VODACOM, a leading Tanzania mobile network operator announced it will launch a number of innovative services leveraging from technological innovations such as Cloud Computing and the ‘Internet of Things’ also know as Machine-to-Machine solution.
Business Standard Reporter sat down with
Vodacom Tanzania’s Chief Officer-Business Enterprise Unit, Gregory
Verbond, for a Q & A to get more insights on these innovations and
what Vodacom intends to bring to the market.
QUESTION: Vodacom is investing
in new technologies such as Cloud Computing and the Internet of Things
also known as Machine-to-Machine (M2M). Could you share some insights on
these developments?
ANSWER: Vodacom Tanzania has always been
the leading telecom company in introducing innovative products and
services in the Tanzanian market. To support our innovation strategy, we
are investing in products and services leveraging from technologies
such as Cloud Computing and Machine-to -Machine.
We believe that the next big opportunity
for Vodacom lays in the ability to connect people to devices and in the
future devices-to-devices and machines-to-machines. For Vodacom, the
future is brighter with our investments in these technologies. Cloud
computing as a technology and service is growing globally with more
companies transforming from purchasing dedicated hardware for storing
data to storing data on “Cloud”.
With Cloud, companies can buy data
storage and computing power in real time as per their needs through the
Internet, thereby reducing capital expenditure. The exponential growth
in data, primarily driven by mobile Internet consumption of content is
alarming and changing the way people live across the world.
We are seeing data growth doubling every
two years and the rate of generation of data is rapidly outpacing the
ability of businesses to analyze the data, hence creating an opportunity
for Cloud Computing.
QUESTION: What is the impact of such technologies to the Tanzanian market?
ANSWER: Cloud Computing and the
‘Internet of Things’ offer many opportunities for economic growth and
improvement of quality of life for Tanzanians. Previously, the public
sector was pivotal in enabling development and deployment of the
Internet across Tanzania; it must play a similar role to ensure success
of the ‘Internet of Things’ and Cloud Computing as seen in developed
countries.
Several governments are creating
comprehensive national strategies for the ‘Internet of Things’ and Cloud
Computing to ensure that the two technologies develop cohesively,
rapidly and sustainably so that consumers and business enterprises can
adopt easily.
The private and public sector must take
full advantage of the coming wave of smart devices with high processing
power, high speed connectivity (4G), Cloud Computing and big data
analysis. The number of new devices and services that correspond to the
‘Internet of Things’ is rising rapidly, even in Tanzania.
Connected devices can be used to
generate new insights into human health, improvement of public safety,
conserve resources, boost productivity and support the government
effectively.
Tanzania stands to benefit greatly by
implementing M2M solutions in; agriculture, health, transportation,
security, energy, manufacturing and mining sectors. However, for M2M to
be successful and provide a real business benefit, it is important that
the solution brings the hardware, software and data analytics together
in a single solution which is what Vodacom brings to the table.
QUESTION. Can you further elaborate on the plans to launch the Internet of Things also known as Machine-to-Machine services?
ANSWER: We as Vodacom continue to
support companies and businesses that acquire our data-enabled Sim cards
by offering M2M services such as monitoring of retail points, security
systems, vehicle tracking and any other telemetry services.
Due to global technology trends, we need
to offer our customers value and respond to their growing needs aligned
to our Group strategy of opening up new revenue streams.
We believe there is a need and market
for some of the products we intend to launch especially in; automotive,
security, energy and utilities, government and public sector, health,
financial services (banking and insurance) and manufacturing sectors.
Our global strategy is to transform gadgets into intelligent devices.
QUESTION: Can you explain more about the vehicle-tracking and fleet management services?
ANSWER: Due to challenges facing most of
our customers, including high vehicle-monitoring costs, security as
well as the need to improve efficiency and the need to locate priced
possessions in real time, we are investing in offering vehicle-tracking
and fleet management services to the Tanzanian market.
We have strategically partnered with
technology providers who have experience working in various African
markets and building world-class technologies that are currently
operational across the world.
QUESTION: Which technology provider have you partnered with?
ANSWER: We have partnered with CUMii
International, a pan African based company investing in the Internet of
Things in various industries including automotive, health, security,
manufacturing, energy and utilities.
They have the experience of working
across the African market, hence their technical expertise will add
value to our strategy. We have worked with them over the last six months
to develop some of the solutions that we will be launching in the
market.
QUESTION: The Car-tracking
technology has been around for some time now, what is so special about
the Vodacom Connected Car service?
ANSWER: We are aware that
vehicle-tracking solution has been around for some time, however, we
took time to understand some of the challenges facing the industry in
Tanzania when we were developing our service.
For instance some of the challenges
includes affordability, poor customer service, limited availability and
customer support especially since the service is a 24/7 service, low
quality tracking devices with limited functionalities, non-stable
desktop based platforms and the fact that not many providers have mobile
vehicle-tracking apps.
Our solution is not just a
vehicle-tracking service because we believe that the value of vehicle
tracking lies in fleet management especially for corporate companies
where value proposition is aimed at reducing fleet costs and improving
operational efficiencies to increase profit.
For individuals, a vehicle tracking
mobile app customized to suit the customer’s immediate needs will for
instance enable them to locate their vehicles transporting their
children from school to home or obtaining data on fuel usage as well as
the conducts of a driver who is out of sight.
We also believe that our plan to partner
with insurance companies and offer reduced premiums for customers with
vehicle tracking will give our customers value for their investment. We
have more unique features that we will unveil during and after the
launch.
Our product has a number of unique
features that differentiate us from what is in the market at the moment.
We are offering a vehicle tracking and fleet management platform and
mobile application which will be Android and iOs based.
QUESTION: How is this new service relevant to the Tanzanian market?
ANSWER: Our service is relevant to all
sectors and will enable the government, companies and individuals to
address some of their challenges and open up new opportunities that will
add value. For instance for the public sector, we can see regulators
such as SUMATRA introducing the vehicle tracking for all public
transport vehicles as a way of reducing road accidents.
We believe that this service will be of
great significance to SUMATRA because our vehicle tracking and fleet
management technologies can assist in reporting and managing driver’s
behavior and provide report on mechanical status of vehicles on the
roads.
Government and parastatals are also
encouraged to utilise fleet management solutions such as the
Vodacom-Connected-Car solution so as to reduce costs and increase
efficiency. Insurance companies can also take advantage of this by
offering insurance packages that support our service.
There is value in offering customers
mileage based vehicle insurance packages instead of traditional methods
of calculating risks. Driver’s behavior scores can be used to calculate
the risk of a driver and insurance packages tailored to that, enabling
insurance companies to reward good drivers.
As I mentioned earlier, for corporate
companies, cost efficiency is key and this will help them increase
profit. For individuals, cost reduction is also vital, however security
is of paramount importance.
QUESTION: Who is best suited for this product, individuals or business enterprises?
ANSWER: Our product caters to all market
segments including individuals, corporates and businesses, government
and non-governmental organizations.
QUESTION: What are the main benefits of having this service?
ANSWER: The main benefits as explained
are aligned to different segments of the market, based on our value
proposition. Overall, the Vodacom Connected Car solution is aimed at
reducing vehicle operational costs through increased monitoring and
control and managing driver’s behavior; plus we offer world-class
customer service 24/7/.
QUESTION: How much will it cost?
ANSWER: The costs of the service will be very competitive and will be unveiled during the launch.
QUESTION: How do I go about purchasing Vodacom Connected Car service?
ANSWER: We will start by offering the
service to our enterprise customers through our direct channels and
thereafter we will introduce the service to the rest of our customers
and they will be able to purchase the service from a few selected
Vodacom shops across the country through our sales teams and digital
platforms. We have a dedicated team waiting to assist our customers and
educate them about the product at all our customer touch points.
QUESTION: Any products lined up for the future?
ANSWER: As I highlighted earlier, we as
Vodacom will not rest but continue to invest in innovations for the
benefit of our customers and country. The ‘Internet of Things’ is a
strategic area for Vodacom Tanzania and we will continue to invest in
more solutions through our partners.
We have a number of innovative products
and services lined up which will be launched in the course of this year,
targeting different sectors. We encourage you to stay alert for more
media briefings on our product rollout.
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