By Michal Samuels

With mobile customers constantly roaming around the global village, it is tempting to think that wireless carriers around the world face the same challenges in terms of retaining customers, especially since the prepaid market is notorious for high-churn rates.  

However, our customer base tells a very different story. Carriers worldwide face challenges unique to their own markets.

Mobile phone users no longer need to carry around more than one mobile phone. Mobile manufacturers have created ingenious phones that are able to handle more than one SIM card at any given time. 

For example, mobile handset manufacturer Samsung recently announced a multi-SIM phone, in which case both SIMs are active simultaneously.

This means that if a user is talking to someone on the first SIM gets a call on the second SIM, then the phone owner will be able to see who is calling and can accept the call on the second SIM.

Of course, this presents new headaches for carriers.

The challenge now is to retain customers on a full-time basis. 

Russian paths
Customers are not necessarily going away and thus churning in the real sense of the word. But they become dormant for periods of time when they are using a competitive wireless network.

One of the markets in which we have seen the popularity of dual-SIM phones rise is Russia ? boasting the largest mobile market in Central and Eastern Europe while continuously growing. 

In May 2009 the total number of subscribers reached 194.7 million, with customers being wooed by the three major service providers ? MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon. Competition intensifies with the increasing number of multiple SIM ownerships.

The legal framework in Russia has created a unique mobile market ? there are more prepaid customers than those on contract. 

Further, most users have dual-SIM handsets, where both SIMs are live and users decide before each call which one to use. 

As the majority of handsets are not purchased through the carriers but rather from independent stores, Russian carriers cannot lock handsets to their networks. As a result, customers can benefit from different carriers? SIMs on a daily basis. 

The power thus lies with the subscriber, making it extremely difficult for the carriers to lock in customer loyalty.

Customers receive multiple offers from different carriers and are able to choose which offer to accept.

This practice results in intensifying the fierce competition between providers, forcing them to offer attractive call rates to discourage users from switching to the second SIM for roaming or domestic calls.

According to InternetWorldStats, mobile SIM card penetration in Russia has surpassed 100 percent, while actual mobile user penetration is lower.

For example, at the end of May 2009, SIM cards in use in St. Petersburg showed 174 per 100 inhabitants, while in Moscow there were as many as 195 per 100 inhabitants. 

Dueling in the SIM
The key element in tackling dual-SIM usage is the ability to perform advanced analysis of customer behavior.

Specifically, there is a need to detect constant usage, which points at the possibility that the user holds another SIM for specific types of calls.

For example, usage of a SIM for limited phone numbers might indicate that the user has a SIM for personal use and another SIM for work purposes.

Other indicators could be destination changes such as off-net and on-net usage patterns, silent periods during the day or balance rates.

It is key to identify real-time usage patterns and balance rates based on personal behavioral attributes.

Once a baseline analysis process is established, the aim should be to track the purchase of a secondary SIM as soon as possible.

These offers can be fulfilled automatically, allowing for a quick follow-up with attractive offers and, consequently, achieve higher response rates. 

This allows carriers to follow the behavior of its entire customer base on an individual basis, while constantly verifying the response rates to fine-tune personal offers and ensure customer satisfaction.

With dual-SIM becoming an increasing attractive option to mobile phone users, the trend that became popular in Russia is now spilling over to other countries as well, including Sri Lanka and China.

Michal Samuels is marketing manager of Pontis, Glil Yam, Israel. Reach her at