In the fixed domain, telecom incumbents, cable operators and start-ups are all looking to bundle IP connectivity with content and entertainment packages, reaching further in many cases into the home or office environments than before. While many regulatory and technical issues remain to be resolved with IPTV and broadband content rights, the continuing falls in voice revenues are forcing operators here to aggressively enter new and previously unexplored domains.

For the business readers of Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ – a favourite of the airport book shop business section – or any of the other books interlinking military and commercial strategies, history is once again at hand to cast a light on some of these issues.

It’s arguable that what our industry is currently facing is similar to that faced by armies, air forces and navies during the last century when it came to conducting synchronised combined operation.

Just as three very different cultures, technologies and mindsets had to be brought together with a reasonable degree of coordination – which frequently involved the banging together of the large egos amongst the commanders of the different forces – so too must telecommunications companies integrate their operations.

In this context however, the objective is not to bring overwhelming force down on one fixed point on the map, but instead to manage an increasingly long and multi-dimensional logistics and distribution chain, target the customer and, ultimately, extract the maximum profits from them.

The really tricky part involves opening up the customer to get them to pay for all the new services now on offer, making them feel valued – but at the same time protect that relationship from all the new competitive forces out there and still enable them to become part of a revenue-generating community themselves by sharing their content or participating in social networking groups.

While a lot of these new service concepts are essentially still at the beta stage, this doesn’t mean that operators can rest on their laurels. As voice tariffs continue to plummet and basic broadband connectivity over fixed radio or ground links becomes an ever-cheaper commodity, service providers have to find a way of crossing the revenue chasm that’s currently in front of them.

Billing as the key enabler for target acquisition and retention tool

While telecom begins to play out its own version of combined operations across land and the airwaves, there’s one dictum of Sun Tzu’s that remains highly relevant – at least after a tweak or two. While his writings always emphasised the importance of understanding one’s combatant, in our everyday roles it’s our customers that we have to understand.