Connected as it never was. The launch of China's MVNOs

CONNECTED AS IT NEVER WAS THE LAUNCH OF CHINA’S MVNOs

PERSPECTIVE JUNE 2014

Jane Hou, Adam Meng

2 – 2

Connected as it never was: the launch of China’s MVNOs

Published byValue Partners Management Consulting LtdA-1111, The space International CenterNo.8 Dongdaqiao Road, Chaoyang District100020 BeijingPeople’s Republic of China

June 2014

Written by:Jane Hou, Adam Meng

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PERSPECTIVE CONNECTED AS IT NEVER WAS

OVERVIEW 5

CONNECTED AS IT NEVER WAS 7

MVNOs GROUPS 13

THE SITUATION IN THE DEVELOPED MARKETS 15

VALUE PARTNERS PROSPECTIVE 17

AUTHORS 18

CONTENTS

4 – 5

MIIT provides policy support for the resellers to develop differentiated branding, product design and customer service in this mobile communication service resale pilot in china.


OVERVIEW

MAY 17, 2013, THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (MIIT) ISSUED THE “NOTICE OF LAUNCHING THE MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS RESALE BUSINESS” WHICH OFFICIALLY KICKED OFF THE PILOT PHASE OF THE MOBILE RESALE BUSINESS IN CHINA. AFTER TWO ROUNDS OF SELECTIONS AT THE END OF 2013 AND THE BEGINNING OF 2014, THERE ARE CURRENTLY 24 PRIVATE COMPANIES WHO HAVE OBTAINED THE MOBILE VIRTUAL NETWORK OPERATOR (MVNO) QUALIFICATION.

MIIT PROVIDES POLICY SUPPORT FOR THE RESELLERS TO DEVELOP DIFFERENTIATED BRANDING, PRODUCT DESIGN AND CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THIS MOBILE COMMUNICATION SERVICE RESALE PILOT IN CHINA.

EXHIBIT 1Business models of mobile virtual network operators

Source: Value Partners analysis

6 – 7

INVESTMENT DEMAND -+

ESP(Enhanced Service Provider)

Reseller/Dealer

Fully mobile virtual network operators (CompleteIntegration)

MVNE (Mobile Virtual Network Enabler)

RADIO /TRANSMISSION /TOWERNETWORK

MVOFULLY MOBILE VIRTUAL NETWORK OPERATORS(COMPLETE INTEGRATION)

ESP (ENHANCED SERVICE PROVIDER) MVO

MVO MVNE (MOBILE NETWORK ENABLER) ESP

RESELLER / DEALER MVO

HLR / CODING /EXCHANGE /INTER-CONNECTED

SERVICE DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION

PRICING CUSTOMER CARE

BRANDING AND MARKETING

SELL / DISTRIBUTION

RETAIL SETTLEMENT

CO

MP

LEX

ITY

-+

The current resale policy issued by MIIT


CONNECTED AS IT NEVER WAS

MVNOs do not own the telecommunica-tions infrastructure or radio spectrum that is uses, but tap onto Mobile Net-work Operators’ (MNO) (such as China Mobile, China Telecom and China Uni-com) networks and spectrum to provide services to end users. MVNOs can adapt a variety of business models which are usually are divided into three categories: Full MVNO, ESP, Reseller/Dealers.

In accordance with the definition of MIIT’s policy, “mobile resale business is deemed to be mobile communica-tion services which are purchased from the telecom operators that owns the network infrastructure, and repack-aged by a separate brand for sale to the end user. The reseller is not allowed to build their own infrastructure, such as wireless networks, core networks or transmission networks, but they must establish their own customer service system, as well as having their own operation management platform, billing system and other support systems.”

Currently during the trial period, the MVNO’s in China have adopted a resel-ler’s model which is close to that of an ESP (Enhanced Service Provider). This in theory should allow them space to differentiate themselves from the current MNOs. However, limited by policy constraints and lack of system capabilities, it will be very difficult for the current MVNOs to come up with any substantial business innovation.

Given that subscriber growth rates have been slowing and usage of the mobile internet in China is increasing, the MVNOs are expected to bring about change in the mobile market in China.

The domestic mobile communications market in China is at the saturation stage with current network operators facing the situation where net addition of subscribers is declining.

According to the OVUM’s forecast for 2013, about 450 million new subscribers were churned from the 3 major network operators, with the figure reaching 500 million in 2014. This presents a window of opportunity to for MVNOs to target these churned subscribers.

Limited by policy constraints and lack of system capabilities, it will be very difficult for the current MVNOs to come up with any substantial business innovation.

EXHIBIT 2Comparison of number of new subscriber and net additions of the 3 major network operators in China Unit: Million subscribers

EXHIBIT 3China’s MVNO market size Unit: Million subscribers

Source: OVUM, Value Partners analysis

8 – 9

2010

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

2011 2012 2013 E 2014 E 2015 E 2016 E 2017 E 2018 E

1.1

4.0

2,623

6,598

9,910

13,041

16,258

1.4

4.8 1.3

5.3 1.2

5.70.8

5.9 1.0

6.30.8

6.60.7

6.80.6

7.0

2.8

3.4

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.4

5.8

6.16.4

12

12

12

CAGR

Net additions

Subscribers churned from other operators

CAGR

58%


According to the latest forecasts by OVUM, the customer base for China’s MVNO market is expected to grow to over 160 million subscribers by 2018. That would mean an 11% share of the total market, surpassing the market share of more developed markets such as North America.

At the same time, the revenue structure of China telecommunications industry is undergoing a substantial change. Voice services which used to take the lion’s share of operating revenue growth in the past is gradually being surpassed by the growth of data services. China Mobile’s 2013 interim report shows that the voice revenue for the last six months of 2013 dropped by 1.2% year on year, whilst data services revenue grew by nearly 26%, accounting for 67.7% of the increment of operating income.

Unlike MVNOs in the European and US market that were able to attain moder-ate success in the “2G and 2.5G era”, Chinese mobile communications resel-lers are facing a mobile internet / 4G era that is “volume-driven” within a “diver-sified business” environment. Traffic management and mobile internet VAS capabilities will undoubtedly have to become the reseller’s core competency.

Attracted by this growing industry, there have been a larger number of applicants for the MVNO licenses, with each being a leader in their own fields. Hence, the impact that they would have on the market is highly anticipated. Network operators have adopted a highly positive attitude in terms of cooperation with the MVNOs and hope to form a strategic alliance to leverage the partners’ resources to ultimately achieve a win-win situation within the market.

China Unicom and China Telecom are currently leading the mobile commu-nication resale business. At the end of June 2014, MIIT has already approved 24 private companies to carry out mobile communications resale business with them.

China Unicom and China Telecom officially began their reseller applica-tions in May 2013, carrying out multiple rounds of screening and negotiations with interested parties. By the begin-ning of November 2013, China Telecom and China Unicom announced the first MVNO list, with 16 of them are part-nering with China Telecom: D.Phone, FunTalk, Suning, Gome, Telling, Aisidi, Jingdong, Wanwang(Alibaba), Tel-ephone World, Longmaster, Bewinner Communication, Lianlian Tech, Chanjet (Yonyou), 35.com, Changjiang Era, Soshare; and 14 of them partnering with China Unicom: D.Phone, FunTalk, Suning, Gome, Telling, Aisidi, Jingdong, Wanwang(Alibaba), Telephone World, Bus-Online, Huatone, Snail, CIFCO, Yuantel.

EXHIBIT 4MVNO’s market share of China’s mobile market Unit: market share %

Source: OVUM

10 – 11

CHINA

WESTERN EUROPE

NORTH AMERICA

ASIA-PACIFIC

GLOBAL

11.0%

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

15.0%

14.0%

13.0%

12.0%

11.0%

10.0%

9.0%

8.0%

7.0%

6.0%

5.0%

4.0%

3.0%

2.0%

1.0%

0.0%


Though China Mobile is the market leading network operater in China, they were a step slower and on April 1, 2014, contracts were signed with their 17 part-ners: D.Phone, FunTalk, Suning, Gome, Telling, Wanwang(Alibaba), Bus-Online, Huatone, longmaster, Bewinner Com-munication, 35.com, Soshare, Yinsheng, Seecom, Dr.Peng Group, 21vianet, PTAC.

In terms of individual company guide-lines, China Unicom has shown to provide the most flexible space and autonomy in terms of product design and seeks to provide the reseller with a “resource pool” in which they can draw from. China Telecom’s policy defines a clear “quick on-line”, “high user value”, “high user scale” positioning for its re-sellers. China Mobile for the time being has not set any clear policy.

On December 26,2013,MIIT issued the first 11 pilot reseller approvals, including: Telling Telecommunication Holding Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Lianlian Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing FunTalk Co., Ltd., Beijing Huaxiang Lianxin Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Jingdong 360 Ecommerce Co., Ltd., Beijing Bewinner Communications Co., Ltd., Wanwangzhicheng Technol-ogy Co., Ltd., Beijing Dixintong Com-munications Services Co., Ltd., Soshare Network Technology Co., Ltd., Bus-On-line Holdings Co., Ltd., Telephone World Digital Group Co., Ltd.

On January 29, 2014, the second batch of eight pilot resellers were announced: Shenzhen Aisidi Co., Ltd., Xiamen 35.com Technology Co., Ltd., Suzhou Snailgame Co., Ltd., Beijing Gome Electrical Appliance Co., Ltd., Sun-ing Commerce Group Co., Ltd., China CIFCO Investment Co., Ltd., Changjiang Era Communications Co., Ltd., Beijing Yuantel Communication Technology Co., Ltd.

In terms of individual company guidelines, China Unicom has shown to provide the most flexible space and autonomy in terms of product design and seeks to provide the reseller with a “resource pool” in which they can draw from.

EXHIBIT 5Timeline for China’s MVNO market

Source: Value Partners analysisNotes: * 19 companies have got the licenses. ** Industry inside news, media predictions

12 – 13

JANUARY 8, 2013 MIIT SOLICITED OPINION ABOUT MOBILE RESALE BUSINESS

MAY 17, 2013MIIT OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED RESALE BUSINESS PILOT PLAN

OCTOBER TO NOVEMBER, 2013CHINA UNICOM SIGNED 14 RESELLERSCHINA TELECOM SIGNED 16 RESELLERS

DECEMBER 26, 2013THE FIRST 11 COMPANIES (INCLUDING ALIBABA) GOT LICENSES FOR RESALE

JANUARY 29, 20148 COMPANIES (INCLUDING SUNING, GOME) GOT LICENSES FOR RESALE

APRIL 1, 2014CHINA MOBILE OFFICIALLY SIGNED 17 RESELLERS

JUNE,2014 **THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS RESALE LICENSEES ARE SET TO BE RELEASED

CHINAFIRST VIRTUAL

OPERATORS

INTEGRATEDE-COMMERCE

PLAYERS

OTHERS

MASS-MARKET CP / SP

TRADITIONAL RETAILERS

B2B SERVICE PROVIDERS

WHOLESALERS


MVNOs GROUPS

The MNVOs can be divided into 6 dif-ferent groups according to their core businesses.

Integrated e-commerce players Alibaba (Net.com) and Jingdong, as well as Suning and Gome(due to their e-commerce arms)

The developed online channel is un-doubtedly one of the key competitive factors that e-commerce players can leverage upon to in promoting their resale business in a fast, large-scale manner. For example, Alibaba can push the telecommunications service through its Taobao and TMall and other online trading platforms. Given that it has an abundance of mobile Internet business resources, product innovation capabili-ties as well as a strong brand / platform influence that it has over its large user base, they are expected to develop in-novate business models for the market and hence their development is keenly watched by the market.

However, the absence of physical chan-nels will to some extent hinder these e-commerce players in their MVNO business. Domestic mobile communica-tion users’ have a strong preference for operator’s physical stores. In addition, during this phase where “customer experience” is essential in the push of mobile Internet / 4G services, the need for physical stores is important as well. Therefore, it is inevitable that expansion into offline sales and service channels through alliance and green field invest-ments are needed.

Traditional retailers Retail giants like Gome, Suning, as well as the three mobile phone retailers D.PHONE, FUN TALK and TELEPHONE WORLD which operates mainly in the Zhejiang region

These licensees with retail backgrounds have rich experience in the retail of mobile phones. They have developed a close cooperation with the operators, operating as their channel partners for distributing their numbers, packages and contract services. These are inher-ent advantages for the conduct of their resale business, and would help acceler-ate the launch of their on-line business as well.

Initially, the core competitive advantage of these licensees will be the fact that they already own a multi-channel setup and have experienced sales personal in their physical stores. Having deep prod-uct resources and having the means to improve upon their store operational capabilities would also help them in dif-ferentiating themselves at the physical channels.

However, as these companies are limited in terms of the value-added services they are able to provide, the inability to give their users a differenti-ated experience will be detrimental to their growth where their traditional methods of reaching out to consumer might not appeal in the long run.

14 – 15

Wholesalers China Telling, Aisidi, PTAC

China Telling and Aisidi are among the largest and most influential wholesal-ers in the market and their close ties with both upstream manufacturers and downstream retail channels gives them a good base to build their business upon.

Although significant differences do exist between the wholesalers and retailers in their business model, the simplicity of their business model and the lack in capability for product innovation would mean that they would inevitably face competition from players such as Gome and Suning, who can provide the same services as they do.

Mass Market CP / SP Bus-Online (obtained approval before the deadline in March 2014 from the MIIT), Woniu, Lianlian, Longmaster and Bewinner communications Seecom, Dr. Peng (which just signed the contract with the operator)

These licenses would gain from es-tablishing a foothold in the existing mobile VAS and user base. For example, Lianlan, which has had a long history in terms of providing planning and opera-tions service for the VAS, voice and data services for the network operators. Their ability in telecom business opera-tions, customer service capabilities will give them a unique advantage within the MVNO space.

However, their distribution channels and services are currently limited to the internet and this would hamper the growth of their user base to a certain extent. In addition as their brands are not highly recognizable by the public, their customer acquisition would be a great challenge.

B2B service providers Changjiang Era, Soshare, 35.com, Huaxiang Telecom, Yuantel, Chanjet (Yonyou) and 21ViaNet

These licensees have served as interme-diaries to large enterprises and it would stem well for them to continue serving the enterprise segment. At the same time, becoming a MVNO provides these companies with a platform for business innovation and expansion. For example, Soshare has launched its “Golden ICT” mobile communication card through the cooperation with financial institutions to provide the customer with more VAS.

Others CIFCO

CIFCO’s business model is based on that of most MVNOs operating in EU and US market. They aim to provide mobile communications services to their current users, very much like how a club or bank would extend services to its members. CIFCO would aim to provide communication and mobile internet-based services such as online trading which would serve to be their initial acquisition strategy in the market.

However, at this stage the operators’ terms are still seen to be quite unfavora-ble towards MVNOs. MVNOs are waiting in anticipation that the pressure they apply on MIIT and the operators would lead to policy changes.


In most of the developed markets, regulators aim to create fair competition by introducing policies that support the growth of the MVNO market in a healthy and sustainable manner. MIIT has already put forth certain requirements around issues such as the number of contracted resale partners and the wholesale price for network resources in the pilot phase. However, compared to the MVNO markets in developed countries, MIIT’s current requirements are still not enough to protect the interests of the various resale companies in the pilot phase.

Hong Kong Hong Kong Communications Author-ity has requested that the MNOs share 30% of their resources with their MVNO partners, including number and network resources However MVNOs cannot build their own telecommunications infra-structure. The Communications Authori-ty will only intervene when the operators fail to reach a commercial agreement.

United Kingdom According to the Telecommunications Act of UK’s Telecommunications Regula-tory Commission, when a MVNO re-quests access to the operator’s network, the operator cannot refuse. In developed markets such as the US and the UK, the regulatory agencies believe that their mobile communications market has enough competition to come up with an efficient pricing mechanism. They believe that MVNOs operating in their markets can get access to fair and reasonable wholesale prices from the operators through normal commercial negotiations without additional policy support.

South Korea South Korea’s Korean Communica-tions Commission has requested that the three Korean MNOs keep their wholesale prices to MVNO’s at 31% to 44% lower than its retail price. Spe-cifically, if a MVNO want to use SK Telecom’s network resources to provide mobile communications services, the wholesale price needs to comply with the following criteria: when a MVNO does not invest in any infrastructure, the wholesale price must be at a 31% discount from the retail prices; When a MVNO has invested in part of the infrastructure, the discount rate can be increased to an appropriate level though no exceeding a 44% based from the retail price. The specific price will be determined through negotiation between the companies themselves. At the same time, the Korean Communica-tion Committee has issued a document outlining “the announcement on the wholesale partners and conditions, pro-cedures, methods and price approval standards.”, Within the document, it is stated that the Rules Reform Review Committee would review the submitted bulk purchase discount agreements and determine if additional 5-6% discounts on the wholesale price should be given when high volume purchase occur.

THE SITUATION IN THEDEVELOPED MARKETS

16 – 17

Denmark Danish regulators require operators to carry out their wholesale pricing in a transparent, objective and non-discriminatory manner. This means that the major operators are to provide the non-discriminatory, transparent terms and conditions (including technical standards and specifications) to the MVNO. The access services granted by the operators should not discriminate in terms of function, price, quality or performance.

Spain The Spanish telecommunications regu-latory body would step in and maintain the interests for MVNOs when they failed to reach a commercial agreement with the operators. For example, the Spanish telecommunications regulatory body has warned Moviles, Vodafon, and A-mena that if they still stalling on the price negotiation with their MVNO part-ners; the government would step in and force them to sell their network capacity at a fixed price

Switzerland Switzerland telecommunication regula-tors forced operators to allow a MVNO to access its network at the market price.

EU According to the “Telecom Regulatory Framework Directive” and government regulatory policies, mobile network operators can not in principle hinder the activities of a MVNO, otherwise regula-tors would intervene. The EU Telecom-munications Regulatory Directive also clearly specifies that each country’s main (monopoly) operators’ allow open access to its network resources and if this directive is not followed, it can force the operator to allow access to its network at cost.

As seen, the most debated areas for operators are those related to core re-sources (such as 4G network resources) and wholesale pricing mechanisms. Hence the MIIT has to issue more tar-geted, quantifiable and hard guidelines that would result in a change in the current situation.

In addition, as per the WTO agreement, MIIT would also have to allow the for-eign capital and companies to enter the Chinese mobile communication resale / MVNO market.


Given that a large number of licenses have been issued and the protective nature of operators, the competitive environment is seen to be difficult, es-pecially for MVNOs targeting consumers where competition is even more intense given the overlapping offerings.

For licensees that have a retail or whole-sale based background, it is especially crucial for them to leverage on highly standardized products to seize market share during the initial pilot phase. In addition they might also have to partner with a internet based partner so that they gain resources that would enable them to build VAS and be able to bring differentiated products into the market. Licensees with an internet or CP / SP background would do well to do the opposite and focus more on how to increase cooperation with offline channel partners and improve service capabilities at the physical channel which is an es-sential building block for the business.

VALUE PARTNERS PROSPECTIVE

At the end of the pilot phase, resellers that have only acquired a small user base might face elimination from the market altogether. Operators should continu-ously optimize, and be more open to policies that would help protect their resale partners’ growth and ensure that they gain from their partners’ growth as well. At the end the pilot phase, it would be interesting as well for operators to look into the possibility of taking over “eliminated” resellers through capital investments or other means.

18 – 19

AUTHORS

JANE HOUPrincipal, Beijing Office

[email protected]

ADAM MENGAssociate Consultant, Beijing Office

[email protected]


Given that a large number of licenses have been issued and the protective nature of operators, the competitive environment is seen to be difficult, especially for MVNOs targeting consumers where competition is even more intense given the overlapping offerings.

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Connected as it never was. The launch of China's MVNOs

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