The fixed business connectivity market is one of the most complex and competitive in the telecommunications sector. For established operators, maintaining their position is essential not only to protect their revenues, but also to ensure their right to play a relevant role in other emerging sectors such as cloud and security. However, differentiation in this market is becoming an increasingly pronounced challenge, in an environment where services seem to be homogenising and it is easier for new companies to enter the market because they can use existing networks rather than having to build their own infrastructure.

With the support of operators, key aspects were identified that make the difference in the choice of a fixed connectivity provider by companies. Among them, failure response and customer satisfaction emerge as determining factors, while network footprint and price have been losing relevance over time. Consequently, these dynamics stand out as opportunities for operators to effectively position themselves in the market.

Failure response: A critical factor

An operator’s ability to respond quickly to service failures is by far the most valued aspect by businesses when selecting a fixed connectivity provider. Most operators indicated that their customers consider this factor to be “very important.” While service level agreements (SLAs) are often similar across providers, the real differentiation comes in execution. A failure to respond can lead to significant customer churn, as many businesses only value this factor when they experience problems.

In this way, careful SLA management becomes a competitive advantage and demonstrates robustness in internal processes. This approach highlights the importance of not committing to SLAs that cannot be met, as an effective response to failures can be the line between customer retention and customer loss.

Recent extreme weather events have also put the response capabilities of several operators to the test. For these operators, the use of analytical reports that highlight the performance of their fault response processes can be a valuable tool to strengthen the confidence of current customers and attract new business.

Customer satisfaction

Established customer relationships have taken on even greater importance since 2021. In an environment where winning new business is increasingly difficult, customer retention has become a priority for operators. Customer loyalty, however, varies widely. Some operators indicated that while a segment of their customers shows loyalty, another segment switches providers as soon as an opportunity for service or price improvement arises.

For established operators, this is a critical point. As long as they maintain an adequate level of customer satisfaction and respond effectively to the factors that matter to their customers, they are unlikely to lose significant market share. In this context, the ability to anticipate customer needs and offer tailored solutions is proving to be a more valuable strategy than technical innovation per se.

Finding opportunities to break into this market in the short term may be difficult, but not impossible. In general, operators that manage to offer an effective response to failures, maintain high levels of customer satisfaction and explore new areas of improvement will have a better chance of consolidating themselves in a market where technical solutions and network footprint are becoming less of a differentiator. For operators, the key is to offer high-quality managed services and take advantage of the opportunities offered by a constantly evolving technological environment.