It's no longer low-cost handsets that are fuelling the mobile grey markets of Africa and Asia. Today, subscriber profitability is being threatened by an increasing demand for high-end, feature-rich and aspirational devices.
Download WDSGlobal 's Free Industry Briefing 'Managing the Evolution of Grey-Market Mobile Handsets in Africa'.

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While reduced import taxes and component costs have moderated demand for low-cost grey-market handsets across the continent, African consumers are showing increased demand for high-end feature phones. Such devices often can’t be accurately identified, supported or configured to access data services on an operator’s network. This immediately threatens subscriber profitability concludes WDSGlobal , a global leader in mobile device management and knowledge and support services for the mobile industry.

WDSGlobal is perfectly positioned to help mobile operators better manage and monetize grey-market handsets attached to their network. In particular, WDSGlobal 's portfolio of carrier-grade solutions can help to enhance:

1. Support: Support calls for grey-market handsets may not be effectively resolved, either because of internal policy or simply because the knowledge does not exist within the existing support operation. Any negative impact on average handle times from grey market devices can immediately damage end-user profitability.
2. Configuration: Grey-market handsets may not be correctly configured for an operator’s high-margin data services; such as mobile Internet. These handsets are typically limited to basic voice and messaging services.
3. Detection: Without a device detection module on its network, an operator may not even recognize a grey-market handset attaching to its network or a subscriber making a handset switch. This can lead to incorrect CRM data about the subscriber or an incorrect configuration being pushed to the handset.
4. Reporting: WDSGlobal is able to help you better understand and analyze the composition of all handsets connected to a network. Track technology penetration, brand market share, consumer trends for device types and characteristics of all devices, including those sourced on the grey-market.

The grey-market challenge highlights the need for validated repositories of data to feed internal systems such as customer care and device configuration. If a grey-market handset hits a customer care touchpoint, a support agent must have the knowledge available to resolve the issue quickly and efficiently. If they can’t then profitability is quickly damaged. Likewise, device management platforms, used to remotely configure handsets for data services, must be able to identify the device, understand its capabilities and how to provision it.

Learn more about the issues facing the African mobile market by downloading the FREE Industry Briefing, or talk to us about how WDSGlobal can help you to better manage the profitability of your end-users.

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