Roaming Charges mean Rethink for Telecoms

As of the 1st of July the new European Cap which was introduced to cut the cost of using a mobile phone abroad has now came into effect, telecoms executives from across Europe were keen to discuss the implementations of the new bill and an ever growing ‘customer is king ‘ attitude at the NGT EU summit which concluded last week.

The bill enforced by the EU has not come soon enough with some customers receiving bills up to £27,000 for using mobile broadband abroad. The cap can be increased or decreased by the consumer again backing the idea that relationship with the customer is key to success in the telecoms industry. The new EU rules will also cut the costs of making and receiving calls around Europe, just in time for the holiday season and allow free access to voicemail. The new EU rules were met with little resistance by the Telecoms committee who have been aware that such steps would be taken to protect the consumer sooner rather than later.

The executives who make the NGT EU committee met at Lake Geneva, Switzerland where Paul Excell the Chief Customer Innovation Officer, BT opened discusions. Paul is responsible for ensuring that Innovation and Technology business generates £1 billion over the next three years at BT, he offered his insight to representatives such as Bouygues Telecom - Yves Caseau, EVP Services & Innovation, Belgacom - Stijn Vander Plaetse, VP Innovation, Tiscali - Salvatore Pulvirenti, CIO and Vodafone - Paul Wybrow, Group Technical Director while speaking out about the 7 c’s of communication. Communication is Key and the telecoms industry knows this better than anybody.

“When your communication is important -- that is, when you want it to be remembered -- you need to think carefully and design it to resonate with your intended audience.” Paul Excell – BT

The 7 c’s which consist of context, i.e. is the situation fully understood, and are we asking the right questions. Content, do you have a single definable goal. Components, break down projects into their specifics. Cuts, remove the sections that don’t work and get to the point. Composition, how do you want to deliver your message. Contrast, find the differences and use it to highlight your point, change triggers the attention of others and finally consitancy, make sure your message is maintained.

“The 7 c’s can improve your communication, they lay out a simple sequence which can help you start broadly and work your way down to specifics of a particular problem or project eventually coming up with a solution for the customer .” NGT EU committee member
It is to the benefit of every business to understand and communicate with the customer but how this happens makes the difference between a success or the miscommunication of your message. The Roaming charges for European customers are but another example where companies did not communicate to the customer. It seems at last lessons are being learnt.

Consumer Confusion Push for industry labeling agreement

The European Committee has just voted against consumer pressure to introduce a traffic light colour code for food labeling. But how has the industry reacted. Coca Cola, Kellogg’s, DANONE, Kraft Foods and Nestle among many other industry leading representatives meet at the illustrious NGF Summit at the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, The Netherlands to discuss action plans.

The new system already adopted in the UK has been unanimously agreed upon by consumer boards as the best way to combat global health concerns for obesity. It is no secret that this was widely rejected by the industry with growing fears of reduced competitiveness and unfairly portraying certain food products such as cheese and pâté as an unhealthy choice.

As in many other areas of food manufacturing, the rules have changed for packaging and labeling. Regulations surrounding ingredient and nutrition disclosure as well as allergen labeling necessitate changes in labeling operations, while sustainability and security in packaging become increasingly challenging. The attendees at the NGF EU summit hosted by GDS International will explore the innovative technologies and practices to enable both compliance and efficiency within the areas of packaging and labeling and debate the widely controversial subject of honest and clear fat, salt, calorie and sugar content labelling.

Under the system – a version of which is in use in the UK – food companies would be required to label the front of their packages with red, amber or green icons to denote the amounts of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar they contain.

Despite the rejection BEUC, Europe’s largest consumer organisation, called the vote “a severe blow” for public health. A unified strategy is expected to be reached at the next NGH EU summit with representatives from Coca – Cola enterprises, Danone, Kellogs Europe, Kraft Foods, Nestle all of which who have openly stated their concerns with the traffic light.

With the consumer struggling with a mix match of food labeling solutions and confusing information an ever growing health conscious society is pushing for a standard solution. Although voluntary use of the traffic light system has been embraced by stores such as Waitrose and Marks and Spencer’s other companies are using different percentage break downs and varying colour coding systems. But can a viable solution be agreed upon given consumer pressure?