EE aims to improve 4G and relocate customer services

[jonsie]

EE aims to improve 4G and relocate customer services

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36116584

Mobile phone operator EE is aiming to bring 4G to 95% of the UK landmass by 2020 as well as relocating its customer services to the UK and Ireland.

In 2015, the firm was fined £1m ($1.4m) by communications watchdog Ofcom over customer service failings.

The network will also switch on high-speed 4G in the Shetland Islands and the Isles of Scilly this week.

Chief Executive Marc Allera told the BBC customers expected to be able to access the internet wherever they were.

Currently, 4G coverage is measured as a percentage of the population rather than geographically.

EE said it also aimed to bring all its customer services operations back to the UK and Ireland from overseas by the end of 2016.

"It's a big investment," said Marc Allera.

"People look at off-shoring as reducing costs but when you look at the added cost of unhappy customers... actually this isn't going to be an enormous incremental cost."

He declined to say whether customers would face price rises as a result but said that the competitiveness of the market would "ensure we focus on value for money".

[Cleoriff]

I read this earlier today. I was interested in this part.....

EE said it also aimed to bring all its customer services operations back to the UK and Ireland from overseas by the end of 2016.

"It's a big investment," said Marc Allera.

"People look at off-shoring as reducing costs but when you look at the added cost of unhappy customers... actually this isn't going to be an enormous incremental cost."

Sounds noble....but is there more to it than that?

[Bambino]

Their target of 2020 seems a long way off, seeing as how O2's target date is 2017. I would have thought that the networks would be beginning to roll out 5G by 2020.

Maybe their objective of bringing customer service back to the UK might push the others to do the same, although I have to say that Three's cs is outsourced and I've never had a problem with it, apart from the odd 'could you repeat that please?'

[Anonymous]

Well I am joining them as they already give coverage in my locality.

[MI5]

Makes perfect sense.....

[jonsie]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well I am joining them as they already give coverage in my locality.

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Coverage is everything.....

[sheepdog]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

I read this earlier today. I was interested in this part.....

EE said it also aimed to bring all its customer services operations back to the UK and Ireland from overseas by the end of 2016.

"It's a big investment," said Marc Allera.

"People look at off-shoring as reducing costs but when you look at the added cost of unhappy customers... actually this isn't going to be an enormous incremental cost."

Sounds noble....but is there more to it than that?

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Course there is. Outsourcing to places like India has been getting expensive over the last few years as once staff get some experience they move on to the next place for more money. Eventually you hit the problem of staff shortages and paying them more to sustain the service levels which on a fixed price contract suddenly becomes less profitable for the call centre company. The first thing that suffers is customer service as too little staff and too many calls to meet the now unachievable targets. The call centre then turns round to the company asking for more money at the contract review stage at which point the bean counters do their stuff. 

So they can bring it back to the UK (reverse offshoring I think its called) but this time, thanks to the explosion of social media, you don't need a big call centre now (oh hello o2 ) so the number of jobs will be less than before yet from a PR perspective, its jobs in the UK. Don't be surprised if the call centre will be operated by Capita who seem to have the infrastructure in place....eventually offshoring to another low cost country to maximise profits whilst retaining localised management to satisfy the contract terms.

Now being even more cynical, as its a BT company (EE that is) who's intials mockingly defined as 'Bangalore Telecom' for its well known outsourcing stance, it would be interesting to see how much investment is made considering the debt taken on in purchasing EE. And apparently BT may also be losing Champions League football as UEFA weren't happy in the loss of viewers since the move. Oh well, price rises it is then. 

[Beenherebefore]

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@sheepdog wrote:

Now being even more cynical

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I don't think that is possible ! 

[Curr946]

Read this today also, can only be a good thing. Wonder what improvement O2 will need to make to retain its customers.