Free Guest WiFi: Win amidst industry disruption with Purple Connect

As the technology landscape rapidly evolves, the industry demands significant shifts from businesses. It’s something our webinar, “Fixed line is dead, data is a commodity, and AI is killing software. Here's how to win,” covered in detail with expert insights from the former CEO of BT, Gavin Patterson, and serial entrepreneur and Portfolio Chair, Andy Dancer.

It also inspired the launch of Purple Connect, our brand-new FREE Guest WiFi offering, designed to benefit partners and customers alike. Read on to uncover the key factors behind industry disruption and why Purple’s free Guest WiFi offering, Connect, is the winning formula.

Three key factors disrupting our industry

1. The death of the fixed line

Once the backbone of telecommunications infrastructure, fixed lines have become increasingly obsolete as consumers and businesses gravitate toward mobile and broadband solutions.

“I think the decline in fixed line revenues has been going on for 20 years. When I joined BT in 2003, it was 80% of BT's revenues. I'm guessing it's going to be 20% or less now. There has been a steady reduction year after year for the last 20 years. If you look at the data, it's 50% in the last decade, and it was accelerating before that.”

     - Gavin Patterson, former CEO of BT and former CRO of Salesforce
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For instance, advancements in IP technology — blending fixed and mobile communications through unified communications and cloud services — offer features that were inconceivable just a few years ago. Organizations can harness these capabilities to create a more versatile communication environment.

This evolving landscape presents a clear mandate: service providers and resellers must move beyond the limitations of price wars. The opportunity lies in forging distinctive paths through innovative service offerings and superior customer experiences, establishing true differentiation as the key to sustained success in a crowded market.

2. The commoditization of data

The role of data has changed drastically, becoming an essential commodity for business decisions. Companies must transition from merely acquiring data to effectively leveraging it for actionable insights, driving value for the organization and their customers. 

“For me, it's all about commoditization. A lot of different things lead to that. What we're seeing is revenue and margins falling — the price per gigabyte is down 90% in the last five years. Prices for broadband are down 40% over the last decade. So we're seeing a lot of price pressure, but more importantly, customer churn. Because it's commoditized and people don't see added value, we observe a race to the bottom on price. 

Customers are shopping around and switching from one provider to another. From a reseller perspective, this makes it really hard to differentiate. If the only thing resellers can say is that they can go cheaper than the next person, that just accelerates the race to the bottom.”

     - Andy Dancer, serial entrepreneur and Portfolio Chair / Non Executive
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Unlocking the power of customer interaction data can lead to a significant 15-20% boost in revenue, making robust analytics a must-have in the current market. Gaining insights into customer behavior through analytics allows businesses to improve their offerings and adapt to evolving needs. Simply put, understanding your audience helps you give them what they want.

3. The impact of AI

The rise of artificial intelligence is redefining traditional software approaches, necessitating a shift toward agile methodologies.

“What has shocked me is how quickly things have developed in the coding area, in the software industry in particular.

A lot of the applications in service have gotten a lot more headlines, but what I've been seeing over the last few months is the impact on coding and software engineering is extraordinary. Some software companies are reporting that 95% of their code is now being written through AI applications, which is incredible.

‍If you combine that with the functionality available through many cloud providers, like AWS, it's putting huge pressure on the SaaS providers like Salesforce, my previous employer. In many cases, clients are saying, "Well, actually, I can develop these applications myself. I can maintain them myself. It's much cheaper to maintain. Now I have the skills in-house to do that." They don't require the same technical understanding they used to in the past.

I think there's a revolution about to happen in the way SaaS moves, and some of the stars of the technology space, particularly the SaaS sector of the last 20 years, will feel the hot breath of competition at their necks.”

     - Gavin Patterson, former CEO of BT and former CRO of Salesforce
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Intelligent AI automation boosts operational agility, but its true power lies in reshaping customer engagement. By weaving AI into interactions, businesses move beyond basic personalization to create adaptive, resonant experiences – crucial for today's consumer. Organizations strategically using AI can see transformative productivity gains exceeding 40%, marking a new era of efficiency and customer focus.

The role of Purple Connect in driving innovation

With over a decade of industry experience, Purple continues to lead the way in Guest WiFi and Maps solutions with advanced analytics capabilities. In turn, businesses are empowered to remain competitive by enhancing connectivity and enabling seamless data insights to maximize their ROI potential.

Purple Connect, our free Guest WiFi offering, is an exciting extension of this, providing high-quality connectivity to customers without upfront costs for businesses. In turn, organizations can enhance their user experience, establish a foundation for gathering data, and upgrade their plan at any time.

Every business that signs up for Purple Connect will receive a 30-day free trial of our best-selling Guest WiFi plan, Capture. During this trial, they can capture compliant first-party data through their Guest WiFi and use insights for strategic decision-making. After the trial, businesses can either upgrade or stay on our free Guest WiFi plan, Connect, overcoming underutilization issues and slashing customer churn.

Partner with Purple to stay ahead

As we navigate the significant industry change, embracing innovation and cultivating strong partnerships is essential for success. Our free Connect Guest WiFi offering empowers our partners to provide high-quality connectivity to customers, enabling them to adapt swiftly in the dynamic landscape.

Let’s work together to unlock new opportunities.

New partner? Sign up for our Partner Portal to give your customers access to our free Connect Guest WiFi, and benefit from support and training, and so much more.