CSPs rolling out new CCAPS offerings to boost ARPUs and customer satisfaction

As an increasing range of services are provided digitally, customers need increased protection for their devices, connections and personal data. How can Connected Customer Assurance & Protection Services (CCAPS) provide effective security against complex online risks?

No-one wants to be a dumb pipe, but differentiating your connectivity from that of another provider isn’t always easy. If you’re not careful that differentiation becomes focused solely on price and the result is negative price-based competition that benefits no-one.

But how do you create a Quality Network proposition?  What do customers want from a Quality Network, and what are they prepared to pay for?

Some CSPs think they have the answer to these questions in the form of what industry analysts Omnisperience terms ‘Connected Customer Assurance & Protection Services’ or CCAPS. O2, Telefonica, Yoigo and MEO have all launched services into this space in the last year, and others are following.

CCAPS are not about simply reselling B2C cybersecurity packages such as Norton and Kaspersky – CSPs have been doing that for years. Instead, they combine more comprehensive cybersecurity capabilities that go beyond just endpoint security with privacy features, parental controls, smart home connectivity features and quality assurance to create a much broader service offering.

CCAPS use a combination of native capabilities that the CSPs already have and third-party technology to create the solution. They don’t replace enterprise cybersecurity, but instead sit alongside it, protecting individuals, households, SMEs and homeworkers.

Currently, CSPs offer different types of CCAPS to their customers. Over time they will broaden their offerings to incorporate more elements, and in this way grow the value of the service. Yoigo, for example, has launched an ID protection service which incorporates insurance against losses; MEO (Altice Portugal) has launched a cybersecurity service including malware, phishing, ransomware and cryptomining protection, as well as parental controls; whilst Telefonica has launched a comprehensive cybersecurity offering called Conexion Segura.

The Telefonica service has seen immense success in the year since launch, with more than 50% of its customer base adopting it and paying an extra couple of dollars per month for the protection provided.

Such services offer increased utility to their target audience because they take the effort out of cyberprotection - everything that’s connected to the network is automatically protected. There is no need to figure out how many licences you need, install anything or keep it updated. Importantly, CSPs can go beyond what B2C cybersecurity firms provide by using their knowledge of the network to mop up malware and spam before it gets to home networks, as well as protecting key components such as the customer premises equipment (CPE).

The CPE is a particular target for cybercriminals because it is the gateway to the home. By protecting it, CSPs can ensure that everything south of the CPE is covered – including all the smart devices that don’t have enough processing power to enable device protection to be installed upon them (such as Alexa-enabled speakers, smart bulbs, fridges and so on).

But securing the CPE is also a challenge. Any security software can’t restrict its performance and create a bottleneck. CSPs are therefore ideally placed to balance these requirements: monitoring both the network experience and the security status of the smart “lifespace” that the household is evolving into.

CCAPS are essentially a new kind of value-added service that deliver a range of benefits to both customers and CSPs. Unlike many new CSP revenue streams that are currently being talked about by industry commentators, demand for CCAPS is proven, not theoretical. CSPs that have launched initial CCAPS offerings are seeing immediate uplifts to their ARPUs in the region of €1-2 per month, with the potential to increase this as offerings become more sophisticated.

The opportunity to do this is demonstrated by recent research from Coleman Parkes in the US, Japan and LATAM [1], which found that APAC consumers are willing to pay an average of $4.81 for such services, LATAM customers $5.50, and US customers $4.80.

“Connected Customer Protection & Assurance Services are one of the low-hanging fruits for CSPs currently looking for new revenue streams,” says Teresa Cottam, Chief Analyst of Omnisperience and author of a new report on CCAPS. “They’re vital both as a direct source of much-needed revenue, but also because they boost digital confidence, making them essential to the success of the digital economy.”

When CSPs are equipped with a modern BSS platform and flexible product catalogue capabilities, CCAPS can be rolled out quickly, with new customers able to choose the option of enhanced security and assurance at the onboarding stage, and existing customers targeted through their bills and other promotional campaigns. The cost essentially substitutes for existing spend on B2C cybersecurity, but provides a highly profitable and quick uplift to CSP ARPUs that can be further boosted over time. CCAPS also reinforce the relationship between customer and CSP, deliver digital confidence and keep customers on-net. Find out more about the potential to deliver CCAPS in Omnisperience’s new report: Unleashing new revenues streams and boosting digital confidence with CCAPS.

Contact us now to learn how our Enterprise BSS/OSS suite can accelerate product launches and help you monetise new services such as CCAPS.

[1] CSP Security Survey: Trends in the US, Japan and LATAM, September 2020 (page 6)