Gamma targets Philippines BPO market with local licence

Gamma Communications has launched its Asia-Pacific expansion with a focus on the Philippines, targeting partners serving the country's large business process outsourcing market.

The company sees a sizeable opening for cloud communications providers, particularly those serving contact centre and BPO operations. It estimates the addressable market at about two million BPO seats and argues that telecoms provision in the country has long been difficult for overseas providers.

Part of that difficulty stems from the structure of the domestic market. Tristan Plummer, Head of Solution Architecture - Service Provider at Gamma Communications, said two incumbent operators still dominate provision and that some of their systems differ from those used by partners in Europe.

"The market is exploding. We're looking to service about two million BPO seats in the Philippines, and traditionally it's been a difficult place to do telecommunications," Plummer said.

Executives also pointed to the state of fixed-line infrastructure. Although internet protocol services are now widely accepted, Plummer said legacy networks still play a meaningful role.

"There's plenty of copper still out there. Look, IP now is very much accepted and the products are mature, but there's still a lot of copper in the ground," he said.

Compliance barrier

Gamma's approach in the Philippines centres on regulatory compliance and local infrastructure. It has incorporated a local business, obtained a licence and deployed in-country infrastructure as part of its effort to operate within local rules.

Plummer described compliance as one of the main barriers for foreign providers entering the country. He said some operators work in uncertain territory, while Gamma has chosen to build a structure intended to meet local requirements.

"It's an incredibly difficult market to be compliant in. And what we're finding is a lot of people are operating in the grey. Gamma has invested significantly to be compliant in the region, which is entailed incorporating a business, applying for a licence and being granted, and in deploying infrastructure in region. Our node in the Philippines purely exists to satisfy that regulatory requirement and to allow procurement of quality tier one supply," he said.

This work allows Gamma to offer partners access to services through what it calls a tri-party model. Under that structure, partners can use Gamma's local licence rather than securing their own regulatory approval before entering the market.

Mike Mills, Managing Director - Service Provider at Gamma Communications, said the arrangement lets partners build on the company's prior work on governance, licensing and local scale. Plummer said the model is designed to let providers start selling and reselling services without first completing the same process themselves.

"We're allowing our partners to leverage our licence through a tri party model. This will allow them to start selling services and reselling services today without having to go through all the hurdles that we've already jumped over," Plummer said.

BPO focus

The Philippines has long been one of the world's largest centres for business process outsourcing and contact centre work, making telecoms reliability and regulatory certainty important considerations for international service providers. Gamma's executives described the country as a market where global cloud communications and contact centre providers may need local support to establish service quickly.

Mills said that is especially relevant for contact centre as a service providers looking to expand in Asia-Pacific. He presented the Philippines as a practical entry point for companies seeking to serve outsourcing clients with local voice and communications services.

"If you're a cloud communications provider, and I think especially if you're a CCaaS provider and you're looking for someone to help you get into this market and capitalise on this market opportunity, get in touch," Mills said.

The launch adds to a broader push by telecoms and cloud communications suppliers to support multinational customers in markets where local licensing, numbering and interconnection rules can slow market entry. In the Philippines, Gamma is betting that its regulatory groundwork and in-country node will make it easier for partners to reach outsourcing customers that need local service provision.

"Absolutely. It's a turnkey solution. Log on to our portal, procure the services and start selling," Plummer said.