Cerillion Blog

We talk self-service, innovation and changing customer expectations with Tiago Lopes, Cerillion’s newest Product Manager.

T-Mobile are forcibly moving customers onto newer, more expensive mobile plans – just don’t call it a price rise. Why is America’s noble “uncarrier” resorting to devilish tricks and weasel words to justify price rises?

Tensions between telcos and Big Tech companies are reaching fever pitch as CSPs demand fair compensation for their massive investments in infrastructure. We look at what Europe’s telecoms firms are asking for, and why them getting their way might not be the best outcome for customers.

Could major US tech firms soon be paying their dues to telcos to fund network infrastructure upgrades in Europe? Perhaps, if the EU gets its way, but is this a vital new source of revenue for connectivity providers, or a profit-leeching protection racket?

CSPs continue to struggle against OTT services, who are growing rapidly on the back of telco infrastructure. Are they an existential threat, or is there common ground to be had?

With an overabundance of subscription offerings all vying for the attention of potential customers, businesses must ensure that their free trials, the gateway to their service for many, provide a rounded customer experience without misleading expectations. How can subscription businesses accomplish this – and leave them wanting more?

With Netflix announcing their decision to close the accounts of inactive customers, should other subscription businesses reconsider how they deal with “zombie accounts” who pay their fees but don’t engage with a service? Is the decision a strictly moral choice, or is there a financial benefit behind it too?

We cast our minds back to the beginning of the year, once again, and to the five predictions that Cerillion made for the biggest trends for the subscription industry in 2020; how have recent developments treated these expectations over half a year later?

The global outbreak of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to dominate the news cycle, as it wreaks havoc on all aspects of life; the telecoms industry has been no different. With providers having their usual processes disrupted and users even more dependent on their communications services while in isolation, how is the industry responding to its greatest ever challenge?

For all the success stories of the booming subscription industry, we cannot forget there are some high-profile failures of the model too. MoviePass, the cinema ticket subscription service, was once the stuff that dreams are made of; now it’s a business for ants. Adam Hughes performs the post-mortem on this now-bankrupt cinema subscription service to see what their mistakes could mean for other subscription businesses.

As we usher in a new decade for the subscription industry, there is no doubt that businesses in the space will find more ways to engage customers, create new revenue streams and innovate with unique approaches. Shashank Venkat looks into the trends that mark the beginnings of a period where the subscription model is poised to become the default for most businesses.

In line with the EU’s vision for a digital single market, new digital media portability rules have come into force from this month. The regulation mandates that paid online content providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video must offer cross-border portability to their subscribers. Shashank Venkat presents the details.