https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...not-telcos-circles-life-s-co-founder-10995912
05 Dec 2018 06:20AM
‘Future of telco industry is not telcos’: Circles.Life's co-founder shares how AI, data will shape its strategy
The virtual operator is now doubling down on how it uses customer data to offer non-telco services like events recommendation, with plans to expand this to areas such as payments and financial technology, says Mr Rameez Ansar.
Mr Rameez Ansar is co-founder of Singapore start-up Circles.Life, one of the MVNOs currently shaking things up in the telco space. (Photo: Circles.Life)
SINGAPORE: “The future of the telco (industry) is not telcos (as we know them)… but data-driven technology companies offering digital services that are yet imagined today,” said Circles.Life co-founder Rameez Ansar.
In a wide-ranging interview with Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday (Dec 4), Mr Rameez outlined how the industry could look like in the future, as well as how the three-year-old Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) intends to branch out into non-telco services.
These services, he added, are being developed through the start-up’s investments into technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics.
Mr Rameez explained that the company’s move away from telco services does not mean it will neglect its primary MVNO business.
Rather, a shift towards services like events recommendation through a recently introduced feature called Discover is a natural outcome and progression from its current role, he said, adding that the company has created relationships through know-your-customer processes when people sign up with them as well as when they set up their billing methods.
He cited how telcos - not just local incumbents Singtel, StarHub or M1 with whom Circles.Life leases mobile network capacity from, but those globally - have shown that the “backwardness of their technology” means attempts to introduce digital services have not taken off or were not well received by people.
“Execution (of new services) is challenging when your infrastructure is from 10 years ago and are not agile,” the 36-year-old said.
He cited Google and Apple as examples of how technology companies, through for instance the introduction of e-SIM, are actually the ones innovating in the industry instead of telcos.
E-SIMs are digital SIMs that allows users to activate their cellular plan from telcos without needing to slot in a physical SIM card. Apple included this technology with its latest slate of iPhones, while Google actually takes on the role of an MVNO with its Project Fi - now renamed Google Fi - project.
DOUBLING DOWN ON DATA
Mr Rameez did point out that the roll-out of any digital service by Circles.Life will not be done just for the sake of doing so. After all, it is not a publicly listed company or heavily backed by investors such that it needs to constantly show growth.
The company, which has cornered nearly 5 per cent of the overall Singapore market, is mindful that any additional product will have to boost, not compromise, its profile, he added.
Citing the Discover feature as an example, he said it is an “interesting value proposition” for its user base as “people are still going around randomly trying to find new things”.
And it is being powered by machine learning and AI developed internally. Mr Rameez said Circles.Life had built a research and development (R&D) team in Bangalore, India, specifically looking at how to make sense of the large amounts of data being generated by its customers.
05 Dec 2018 06:20AM
‘Future of telco industry is not telcos’: Circles.Life's co-founder shares how AI, data will shape its strategy
The virtual operator is now doubling down on how it uses customer data to offer non-telco services like events recommendation, with plans to expand this to areas such as payments and financial technology, says Mr Rameez Ansar.
Mr Rameez Ansar is co-founder of Singapore start-up Circles.Life, one of the MVNOs currently shaking things up in the telco space. (Photo: Circles.Life)
SINGAPORE: “The future of the telco (industry) is not telcos (as we know them)… but data-driven technology companies offering digital services that are yet imagined today,” said Circles.Life co-founder Rameez Ansar.
In a wide-ranging interview with Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday (Dec 4), Mr Rameez outlined how the industry could look like in the future, as well as how the three-year-old Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) intends to branch out into non-telco services.
These services, he added, are being developed through the start-up’s investments into technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics.
Mr Rameez explained that the company’s move away from telco services does not mean it will neglect its primary MVNO business.
Rather, a shift towards services like events recommendation through a recently introduced feature called Discover is a natural outcome and progression from its current role, he said, adding that the company has created relationships through know-your-customer processes when people sign up with them as well as when they set up their billing methods.
He cited how telcos - not just local incumbents Singtel, StarHub or M1 with whom Circles.Life leases mobile network capacity from, but those globally - have shown that the “backwardness of their technology” means attempts to introduce digital services have not taken off or were not well received by people.
“Execution (of new services) is challenging when your infrastructure is from 10 years ago and are not agile,” the 36-year-old said.
He cited Google and Apple as examples of how technology companies, through for instance the introduction of e-SIM, are actually the ones innovating in the industry instead of telcos.
E-SIMs are digital SIMs that allows users to activate their cellular plan from telcos without needing to slot in a physical SIM card. Apple included this technology with its latest slate of iPhones, while Google actually takes on the role of an MVNO with its Project Fi - now renamed Google Fi - project.
DOUBLING DOWN ON DATA
Mr Rameez did point out that the roll-out of any digital service by Circles.Life will not be done just for the sake of doing so. After all, it is not a publicly listed company or heavily backed by investors such that it needs to constantly show growth.
The company, which has cornered nearly 5 per cent of the overall Singapore market, is mindful that any additional product will have to boost, not compromise, its profile, he added.
Citing the Discover feature as an example, he said it is an “interesting value proposition” for its user base as “people are still going around randomly trying to find new things”.
And it is being powered by machine learning and AI developed internally. Mr Rameez said Circles.Life had built a research and development (R&D) team in Bangalore, India, specifically looking at how to make sense of the large amounts of data being generated by its customers.
