Is customer service and support one of your top priorities?
In Tellabs' recent Voice of the Customer Survey, we talked to the top 40 carriers worldwide to discover their impressions of technology, likes and dislikes, and what factors will influence future buying decisions. We found some of the responses surprising—will you?
Soft skills sell
Carriers were asked to rank the most important features in any individual product line in terms of buying criteria. The number-two priority across the board? "Great service and support."
Our customers made it clear that they see service and support as not just a throw-in, but one of the key pieces of their buying criteria.
Soft skills are one of the most important things customers want. Tellabs has always made outstanding customer service and support a priority, and our commitment going forward is stronger than ever.
Mobile backhaul still multi-service
The survey also asked customers how much mobile backhaul they're doing in multi-service versus Ethernet and IP. Seventy-five percent said that most of their mobile backhaul requirements are still multi-service. This goes against all the noise, all the hype that everyone is dropping fiber and going to the Ethernet.
The majority indicated that they will be in IP/Ethernet, not multi-service, in the next 5 years. But it won't happen in the next week or the next month. That's not realistic.
LTE deployment ramps up in 2 years
Regarding LTE deployment, we asked, "Tell me when a significant amount of your deployment--10% or greater--is going to be spent on LTE?" Again, the answers were surprising.
In North America and EMEA, we're going to start to see significant spending in the next 2 years. That's consistent with the fact that the carriers in North America and EMEA are very immature in their 3G deployment.
Latin America and Asia Pacific won't be spending until 2012, 2013 and beyond. In developing markets such as India, they're literally auctioning their 3G licenses. Regions that have invested in 3G will want to see these investments through, rather than jumping on to the next thing, which is LTE.
We'd like to hear what you think
Do you agree with the carriers surveyed? Is customer service and support one of your top priorities? If not, what is?
Are you utilizing multi-service, or moving away from it? Let us know what you think. We want to hear from you.
