Eng
Eng
Portfolio Lead at ACT research
Historically, Georgian tele communication market has always been diversified into mobile operators’ and internet providers’ businesses. As years passed, penetration of mobile as well as internet providers has increased, respectively these two segments of tele communication overlapped. On its side, this fact made the tele communication business face new challenges and respectively, new opportunities. What has been the trend for years – separate operation of mobile operators and internet providers, changed. Namely, tele communication service market witnesses the tendency of companies merge over the past years. Examples are merge of Magti and Caucasus Online in 2016, Silknet and Gecoell in 2018. As a result of this merge, Magti and Silknet now offer full tele communication service which turned out to be quite beneficial for us, consumers who can now use combined/convergent products and simplified, unified form of payment.
As a result of studies undertaken by ACT over the past 2 years, it turns out that in addition to low service fee rates, key selection criteria of mobile operators, internet and television providers are as follows: for mobile operators – wide coverage area and speed/quality of mobile internet. in case of internet providers, these criteria are quality of internet and speed. In case of television – quality of transmission, rewind function and diversity of channels.
As speed of internet is one of the main requirements consumers have for internet providers, growing tendency of using high speed internet is identified in Tbilisi as well as in regions. Consumers mostly choose 10-29 MBps (in case of physical entities in Tbilisi 64%, regions – 67%). As for technologies, consumers mostly prefer optical-fiber technology (FTTx). Speaking of television broadcasting transit, as consumers pay attention to the quality of broadcasting and rewind function, they mostly choose IPTV (74%) and number of consumers choosing the said technology shows growing tendency.
As consumer shares on the tele communication market, here in this new reality, as a result of consolidation of players, Magti and Silknet hold the leading positions in terms of mobile as well as internet and television services. Beeline which has relatively growing tendency compared to 2018 competes with these brands as a mobile operator and gets one fourth of entire market in terms of number of consumers.
As for fixed broadband internet, Magti and Silknet are mostly competed by small companies which do not have wide coverage area in the country. The largest among them is Akhali Kselebi which holds 7% of the market according to number of consumers.
Revision of companies according to their consumer shares clarifies that there are 3 leading companies on Georgian tele communication market at this point – Magti, Silknet and Beeline. Magti and Silknet are main players and the reasons why most consumer choose these companies are diversity of products (combined packages) and quality and at the same time, wide coverage area. Based on the studies conducted by ACT, we can conclude that each tele communication company has its specific place on the market. Namely, Magti is mostly described as tele communication company having high quality and expensive service.
Silknet is positions as an innovator which has stronger positions in the television aspect. More specifically, it is distinctively described as a provider offering comfortable, convenient (menu, remote control) and diverse (channels) television service. Beeline is positions as a company offering affordable tariffs and frequent promotions/offers.
It is quite interesting from where those specific characteristics of each brand originate and how companies keep them. Specific action made by the brand, product/service features, packaging or communication form certain characteristics on the brand among its consumers. The longer this brand carries assigned characteristics, more it strengthens and preserves them.
Based on our observation, perception of Magti as high quality and expensive brand originates from very early years of its operation when the company was clearly distinguished for wide coverage area and carried out the respective communication (e.g. its advertising campaign: “I have coverage even here”). Perception of this brand as an expensive brand may come from lack of discounts/promotions compared to competitors. In reality, Magti’s sub-brands – Bali and Bani were more affordable brands but their characteristics were not transmitted to Magti because the influence of mother brand appeared to be stronger in the formation of Magti’s image, as mobile operator brand.
Perception of Silknet as innovator brand comes from pioneering IP television/rewind function. Offered innovations strengthened this image even more and Silknet still keeps this position on the market.
As for beeline, from the day it was introduced on the market, this brand was distinguished for its youth-oriented advertising campaigns and promotions which are still active and respectively, Beeline has solid positions on the market as a company with affordable rates and frequent promotions.
Evolution progresses in spiral way, which means that the mankind moves forward and development stages repeat themselves or are very similar to each other. In 21st century, on the background of growing technological and personal development achievements, equipped with personal computer and smartphone, human had to lock himself in “the cave” again and this way, we temporarily stopped and only on expense of intellectual resource, kept developing the idea of inhabiting parallel planet to live. People hope to get routine everyday life back where one has breakfast in the morning, then heads over to work, then goes to café for lunch, from work to market, from market to home, from home to a bar and then makes breakfast again in the morning. Humans have been building this simple life chain for centuries, eventually developed it and now nobody wants to start over. Pieces of the chain are tightly connected and are independently operational units, small, medium and large business fields the majority of which are now in waiting mode. We were interested to find out whether the perception of social responsibility has changed in the crisis or not. We conducted in-depth interviews with representatives of companies of different size operating in Georgia, based on which we created the following anthropological picture of perceptions:
1. In own cave
Sense of danger and unclear situation outside, made human find a shelter in the cave and return back there every time as he already knew the way. Having a roof as an opportunity to protect from natural conditions and hide from outside threat, brought a human the feeling of getting used to own place – one specific environment and he found more or less calmness in this environment. People left alone because of the pandemic headed over to their homes – their forever and well-known cave. Corporations are managed from homes, so in the beginning of the crisis, companies used one of the topical, practically inevitable form of social responsibility – to “transfer” employees to their homes and made sure they stayed there. According to inquired respondents, they made the decision of terminating their work in real regime and switching employees to remote mode alongside the recommendations issued in the country. Quality of social responsibility is determined based on when the business implemented the said – when the relevant recommendations were issued or when the pandemic was already severely spread. But for now when every corporation whose work can be done remotely at least partially, tries to manage remote work of their employees in a way not to lose the sense of team work neither to decrease the interest towards work. This form of corporate responsibility is ultimately based on caring for health of one person and has various forms in various corporations – this could be social package of unified insurance developed in the crisis or equipping employees with protective items at home or organizing special trainings so that when performing work (signing agreements in old form) their health is maximally protected. The least company can do to this regard is to provide licensed version of Zoom meetings absolutely necessary for remote work so that employees can easily work from home.
2. The scene of hunting mammoths
After getting known with the cave and settling down in it, man started using this cave as a mean of communication. First historically proven ancient drawings on cave walls depicted what man saw and did beyond the cave. Man used to scrap mammoths on cave walls for two reasons – in order to classify (in simple form) i.e. to distinct mammoth from tiger and in order to share it for others. Depicting actions helped human to better plan hunting, have better perspective of animal anatomy, simple ways of hunting them, to do its job properly. To become a “professional” and then share this plan and knowledge with others so that others could hunt better too. In this context, revaluation of social responsibility is defined with the motif to save yourself, to continue work in future and to save neighbor companies as hunting is better together, chances are higher to hunt bigger animal and survive if attacked. As believed by inquired representatives of businesses, influence of international B2B corporate responsibility is eventually taking its position in Georgia. The majority of respondents representing large businesses emphasize importance of supporting quick development and sharing specific advices in crisis, necessity of which drastically changes in narrative of small business representatives. Respondents confirm the assumption that in this context, small and medium size business are most vulnerable, this is why social responsibility of large business is to offer them support. From Georgian reality, so far these are only a few examples such as support in establishment of e-commerce platform or providing consulting on business matters. Launch of ACT business consulting platform served exactly this purpose – to share our knowledge and experience to those who are in desperate need of our support now to survive in long-term perspective and to turn into large companies commissioning us after this crisis so that we hunt down mammoth together.
3. Shared bonfire
After discovering the fire, man started using it for different purposes. In order not to lose time for starting a fire every single time, he tried to have it on all the time. As together with people “making friends”, perimeter of the caves narrowed, fire appeared in the center of the caves and each member had the responsibility to keep the shared bonfire on. The most frequent and prevalent form of social responsibility is to contribute in this common bonfire, if we imagine that fire is country’s economy or common welfare, corporate responsibility of company is to support separate segments of the society around this common fire (to help vulnerable groups, to support sport or cultural activities). During Covid-19 crisis this had a form of creating unified platform of fight against pandemic and millions of GEL transferred to it. Corporations donated money for common welfare. In addition to this, in separate cases companies financially supported or if relevant to their field, provided their product (food, fuel) to National Center of Disease Control and Infectious Hospital as frontline units in fight against Coronavirus. As explained by companies selling construction and oil products, such purposeful use of money simplifies engagement in social responsibility activity and ensures them from making a mistake – define the most vulnerable group and its needs in this crisis. This form of CSR, similar to its symbolic face – fire, has an effect to spread, on one side, it sets an example for other corporations and motivates them to donate money to cope with the common enemy and on the other side, if we generalize on the example of the specific construction company, CSR can be implemented through such activities which could involve not only corporations but ordinary citizens while business would act as a mediator. For instance, if you purchase real estate under the promotion, part of the amount you pay will be transferred to Covid-19 fund.
4. Thigh bone
A student once asked famous American anthropologist Margaret Mead what she considered to be the first evidence of civilization. Among expected answers from scientific point of view student considered that Mead would say clay vessel, hunting tools or fire as a mean of communication, but anthropologist answered: a human thigh bone with a healed fracture found in an archeological site 15, 000 years old. This bone is the largest in human body, forms the hip joint which is absolutely necessary for a human to walk, if fractured, this bone needs average 4-6 months to heal. As explained by Mead, when an animal breaks a leg in wild nature, he dies because he cannot hunt for food, cannot move to escape from the attack, is unable to find water. Mead points out that healed femur fracture tells us that someone spent time and resources, took care of the person in need, healed him, brought him food and water, and protected or moved to a safer place before he was healed. This is where civilization starts – with healed femur fracture – with care for others.
Revalued perception of corporate responsibility which changed from simple one-time charity to taking care of employees, sharing knowledge and experience with others, and providing purposeful funding for activities oriented on common welfare, is eventually developing in Georgian reality, but we believe that first sign of civilization for social responsibility is corporate healed thigh bones – those employees whose jobs could be preserved and who will return to workplaces after the crisis is over because they were not abandoned in time of need and were taken care of; because exactly healed femur fractures will be counted after Coronavirus is over, this will be a measure of moral damage done by the pandemic beyond human lives and health and each of us will think about how many healed bones are on us.
In April, people or organizations interested in the matter are particularly active in their effort to draw attention of wide society to issues related to autistic spectrum disorders. As decided by UN General Assembly, April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day recognized by many countries of the world since 2008.
As reported by US Center of Disease Control and Prevention, as of March of the current year, frequency of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) prevalence in babies and young children increased by 10% compared to the last year. If frequency of ASD prevalence was 1 out of 59 children in April of 2019, for April of 2020, this frequency is already 1 out of 54 children. Frequency of ASD prevalence has increased by 40 and more times over the past several decades which is partially explained by improved diagnostics and awareness.
Source: www.autismspeaks.org
There is no precise statistics of children with ASD in Georgia. Based on various data, there might be approximately 7 000 children with ASD. The first Autism Center in the country was formed with cooperation of Autism Association of Georgia and Ilia State University in 2010 where initially only 10 beneficiaries received therapy. Now up to hundred beneficiaries are recipients of the therapy.
First autism Habilitation State Program came into force on 1st July of 2015. Within the framework of the said program, Mayor’s Office of Tbilisi Municipality provides funding for services relevant for 2-15 year-old children. In 2020, upper threshold for beneficiaries of the program has increased and became 18 years instead of 15. Habilitation State Program is available for children with ASD not only in Tbilisi, but in several municipalities of Georgia.
In April of 2019, a decision was made to build National Center of Autism in Georgia which will serve 16+ individuals with ASD and assist them in developing skills necessary for independent life. The center is being constructed by “Autism Research and Support Foundation”. To this day, only one out of six cottages envisaged in the project is constructed. As construction of the center is mostly funded by private individuals and companies, it is unclear when necessary financial resources will be available, respectively, there is no set date for completion of construction.
For development of various skills and integration in society, it is critically important for children with ASD to attend various therapy courses, which together with language and speech therapy may involve occupational therapy, sensor integration or development of academic skills. Success of the therapy significantly depends on its regular and systematic character. Due restrictions introduced because of pandemic situation related to Coronavirus all over the world including Georgia, children cannot attend therapy courses in centers. If we also take into account that one of the main challenges for people with ASD is adaptation with social environment, it is crucially important to have a routine of interacting with this environment. Due to spread of Coronavirus and related restrictions, people who suffer from ASD are under disproportionally high risk as even temporary cancellation of therapy courses makes negative impact on their development and may significantly worsen achieved progress.
Leaving house is critically important for people with ASD so that the environment they feel doubtful about not to become a scary place. In response to existing challenges, in Italy where citizens are under lockdown for weeks and can leave house only under special circumstances, a new regulation was activated in the city of Rimini – namely, children and adults with autistic spectrum disorder are allowed to walk around one of the parks of the city for several hours per week. As decided by the government of UK, citizens with ASD are allowed to leave the house several times a day and walk nearby their houses even under lockdown. According to specialists, such practices are important as it helps preserving the routine of leaving house. However, therapy is still believed to be particularly important.
As demonstrated by international practice, one of the most efficient mechanisms during self-isolation is therapy intermediated by parents. Organizations working on ASD issues use so called tele-intervention and by engaging parents, they offer distance therapy courses to people with the respective needs. If we take into account that one of the main challenges people with ASD face is adaptation with social environment, working on development of the said skills remotely is even more difficult objective. However, it is also worth mentioning that not attending the therapy is far serious challenge than attending the therapy course remotely.
As it turns out, practice of distance therapy is used in Georgia too. Based on international experience, “Mental Health Center” offers two services to people with special needs. Namely, the center will be offering tele-consultations and tele-interventions from April 1. Doctors, psychologies, therapists with various specialization will be providing tele-consultations while tele-intervention enables behavioral and other types of therapies intermediated by parents. For those families who, due to several problems, are unable to attend online consultations or intervention, the Center posts relevant recommendations on its Facebook page. Currently 95 beneficiaries utilize remote therapy.
Attending therapy course in physical environment is much more effective than remote therapy, but specialists believe that attending some of therapy courses even in online regime is critically important. This way, it is possible to preserve achieved progress and keep different kind, but still routine, which is crucial for individuals with ASD. Apart from the fact that availability of online services engages children in activities, it also helps them to keep in touch with therapists, which is also crucially important. Furthermore, availability of online consultations enables parents to receive advices on managing various situations or behaviors.
It is less likely remote therapy to replace physical therapy or even be as effective, but specialists may utilize remote therapy as additional, auxiliary mechanism of therapy. Furthermore, remote therapy may appear ultimate therapy for those who do not have access to respective centers because of various reasons (e.g. lack of financial resources, remote location and absence of centers near home). It is quite possible this practice to spike in realization of various interesting ideas and therapy to be used by far more children or adults, than it is available nowadays.
