huge number of different access networks, multi-tasking devices, and applications.
If you want to look at where operators will start to spend more money, just look to the world of customer experience. When we survey our customers, more than 82% list improving customer experience as their highest priority.
The advantages Nokia Siemens Networks can bring to these operators include managing network quality end-to-end and, more importantly, guaranteeing the service level for any given application. This opens up opportunities for operators to partner with content providers to generate incremental revenue streams.
Operators can occupy a powerful position as a value-added integrator and orchestrator of services. Nokia Siemens Networks surveys on data privacy show that subscribers trust their operators putting them in the position to be information brokers that protect customer data and enable more relevant and personalized services. For example, Nokia Siemens Networks Experience Management solution can tap into data in real time across an operators business and turn insight into immediate action to proactively meet end-user needs.
At a tactical level, Suri explained that in 2011 the companys Smart Labs in Helsinki, Dallas, Madrid and Seoul will continue to be vital for testing all major smart devices, operating systems and application types, managing customer experience and operator expectations.
In addition, as markets with limited spectrum look towards 4G, Suri highlighted the role TD-LTE will play. If you look at how to deliver mobile broadband, there is a huge amount of unpaired spectrum available, and new TD bands will open as frequencies are freed-up. While TD-LTE has its roots in China, it is very much a global technology. The right band is now licensed for TD-LTE in around 40 countries and the ecosystem is clearly accelerating.
In reviewing accomplishments over the last year in the companys three strategic focus areas mobile broadband, managed services and subscriber centric solutions Suri was able to outline the progress the company has made.
In mobile broadband, Nokia Siemens Networks won more deals with more customers than any of its competitors, and pioneered new technologies such as iHSPA, Long Term HSPA Evolution, and LTE Self-Organizing Networks. In 2010 it won 25 new 3G customers, more than any other vendor, and has the highest number of WCDMA customers at 193, positioning it strongly in a market not expected to peak until 2020. In LTE, Nokia Siemens Networks has signed 31 commercial contracts to date, again the most in the industry.
For three years in a row the company has recorded strong growth in Managed Services, with 65 new contracts in 2010. In Subscriber-centric Solutions, the companys performance has been good, growing in key areas such as insight and experience (which includes subscriber data management) and security.