As Average Revenue Per User has continued to decline across the nation’s economic landscape just as return on Investment nose-dived due to conventional business environment in Nigeria, this, could however be reversed according to Lanre Kolade, the Managing Director for Vodacom Business Nigeria.
Kolade advocated that investment in Internet of Things (IOT) could be the game changer for telecoms operators, content providers and players in the other sectors of the nation’s digital economy.
Kolade gave this advice as he spoke on the theme: ‘Internet of Things’ at NigeriaCom 2017 forum organized by Informa Telecoms Group in Lagos.
According to him ‘today, telecommunications operators are facing a period of flat growth for core services and significant decline in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).
This drastic change has threatens the survival of the telecoms industry, as substantial declines in user spending on voice and text services have caused a decline in telcos revenue.
But IoT has delivered a big growth opportunity for the industry due to the volume of connections expected and experts have projected the market will reach $14.6 trillion global market size by 2020.’
“It is therefore essential to seize the vast opportunities that this growth presents in transforming businesses,” he said.
Across all industries, IoT solutions have been adopted to provide a host of different benefits, from increased Return on Investment (ROI) to developing stronger relationships with customers’, with far reaching benefits projected for the future.
Lanre Kolade however urged telecom operators to adapt to the changing times and source other revenue streams to replace what is being lost in the continuing revolution of communications.
“The Internet of Things offers significant growth potential and the opportunity to take a role in new vertical markets, such as automotive, healthcare and smart cities. As these sectors seek to adopt more IoT services, the opportunities that exist are vast. Whether you are a hardware manufacturer or connectivity reseller, adding IoT solutions to your portfolio will open up new revenue streams from selling hardware, software and connectivity services, to a broad range of value-added services, such as consulting, integration and support. Telcos will have to look at the Internet of Things as a potential revenue generator to offset the declining revenues from core services” he said.
By 2020, more than seven billion people and businesses, and over 30 billion devices, will be connected to the internet.
The question is no longer about the adoption of IoT but rather its application to drive business success.
Vodacom’s IoT solutions support wireless payment devices and e-readers, energy usage and smart metering, chilling cabinets, remote asset monitoring systems and community health management solutions.
Vodacom recently partnered with Kaduna State Government to launch a mobile technology-based healthcare program, SMS for Life 2.0, in the state which aims to increase the availability of essential medication by monitoring drug stock levels and improving the delivery of healthcare for citizens who access public health services.
Vodacom is the technology partner for the initiative, which is a public-private partnership with Novartis and the Kaduna State Ministry of Health.
Vodacom has concluded the training and deployment of SMS for Life 2.0 in Kaduna, w
