Telecoms PR: What a good PR needs to know about the telecoms industry

This week the attention of anyone in the tech PR industry was focused on the telecoms market. And indeed, the news from Mobile World Congress abounded with stories about technology innovation and thought leadership. With new developments happening on a daily basis the telecoms sector is a fast-paced environment that needs to be carefully watched. We wondered how these new trends and technologies are affecting telecoms PR and what are the key skills required to deliver successful PR campaigns in this space?

The complexity conundrum: The telecoms industry is a very complex market. With plenty of players across the hardware, software, and service provisioning space, it is no wonder that people are often finding it difficult to understand who is doing what in the telecoms world. From companies offering video broadcasting satellites and telephone handsets , to internet and network service providers, to software vendors delivering data and equipment management tools, the telecoms industry offers a diverse range of issues and technical challenges that need to be taken into account when devising a PR campaign. Therefore PR agencies need to have a broad understanding of a wide range of industry and technology issues across multiple sectors to keep up with the fast pace of this complex and demanding market.

The convergence issue: The increasing convergence in the telecoms space is blurring the boundaries between consumer electronics, computer hardware, and telecom services, with technology vendors increasingly finding themselves competing with CSPs and internet service providers for a lucrative share of the telecoms market. For instance, today’s telco organisations are partnering with media companies to offer video-on-demand for mobile devices and other content-based services that were previously considered outside their domain. PR consultants need to understand the intrinsic relationships between the key players in the telecoms market and be able to effectively communicate their client’s messaging to different market segments and audiences.

Understand new trends: As a fast moving market, the telecoms sector ushers in innovative technologies almost on a daily basis. Understanding the key trends behind these technological developments will play a key role in creating and executing creative issues-led telecoms PR campaigns. The role of 4G, for instance, will enable a whole new set of services for consumers and businesses within the telcoms space. This will impact the tariffs and data sharing plans offered by telco providers and the access to data-heavy mobile applications. Another significant trend in this space is the evolution of M2M services and the role of telco providers in provisioning connectivity to enable communication between M2M devices.

Broader reach across vertical markets: The growth of M2M will enable CSPs to partner with electronic and equipment manufacturers as well as network management and wireless solutions providers to deliver new services to consumers across a range of vertical markets. The automotive industry is a good example of how this trend is going to affect the telecoms space. Car infotainment systems will enable drivers to interact on social media sites, get live updates about traffic jams on their route, find the nearest gas station and benefit from many other new services that were not possible before. The opportunities for all players in the market seem to be very promising. For PR agencies this means broadening the scope of telecoms PR campaigns to reach different vertical markets and establishing strong relationships with key media across all vertical sectors relevant to their clients. Therefore leveraging sound industry knowledge and deep understanding of key market issues across vertical sectors will be key to ensuring a telecoms PR campaign is a success.