Who doesn’t want to stay connected all the time, whether locally or internationally? Well, some of us may want to disconnect for a while but we would like to have continuous communication services and we control when to connect and when to disconnect.
This is a burden on the telecommunication service providers who want to provide their customers with the best services.
In this article, we will discuss some of the challenges facing the telecommunications sector to provide users with the best telecommunications services locally and internationally.
Challenge 1: Internet of Things (IoT) | More Connected Devices
The internet of things (IoT): IoT is not only limited to smartphones and computers, but it also extends to include other devices like; wearables (ex: smartwatches), connected cars, and other devices, and this is leading to explosive growth in connected devices and resulting in the need to work with the huge amounts of data. According to Tech analyst company IDC, there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices generating 79.4 zettabytes of data by 2025.
The growth in the connected devices as a result of IoT technology has led to the expansion in the number of subscribers and accordingly increased the demand for a variety of new products including reliable and high-quality data and voice services, which requires an ongoing upgrade of the IT and connectivity infrastructure.
Customers also expect a quick, secure and personalized service, so telecommunication services providers have to be technically and operationally innovative in order to tackle any new threats and provide the customer with high-quality services.
Numero’s Solution
In its attempts to tackle the challenge of increased connected devices that demand services such as high-quality data and voice services, Numero founders have worked on providing these services in one app. For IoT devices, this will require the devices to be eSIM-supported devices. Numero eSIM app provides an easy connection to IoT devices wherever they head to a different network using one eSIM card making it easy and possible to manage and track.
And in the 5G era, eSIM will become increasingly popular by changing the way a connection can be touched even in tiny objects such as sensors, drones, and smart meters. Even smartphone manufacturers are adopting the eSIM technology in their recently released devices. This means that in the near future, more devices will benefit from these services and stay connected anywhere.
What distinguishes Numero eSIM from other telecommunication service providers is that it does not need to develop any heavy infrastructure for the purpose of providing IoT with the telecommunication services. All services are available in one application, and expansion is by directly adding services to the application for the subscriber to obtain with ease.
It is worth mentioning that Numero is open to partnerships with telecommunication services providers, resellers, and any potential partner in order to spread its services and reach the largest number of users to help the telecom sector expand worldwide through Numero.
Challenge 2: High Cost of Roaming
For those who don’t know what roaming is, let’s say that you have a trip to USA, and once you got off the plane, you got a signal on your device! You can make and receive calls, send & receive SMS, and use data even outside your network’s boundaries and you don’t even have a USA SIM card. Well, this is because your primary wireless carrier has an agreement with one or more of the networks in the USA to provide you with roamed telecom services. This will happen automatically if roaming is turned ON on your device.
But you will probably be shocked when you get back home and see your bill, as data roaming is really expensive and will cause you extra charges. The reason why data roaming is expensive is that telecom providers -parties to the agreement- can charge each other as much as they want. And since you will get your bill from your original telecom provider at home and this foreign provider will not bear these fees, it will be passed onto you in high roaming fees. Note: Some providers charge you for incoming calls and SMS not only for outgoing ones.
Numero’s Solution
The good news is that Numero eSIM app has tackled this issue with the virtual phone numbers product, as we provide virtual phone numbers from 80+ countries.
What are virtual phone numbers? Virtual phone numbers are unlike your SIM card number, they are not attached to your physical location or any specific device. You can get the virtual phone number through Numero eSIM app on any smartphone you carry and stay connected through this number anywhere in the world. These virtual phone numbers work through Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP technology. This technology enables you to make & receive calls & SMS via the internet anywhere in the world at way cheaper charges.
How do virtual phone numbers tackle the roaming fees issue?
Since virtual phone numbers are not connected to your primary provider, then you won’t have to use roaming for calls & SMS.
There is no better way than an example to clarify what that means. Let’s get back to our original example where you are heading to USA, but now you have a virtual mobile number from Numero (not necessarily a US virtual number), that you purchased even before you travel.
In this case, you can make or receive calls with no roaming fees and neither you nor the receiver will pay any extra cost. The call & SMS prices are illustrated for the different destinations inside Numero app. And receiving calls is always free
Numero provides call & SMS credit that you can purchase and use for making calls and sending SMS at lower prices compared to the international prices.
What about mobile data?
Numero eSIM app provides data for 150+ countries, which are an extremely cheap alternative compared to international roaming, but your device has to be eSIM supported to activate the data plans. You can buy the data isolated from the virtual number, meaning that you don’t have to buy a virtual phone number to activate the data. Only pay for what you need.
Users have two options to purchase data from:
- Mobile data only plans: These are available in local and regional packages and for 150+ countries.
- Travel bundles (Numero Passport): These bundles include not only mobile data but also a US number and call minutes that you can use for local calls, at cheaper rates.
Users can choose based on what they need and what is their budget.
To sum up: If your device is eSIM supported, you can get all Numero services; virtual numbers and data. If not, you can still enjoy the benefits of the virtual phone number and avoid data roaming fees.
Challenge 3: Provide Connections in The Airports
Many travelers lose connection in the airports, and they don’t activate the roaming to avoid the extra charges we discussed above. And who wants to stand in a long line in the airport to get a SIM card at a higher price, especially in a country where you can’t speak their language. Besides, not all airports have Wi-Fi, which is another issue that also includes a lack of security.
Imagine you want to translate something while you are in the airport, or want to call a driver to pick you up from the airport. Well, if you are using your primary phone number, you won’t be able to do that unless roaming is available and activated, and if you are lucky, you can find Wi-Fi but you can’t use it to make phone calls.
Numero’s Solution
Now, we will recall Numero eSIM virtual mobile numbers and data plans. In fact, you can use these products once you arrive at your destination, even at the airports.
You can subscribe to the virtual number and purchase the mobile data plan before your travel. The virtual number will be ready to use right away, and once you set up the mobile data plan, it will be ready to auto-activate once you arrive at the airport.
This means that you wouldn’t need to waste a minute in the airport and head straight to the gate, knowing that you’re fully ready to connect.
Check these tutorials: how to get a virtual phone number from Numero, and visit Numero eSIM app to see available data plans ( Data only & bundles).
Challenge 4: International Communications For Businesses
Communications for business owners, customer support departments, freelancers, and other types of businesses can be quite challenging, especially if your clients and targeted audience are not in the same country.
Let’s say that you have a client living in the UK that you call frequently, and you live in Saudi Arabia. In this case, you will be charged an international rate for calls, and it will come with high costs.
Large companies with customer support departments and clients from different countries would also like to find a way to facilitate communication for their clients and find a way for them to reach out to them for free.
Other companies would like to create an international presence for their business.
This is real suffering for this category, as international calls come at a high cost and the majority of providers do not provide alternative solutions that enable this category to communicate with their customers abroad at a lower cost and an easier way.
Numero’s Solution
If you are an individual and you have your own business in which you contact clients from other countries or clients from a specific country frequently, you can buy virtual phone numbers for these countries and make calls with cheaper rates than international, or even local rates for some countries. This is guaranteed to save you a lot of money.
Numero also provides a high-value product for companies with customer support departments and provides services beyond their physical locations. Toll-free numbers are available for over 16 countries and these numbers can receive calls from up to 5 lines at the same time.
Example:
If you have a business in the UAE and a high percentage of your clients are located in the UK, and you have a local toll-free number, this means that you will be charged high rates for international calls from the UK, and your clients may also be charged for their outgoing calls.
But if you buy a UK toll-free number from Numero, then provide your customers in the UK with this UK toll-free number, it will make the process much easier and with much lower cost for both your business and client.
Download Numero eSIM to overcome the inflexible telecom services you may get from your local telecom operator.
