Lots of Segments to Target in Communications

As part of an exercise to compare bundles of services purchased by consumers in various countries, Ofcom, the U.K. communications regulator, identified a number of distinct segments in the communications market.

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Ofcom then compared bundles of services that correspond to each segment. The interesting notion here is that, looking at nothing other than types of services and amount of usage, Ofcom identified a number of different segments in the consumer market.

These charts show how just a single service--mobility--maps to the basic segments.

If one were to consider age, lifestyle and attitudes, one could conceivably come up with a far-larger number of niches and segments in the market. In practice, smaller competitors normally are required to identify such customer segments if they are to compete with larger contestants. That's why some companies emphasize prepaid wireless, Hispanic customers, immigrant communities, videogame players, teenagers, multi-location businesses or small businesses.