In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review, Daniel Kjellander, head of Middle East, CSG, talks about the company’s innovative SaaS solutions for enterprises and the monetization opportunities they enable CSPs in the region to capitalize on.
2022 was an eventful year for CSG. Can you bring us up to speed on the company's growth trajectory and what that means for the company's business in EMEA?
Thank you very much for having me. The post-pandemic Telecom Review Leadership Summit in Dubai back in December was very efficient for us as a provider to the industry as it enabled us to meet with CSPs and our customers around the globe. It also allowed us to look at current industry challenges and how they may impact the future. As you may know, CSG is a customer-focused, high-growth SaaS platform company, and together with my over 5000 employees, we pride ourselves on solving some of the industry’s and CSPs’ biggest business challenges.
Looking back at 2022, we had another record-breaking year where we surpassed another $1 billion in revenue, with 4% year-on-year growth in a very different climate. For the next two to three years, CSG has even bigger ambitions, and we're looking to both grow and expand globally. If we look specifically into the Middle Eastern Region, CSG has a history of supporting some of the local CSPs’ digital wholesale businesses, and we have end-customers that rely on what we're doing as well. We are now expanding into the BSS transformation arena within the Middle East, and I'm proud to drive a significant program for one of the leading mobile operators in Saudi Arabia. So, those two components combined with the deregulation that is happening in the market is where we were excited to launch two new solutions in 2022.
CSG Xponent enhances the customer journey and experience, while CSG Encompass enables CSPs to manage and monetize partnerships in B2B and B2B2X business models. In summary, we're super excited about 2023 as we continue to drive innovation for the industry in close collaboration with our customers and partners.
Given this momentum, how is CSG helping CSPs simplify and future-proof their business operations and explore new business opportunities across the region?
The region is moving fast when it comes to 5G build-out, which is one of the key components that will enable new revenue streams. On the back of that, investments in automation and impactful digital transformation solutions are needed.
We are expecting the regulatory situation to improve during the first part of 2023, and hence, we're excited to continue to make it easier for people and businesses to connect with, use, and pay for some of the services they value the most.
In today’s hyper-connected world, new, exciting, and easily accessible experiences are the currency for survival and the main driver for CSPs to know their customers more intimately. By learning more about their customers’ expectations and behavioral patterns will not only help them attract new customers but build brand loyalty that help retain the existing customer base.
To achieve this, CSPs need a solution that can help them optimize operations and move beyond connectivity. This is where CSG comes into the picture with a fully automated plug-and-play microservices solution. We also bring to market an agile methodology when it comes to serving our customers. The Middle Eastern region has some exciting opportunities for CSPs to embark on, and we're proud to help them some of the leading’s brands solve their most pressing business challenges as they gear up for the future.
With that said, what are their biggest challenges and opportunities in 2023?
Political unrest across all parts of the world continue to put the global economy under a lot of pressure, and these macroeconomic challenges will continue to push companies towards more automation and do more with what we have already. That might be a tough ask for some of the CSPs, to go out and further invest in digital transformation. To meet our customers where they’re at, CSG is building on our existing baseline of what we believe is the key to expand and enable additional monetization for our customers, our partners, and marketplaces for B2B and B2B2X business models.
Partnerships play a huge role here, and while examples include the likes of Netflix, it could also be with the local bank or grocery store, where you would combine your services with their capabilities. Imagine being the leading CSPs in the region with a customer base of tens of millions of subscribers; moving beyond connectivity and expanding into new verticals can drive additional revenue and help secure retention of the existing customer base.
Thanks to deregulation and cloud-based capabilities, CSG Xponent and CSG Encompass is the winning combination for ambitious CSPs as we head into an exciting new year of opportunity.
