The importance of providing an attractive upgrade path for existing customers has been underestimated by MNOs to date. Obsession with market share and customer acquisition priorities, and a failure to fully identify the losses incurred through the lack of a well-designed upgrade scheme has contributed to this. Prepay customers have been particularly poorly addressed, but still in many developed markets, it costs more for an existing postpay customer to upgrade than it would for a new customer to join. Building on previous research and analysis, this presentation proposes and costs an upgrade scheme designed to address customers in developed European markets. Where the opportunities for further growth are limited by market saturation, creating a situation where the right upgrade approach is used can be the key differentiator between successful and unsuccessful MNOs. The presentation draws conclusions about the optimum way to approach the subject of upgrades and recommends a five-point set of actions to ensure that the business and competitive benefits of a well designed upgrade scheme can be fully realised.

Keywords: Mobile Phone, Strategy, Policy, Postpay, Prepay, Upgrade,

Table of Contents

Overview	2
Presentation Navigation	3
Introduction and Background	4
Upgrade Scheme Objectives	16
Current Scheme Shortcomings	23
Hypothetical Transparent Upgrade Scheme	27
Conclusions	38