Telco consumer bundling: new trends and strategies shaping the future of multiplay propositions

Telco consumer bundling strategies continue to evolve as operators seek to provide incremental value to their convergent customers in a competitive market. Shifting consumer behaviour and new trends in connectivity and digital services are shaping the future outlook for operator multiplay propositions.   

Traditional quad-play bundles have become more flexible and customisable than ever, while new flavours of bundles are emerging. As adoption of traditional pay-TV services is under pressure (cord-cutting being one of the main threats) and consumers increasingly adopt digital services, a growing range of operators have introduced a wide variety of digital services that can be added to quad-play bundles. Commercial partnerships with providers of digital services and content are key, as only a limited number of major operators have developed in-house digital services. This means operators are a primary partner/distributor of digital services. Adding new services helps operators increase customer loyalty while supporting ARPU levels.

5G could add renewed impetus to bundling. In traditional quad-play bundles, 4G was often added as the fourth product, transforming a triple-play customer into a quad-play customer. With the increased speeds and capacity available on mobile networks, 5G and fibre can now form the core of telco bundles, with other services offered around the core. This also opens the door for mobile-only operators to become more competitive versus converged providers in the provision of bundles.