NetLync has launched a world-first Entitlements-as-a-Service solution, which not only allows carriers to create an optimum user experience for their customers but also allows for set up and launch in a matter of weeks.
Emir Aboulhosn, CEO of NetLync, tells us about this game-changing solution and what will shape the next generation of Telecom services:
Entitlements is all about providing a digital experience for customers. Starting off with a scene setter: what does digitalisation mean for the wireless industry?
Emir Aboulhosn: Digitalisation for the wireless industry really comes down to increase in customer satisfaction. If you think about how customers buy their phones, activate their phones and change their plans. Things really haven't changed in the last 20 years. With the advancement of digitalisation there’ll be a significant shift overall. There is a very steep learning curve for the wireless industry or wireless carriers to understand what that really means at the end of the day.
What we have with digitalisation now is that the customer can activate a device at any time of the day outside of retail hours and from the convenience of their home. The time from when they start the process to when the device is up and running with connectivity should be minimal – you can probably do all this in less than a minute now.
That is a significant change from going into a wireless store standing in line, buy your plan, getting a SIM card, waiting for that SIM card to activate, going through all of the checks that you have to go through, inserting it, waiting for the service to provision, and then going back home.
Before we get into NetLync’s new Entitlements product, can you tell us about NetLync and where it came from?
EA: NetLync was built on the idea of providing accessibility to carriers in order to support them in their ambitions for digitalisation. Along the way, we saw some gaps that carriers needed filling. The gap we are most excited about is in Entitlements. We've determined that by 2025/2026, it's going to be difficult for an operator to support any decent experience without Entitlements being available. Therefore, we came up with something quite revolutionary. As Entitlements has been done the same way for the last 10 years, we wanted to completely flip that idea on its head. Everything from the technology, the deployment, the implementation, right up to the commercial mode.
The idea is we can make this new use of technology incredibly accessible to wireless carriers around the world and stop it being as costly or time consuming as it was previously. From there we can help accelerate that carrier onto its digitisation journey at a much faster pace solving a significant problem in the wireless industry today.
The idea is we can make this new use of technology incredibly accessible to wireless carriers around the world and stop it being as costly or time consuming as it was previously.
From there we can help accelerate that carrier onto its digitisation journey at a much faster pace solving a significant problem in the wireless industry today.
Entitlements has been used for smartphones and devices like watches and other wearables. Where else do you see mobile Entitlements being applied in the future?
EA: Think about where the automotive industry is going, people describe it as the ultimate mobile device. Everything is screen-based with features and subscriptions that are being sold directly to the devices. Recently BMW has been in the news selling access to heated seats, autonomous driving features, and driver assist features. These cars are absolutely relying on connectivity today for these functions to work.
Then one step further you can look at the home automation, where cellular is widely available in those features, such as your home security systems. Nest Thermostats have an LTE enabled feature as well. You need to make sure the right services are being provisioned correctly from the operator and furthermore they're being added into your ecosystem and being properly paired. This is what Entitlements does today. So, it's not a stretch to think that Entitlements is headed into other verticals in the world that absolutely rely on connectivity on a full-time basis.
We're quite excited to see where it goes. Particularly now we've been able to start with a completely fresh approach and a game-changing method in terms of how Entitlements are commercially accessible to any size operator in the world.
Bringing the discussion back to NetLync. You have employees all over the world, so what are your views on a fully remote workforce and why would people want to work for NetLync?
EA: We set up the company in the middle of Covid, meaning on day one we are a completely remote workforce. Now look at the countries where we're set up today: Dublin, Canada, UK, US, Croatia, Hungary, Brazil and the Caribbean. We are quite spread out and continue to hire around the world.
We have adopted a policy of hiring on talent first, location second. Meaning that we get an incredibly high calibre of team members. We encourage a high degree of autonomy and everyone’s work has a significant impact on what direction we as a company take, so they really know that their voices are being heard. We are not having somebody sitting in an office and measuring them under traditional circumstances.
We are not denying that as we grow in size, we will face challenges, but we will try our very best to keep them at bay. We want to always have that feel of a start-up no matter what our size. I'm not guaranteeing naively that we can absolutely make that perfect, but maintaining a culture of inclusivity is something we are focused on.
We don't want to make it feel like a ‘job’ but more like we are working towards shared goals and that allows everyone to share in the company’s success.
NetLync’s Entitlements-as-a-Service is solving real issues for carriers both technically and commercially. If you would like to know more about our solution, or if you have any questions for Emir, please contact us and we will get in touch with you.