Telecoms Companies In Gaming And Esports

Republished By Plato

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Telecoms companies being in gaming and esports is often seen as a default position. Afterall, they provide a lot of the infrastructure that enables gaming to happen. When it comes to esports the default position has been to sponsor tournaments and teams.

I’d argue that the consumers know each and every telecoms company in their local market. Telecoms companies don’t have an awareness problem. The problem they have is about moving from being considered a default, expected service (like WiFi) to providing value over and above the data bundles, the minutes and the download speeds. With 5G being rolled out around the world now is the perfect time for telecoms companies to look at what else they can do in the gaming space.

I see three areas where telecoms companies can get more involved in gaming and esports.

Services
Billing
Content

Providing relevant gaming services

Telecoms companies have access to vast amounts of data including data about what games are being played on their network. This enables the creation of a specific customer view (who plays what games). It also enables the identification of behaviour patterns. This combination can be used by telecoms companies to strategise about new services that may be relevant to their customers. It could be about creating internal tools for sending alerts when credit is running low just before the weekend if players normally spend their weekend playing.

These services could also be things like helping players of the same game come together in a community and share their tips or best clips. There are many types of services that can be created but it starts with the data.

Globe Telecom in the Philippines are one telecoms company who have got more heavily involved in the gaming and esports space. It was interesting to hear the comments from Globe’s CEO back in 2018 when they launched their first gaming and esports initiative.

“I think it depends on how one views his company,” says Cu. “If you view yourself as a telecommunications firm solely, then yes maybe it’s not interesting, maybe they don’t see it as a generator of subscription revenue. At Globe, we’ve always viewed ourselves as a digital lifestyle company, and now we are changing the way our customers consume data.”

His reference to “digital lifestyle company” demonstrates a change in thinking and a focus on how they can support customers in all areas.

Billing

Billing is another area where telecoms companies have a great opportunity. Working with game developers and publishers to integrate mobile billing solutions does two things; it enables the telecoms company to add another revenue stream but more importantly it also provides utility to the players. Players now have options on how they pay for new games, or content or other related services.

Gaming Content

Content comes in many shapes and sizes. For this article I will position it in two ways. Promoting relevant content like new games or alerting players to game updates is the first way. The second way is about becoming a developer/publisher and working with customers to create games that will resonate with them. Again, the data can play a big part and help in gaining understanding of the audience size for different games. As a developer/publisher there will be a new set of requirements and risks, but also new opportunities. Creating and distributing games enables a telecoms company to reach a global audience not just the existing customer audience. With it comes the opportunity for new revenue from “non-customers”.

As the games industry continues to mature and with even more mainstream crossover I see an evolution of telecoms companies in gaming with the move from being perceived as infrastructure companies to being media companies with many related offerings.

Founder & CEO at Cheesecake Digital

Philip is the Founder of Cheesecake Digital and has been involved in esports since 2001. He has written for multiple digital marketing and gaming publications including the BBC and Guinness Book of World Records.