- Apr 19, 2022
- 3 min read

Subtonomy Continues Expansion into MEA and APAC

Updated: Oct 27, 2023

- with new sales offices in Paris, France and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

“As interest in our products increases across both regions it makes sense to boost our local presence to enable us to support partners, customers and prospects more readily. I’m delighted to welcome Sorab Boubakour and Simon Kong to our team. We’re really looking forward to working with Sorab and Simon to help service providers across MEA and APAC take customer support to the next level.” Fredrik Edwall, SVP Sales & Marketing at Subtonomy

Subtonomy has seen a surge in demand for both its Network Experience Platform - which provides invaluable, real-time insight into the experience of customers across all networks (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G NSA, 5G SA, fibre and broadband) to operational, customer care, business and marketing teams – as well as its applications supporting enterprise customers, MVNOs and customer self-service across all the regions in which it operates. This demand is driven by:

5G increasing expectations for efficient, omnichannel customer service and personalized experiences
coronavirus pandemic boosting demand for chatbots and self-service, which require real-time network experience data to support customer queries
huge increases in complex and QoS-sensitive service such as streaming video, videoconferencing and gaming driving support demands
increased home working, which means CSPs now need to seamlessly support workers across fibre broadband, traditional broadband and mobile networks.

MENA is rolling out 5G fast and transforming to a knowledge economy

With MENA rolling out 5G coverage so fast, customer expectations are rising rapidly. STC Kuwait, for example, achieved nationwide 5G coverage in October 2019 and the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is pushing for total coverage across the Emirates by 2025. Qatar 2022 will be the first global sporting event for fans since the coronavirus pandemic, and will showcase a wide variety of new 5G-based experiences. But beyond sport, the Gulf countries have been adopting 5G as part of a larger effort to transition from oil-based to knowledge-based economies. The Gulf states have even built high-tech hubs such as Lusail (Qatar), Duqm (Oman), Riyadh and Neom (KSA), and Masdar City (UAE). And the pandemic has increased demand for Arab-language chatbots. All of which is driving the need for more efficient, personalized customer support such as that enabled by Subtonomy.

Subsaharan Africa’s challenge is to increase access for lower ARPU customers

By 2025, the GSMA forecasts there will be 615 million mobile subscriber in Subsaharan Africa – 120 million more than at the end of 2020 – but only 474 million will be mobile internet users (up from 303 million in 2020). Despite this phenomenal growth, just 50% of the population will be mobile users and 39% mobile internet users. Connectivity is no longer the biggest issue, since most customers are within the coverage area of a mobile network. Affordability is now the main challenge. To drive the economic benefits of the Digital Economy in Subsaharan Africa, CSPs therefore need to find cost-effective ways of connecting and supporting ultra low-ARPU customers, as well as supporting the transition from 3G to 4G networks, from feature phones to smartphones, and from simple to complex service offerings.

APAC needs support that matches its network experience, as it transitions to a knowledge economy

If coronavirus had not disrupted international travel, Tokyo 2020 would have been the first connected Olympics, showcasing advanced use of IoT, drones, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, augmented and virtual reality. But despite the travel ban, AI use has continued apace in the region and 5G is being used for everything from Smart Ambulance Services to onboarding new employees. Alibaba alone has invested $1 billion in AR and VR startups in the last couple of years, with its latest round being $60m in smart glasses maker Nreal. Gaming is also booming in Asia with South Korean operators using their 5G networks to launch cloud gaming propositions, including KT’s GameBox; while in Singapore, Singtel’s cloud gaming proposition uses its 5G standalone network to deliver a superior experience to users; and Thailand’s dtac has launched Gaming Nation. But with Asian operators needing to deliver superior customer at a low cost, a new approach it needed.

Expanded sales team will help increase support for MEA and APAC

As service providers across both MEA and APAC recognize that they need to support customers with a better service experience – providing personalized notifications when things go wrong, resolving problems rapidly and cost-effectively, and even fixing issues before customers notice – they’re increasingly turning to Subtonomy. Our Network Experience Platform provides all the data they need to empower and transform customer support, and our easy-to-use applications enable the same data to be used across all channels of operation and for a variety of use cases.