Aire Networks, for its part, is a national telecommunications service provider focused on developing and delivering top-tier voice, data, and audiovisual content solutions for operators and businesses. It offers guaranteed solutions implemented on its own multi-service network, continuously monitored by specialized technical personnel to ensure service quality and reliability. Aire Networks provides nationwide coverage and offers solutions tailored to its clients' specific needs.Question: What is the current situation of the sector in this first quarter? Which part of the business is strongest right now for Aire Networks?
Answer: Telecommunications is the most dynamic economic sector in Spain and has the greatest intersectoral impact on the growth of the Spanish economy. Why? Today, everything revolves around data, voice, and video; people require and expect much greater mobility and interconnectivity. The constant need to be connected impacts this sector, leading to its rapid growth. From this perspective, during the first quarter of 2013, the sector experienced explosive growth, moving towards economies of scale.
For Aire Networks, this need for greater speed and communication has guided its business development toward the nationwide deployment of its own multi-service network, enabling it to offer a diverse range of products and services over a single network. Consequently, Aire Networks' strength and rapid growth lie in offering competitive services focused on enhancing the customer experience while guaranteeing security, reliability, and quality at all times.
Q: In your opinion, what is the current market trend?
A: The current trend is driven by convergence, ubiquity, and mobility—concepts that suggest users receive different services through a single channel. As a result, operators are undergoing a process of adaptation to a new market economy characterized by the recent phenomenon of technological convergence of networks/services (fixed-mobile-data) “ALL IP,” which further intensifies competition among providers. The result of this service integration for users is lower costs, different pricing models, improved quality, and added value, among other benefits.
Another market trend is cloud services, which have allowed customers to upgrade their technology without having to make new investments, as these are made by the operator and passed on to the customer in the form of recurring fees. Both trends are related because they share the same objective: to offer the end customer more and better services at the lowest market cost.
Q: What are the most important parameters to consider in the sector this year?
A: For this year and the coming years, the telecommunications sector will focus primarily on price-value, service quality, increasing data transmission/reception capacity, and, of course, service convergence.
Q: What business opportunities do you see in the country?
A: The telecommunications sector is very broad, and as such, it allows for generating business, both here in Spain and internationally. But to thrive, more than just technology is needed. The key lies in knowing which products and services will satisfy customers' most important needs, even those that the customers themselves aren't aware of.
Under this vision, the country's telecommunications sector must reflect from the customer's perspective, as this is essential to achieving high performance in the sector.
Business opportunities should focus on developing new products that generate value for customers and foster convergence across the telecommunications, media, and internet sectors. It is no longer sufficient to establish a traditional telecommunications company solely based on providing network access and infrastructure, or transporting content and services for other companies nationally and internationally.
Now, other essential factors must be considered, such as: integrating fixed and mobile capabilities; offering value and service wherever the customer is located; competing through innovation (e.g., machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies); prioritizing simplicity and ease of access to mobile internet; developing user-friendly apps; and developing new forms of connectivity, among others.
Q: What are Aire Networks' strengths from a customer service or value-added perspective?
A: Aire Networks centers its corporate principles on the customer. As such, it has developed its own holistically designed corporate organizational model based on principles that consider how our professionals create value for our customers. These principles allow us to truly integrate the customer into Aire Networks' corporate culture. In this way, all our processes, activities, tasks, personnel, etc., revolve around them, offering a complete and personalized experience.
Aire Networks' commitment to its customers begins with a highly dedicated and proactive workforce (we love what we do). These qualities allow us to connect with and understand our customers. Furthermore, we have a converged and integrated internal network. Aire Networks operates a network and system certified to ISO 27001 that manages all activities performed by both our internal and external clients, constantly providing valuable information to measure our performance and services.
All areas of the company interact with customers in some way, some directly and others indirectly through the organization. Finally, CRM strategies, in conjunction with the R&D department, work to improve products and services to meet customer expectations.
Q: What Aire Networks services would you highlight for the national market? What new products have been launched recently?
A: Aire Networks is currently launching a new low-cost mobile phone service in the national market called ION MOBILE®. The company will operate as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). This project, which has been in development for over a year, is aimed at two target audiences. The first is cable and wireless network operators looking, among other things, to launch aggressive offers to quickly acquire customers in a highly competitive market. The second is end users nationwide.
The project has involved a lengthy testing period to ensure its effective implementation and, of course, to certify the quality and proper functioning of the service. The system testing process has also included the integration of mobile and fixed-line telephony services, thus creating a comprehensive telephony platform. We are currently in the final phase of this testing period, and ION MOBILE® will enter the national market as a new low-cost mobile phone provider between mid-May and early June of this year.
However, since ION MOBILE® is a "Low Cost" mobile phone company, the rates will be aimed at focusing on the close price/value/quality relationship that today's customer requires and expects.
These rates will be complemented by promotions, a wide range of state-of-the-art devices, value-added services, and a convergent offering tailored to both our clients' businesses and the needs of end users. Under this concept, the rates will offer two key benefits: increased data allowances and reduced call rates.
Q: What message would you like to send to the sectors where Aire Networks targets its products?
A: The telecommunications sector is one of the main drivers of the Spanish economy, both for its capacity to create direct and indirect jobs and for its investment activity. For this reason, as companies in the sector, we must be able to reinvent ourselves. Currently, we have the opportunity to compete with the major national operators in every aspect; we can create highly competitive services, and of course, we have the capacity to reach those areas neglected by the major operators.
We must base our work on the right of all people to be fully connected at reasonable prices and with quality services; it is also important to base our actions on the development of new integrated and convergent services driven by innovation and characterized by customer centrality.
