The New Year will also be interesting for Orange, he stated, as the UK mobile industry will have a different shape from one year before following the recession. “It’s going to be quite fascinating watching 2010 as it pans out. I believe there will still be a focus on improving efficiency, but a drive towards further improvements in customer satisfaction will be equally, if not more, important. Overall, I think that 2010 will see customers benefiting from more choice and an even better standard of service.”
Stiven said the primary reason for the improvement in the UK mobile market is the pull away from recession. He explained: “Firstly, if the experts are to be believed, the UK is starting to head towards economic recovery, which will benefit industries across the globe. 2009 has set so many exciting wheels in motion, it’s hard not to view the coming year with optimism.
“The mobile industry is the place to be as far as I’m concerned, at the forefront of technological excellence and offering individuals and businesses the promise of something new and better.”
He continued: “There’s also more evidence that technology and communications tools are recognised as being integral to business development and success, so I’d expect to see those topics sit higher on the agendas of our business leaders as well as their CIOs and IT teams. Also, as policies around flexible and remote working take higher priority within companies, I believe we’ll see businesses make more use of the flexibility and security offered by mobile technology.”
Whatever 2010 holds for the industry, the one thing no one can afford to forget is the importance of customers, warned Stiven. “As the services on offer increase, so will customer expectations, and our continued success will of course ultimately depend on meeting those expectations.
“We haven’t been unscathed by what’s going on in the economy, but despite that, there have been some other significant successes; we broke the 17 million customer mark in November, launched some excellent new products and services such as the Monkey tariff, Superfast Broadband, and other exclusive destination devices such as the LG Watchphone, the HTC Hero and the Motorola DEXT.
“2009 has been the year for laying some solid foundations; however, 2010 will give us a great opportunity to build on this and continue to grow,” Stiven claimed.