A Dallas-based company has focused its efforts on assisting smaller wireless providers by offering a combination of products and services to help them survive in the increasingly competitive wireless arena.
“In terms of the way we’re putting services together it is unique. We’re looking at how to get smaller carriers in the business and provide products and services to be more cost effective and more competitive. [Small players] need to find different ways of doing things,” said Brian Friedman, managing director of The Spectrum Group.
TSG, a spinoff of the PCS Group, a company formed in 1993 to provide consulting services to C-block personal communications services licensees, launched many of its services the beginning of this year. The company’s services and products target problem areas for smaller wireless companies, namely marketing and financing.
TSG recently introduced Wireless International, a Web site that providers can use to offer products and services to wireless consumers. Customers can make purchases using the Internet 24 hours a day.
“The Internet site is really based upon ways to reduce customer acquisition costs.” It allows a provider to gain access to wireless customers and enables customers to easily acquire products and sign up for service, said Friedman.
TSG expects carriers, agents and resellers to see an increase in impulse sales as well as the addition of after hours sales because of the 24-hour accessibility and convenience of the Web site.
Providers also can integrate TSG’s pricing model software onto the Internet to enable customers to enter their actual or estimated airtime usage and determine which is the most effective rate plan for them. The software is available on a license basis for use on a personal computer, and providers have the capability to use the software to analyze the rate plans of up to five different wireless carriers to determine how their pricing offerings compare to their competitors’ at different levels, said TSG.
Another marketing tool TSG offers is a mapping software product, which can be used prior to implementing a radio frequency planning tool. The product aids in determining areas for system buildout by calculating a number of statistics such as population areas, economic coverage, competitive coverage by cellular or personal communications services providers and major boundaries and streets.
“Smaller operators need to be more cost effective with how they build out systems. The manner of rollout makes sense to meet their marketing plans,” said Friedman.
TSG, recognizing that smaller licensees would get passed over by infrastructure vendors for financing, established The PCS Finance Group about a year ago to provide an alternative financing source for these licensees, said Friedman. In conjunction with banking partner Alex, Brown & Sons, PCSFC established the PCSFC Asset Securitization Structure. The structure is designed to meet the anticipated $7 billion shortfall in traditional funding sources for those acquiring PCS licenses.
“We’ve seen a fair amount of reluctance of manufacturers to get involved with small carriers,” said Friedman. “There are a number of small carriers that stand a good chance of succeeding but are not getting a good chance.”
TSG also assists clients through its brokerage services by either brokering some or all of their wireless licenses in exchange for equity, debt or a trade of properties or in seeking opportunities in which to participate in an already acquired wireless license.
TSG’s Spectrum Call Center is in development. The third-party outsourcing center will help meet all of the wireless operator’s customer service needs. TSG will provide customer care processing that will include services such as enhanced directory assistance, traffic and directions, preferred vendor numbers and VIP dialing and answering services. The project is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year, said Friedman.
“Smaller operators could not go out and build a good customer care center. We’re putting together a call center with the ability to provide services available at a pricing level that’s affordable for smaller operators,” said Friedman.
