The race to become THE supplier of services to the UK’s homes began some time ago, initially one bill for both gas and electricity from one energy supplier and the later move into broadband service provision from energy and telecoms providers.
The leap from telco to utilities feels like a natural one.
Often grouped under the same sector – utilities – a move from telecoms to energy sounds, on the face of it, relatively straight forwards. The reality used to be quite complex, but with barriers to entry being lowered or removed entirely, there’s now a real opportunity for existing telecoms players to take the plunge.
First, let’s take a look at some of the similarities between telecoms companies and energy suppliers;
- Both have a customer base that they bill at regular intervals
- Both were previously state owned
- Both deal with an intangible commodity
Besides the above key similarities, there are a plethora of other general shared business structures (front/back office staff, significant data/technology infrastructure, and so on). But now let’s look at the differences;
- Data is an integral part of the telecoms industry, but has been a secondary concern in energy (dubbed ‘the last analogue industry’)
- Accounting for sales in telecoms can be demonstrated through data, whereas energy is accounted for in arrears and with limited data granularity
- Competition in telecoms is widespread, whereas the energy market is still growing
It’s fair to say that the key differences above have all contributed to the distinct lack of telecoms players in the energy sector, but that could all be about to change…
At ENSEK, we’ve solved the data problem that has historically made profitability a challenge to energy retailers, and by leveraging this data we’ve in turn created a fully integrated, cloud based solution and managed service that covers all the back office requirements. Ultimately, this makes the transition from telecoms seamless, and gives you the ability to continue to focus on what’s most important to your business – your customers.
With competition in the energy industry being as topical as ever, and with more independent suppliers in the market than ever before, now is the right time to take the ingredients of success from your existing business and transfer them to energy.
If you’re an existing telecoms company with ambitions to enter the UK energy market, or want to find out more, get in touch today to see how we could help.
