Amaysim announces NBN strategy and timing

Amaysim plans to extend its dual-brand strategy from mobile into its offering as a National Broadband Network (NBN) retail service provider, saying it will hold closed trials of its broadband service over the next month ahead of a commercial launch at the beginning of 2017.

Speaking at Amaysim's annual general meeting, CEO Julian Ogrin said the company's acquisition of Australian Broadband Services (AusBBS) is progressing well, allowing it to take advantage of what he called the "once-in-a-generation forced churn event" that is the NBN.

"Expanding further into Australian households is a key priority for us, and our move into broadband provides the company with an opportunity to address a new consumer segment and capture a greater share of household wallet," Ogrin said on Friday morning.

"Progress is on track to combine the strengths of the AusBBS technology stack with our go-to-market strategy, digital marketing expertise, and subscriber experience overlay. We expect to launch closed trials of the Amaysim broadband offering before Christmas, with a market launch early in the new calendar year."

Ogrin outlined Amaysim's two-part strategy for broadband: Cross-selling broadband to its "highly engaged" mobile customer base; and using its "data-driven digital marketing expertise to tactically target the broader market".

Most importantly, Ogrin said, Amaysim will extend to fixed-line broadband its dual-brand strategy that has been a cornerstone of its business since its AU$70 million acquisition of Vaya in January.

"We will differentiate our product offering through a dual-brand positioning, value, quality of service, subscriber empowerment, and simplicity," Ogrin explained.

"Our experience in mobile disruption will hold us in good stead when it comes to creating high-value, yet simple to understand, products that will resonate with Australians."

Ogrin in August told ZDNet in an interview that the timing for entering the NBN market is "perfect".

"When we launch, we will launch ADSL and NBN, but naturally, we will want to capture the benefits of the migration to NBN and the switching opportunity that's going to exist," Ogrin told ZDNet.

"How we're going to do it -- we always said we want to bring the Amaysim philosophy into fixed broadband. We're a technology leader, our success is built on our technology platform. We provide an online disruptor experience not unlike Netflix, not unlike Spotify or Uber, and for us it's download the app, we're the telco in your pocket, and we want to drive that experience into fixed broadband as well."

The chief executive added that Amaysim plans to assist customers during their broadband switchover, including in completing tasks like finding electricians.

"It's not just about being online, but it's just about addressing the pain point of the needs of the customer," he told ZDNet.

Amaysim completed its AU$4 million acquisition of AusBBS in August.

A report earlier this week by market research company Kantar revealed that Amaysim's total mobile market share rose by 0.3 percentage points over the year to June 30, up to 4.9 percent of the market.

Across the prepaid sector, it rose by 0.2 percentage points to hold 6.1 percent of the market; in post-paid, it grew by 0.2 percentage points up to 2.1 percent of the market; and in no contract, it decreased by 0.4 percentage points down to 12.4 percent.

Earlier this month, Amaysim announced that it now holds almost 30 percent of the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market in Australia thanks to its acquisition of Vaya, with the group now counting over 1 million customers.

Amaysim reported a full-year net profit of AU$12.31 million for 2015-16 on revenue of AU$253.5 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of AU$25.1 million.

Profit was down 48.7 percent from the AU$24 million reported a year ago due to its acquisitions of Vaya and AusBBS, while EBITDA was up by 79.3 percent and revenue increased by 19.3 percent.