A subscription revolution

Surveying 21,400 individuals across 15 countries, the Bango “Subscription Wars” research series shows that subscribers the world over want the same things: to eliminate the hassle of multiple logins, scattered billing, and fragmented subscription services from their day-to-day lives.

Today’s customers are demanding content hubs to pay for and manage all their subscriptions in one place – known as Super Bundling. And they want their telcos to provide this.

The data tells a clear story

Who want their mobile operator to offer Super Bundling

Want their broadband provider to offer Super Bundling

These figures reflect a growing consumer trend: people trust their telcos to bring order to the chaotic subscription landscape, and to make it more convenient and affordable.

But it’s not just customers. Content providers themselves — from streaming platforms to retail subscriptions — are pushing for telcos to take the lead in this booming market.

Omdia reports that telcos already sell 20% of Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) worldwide, while recent Antenna data in the USA shows that 40% of SVOD and 91% of Speciality SVOD is sold through indirect channels.

Under the promise of anonymity, we’ve collected unbiased and unfiltered interviews with senior executives at ten of the world’s largest subscription brands.

These executives share compelling reasons why they – like subscribers – want telcos to lead on the creation of Super Bundling content hubs. They also share invaluable advice on the partnerships they would like to create with telcos to deliver maximum value for subscribers, and yield the best returns for both businesses.

Super Bundling: an open goal

Looking ahead to 2025, the subscription economy is set to soar, offering telcos a major opportunity for customer growth and reduced churn.

The key? Super Bundling – bringing together multiple subscriptions into a single, easy-touse platform and centralized bill.

Banks, retailers, and utility companies are all eyeing this new market, eager to become central players.

However, our research shows that it’s telcos that have the clear lead among consumers, already playing an essential role in how customers access digital content and services. And it’s not just subscribers – this sentiment has been echoed by leading subscription brands.

One executive, from a top productivity app, notes that a good partner should already have solid billing relationships with their customers, and ideally technical expertise.

This further emphasizes the opportunities for telcos. Through their existing relationships, extensive infrastructure, and frequent consumer interactions, telcos provide the perfect partner for many subscription brands looking to bundle.

Telcos provide reach and acquisition

We hear a consistent story from subscription services, especially streaming platforms: partnerships with telcos are some of the best they have. Telcos bring a range of strengths to the table, with a senior executive at a top three SVOD platform emphasizing reach, reduced friction in payments, and boosted user acquisition.

Another advantage highlighted by subscription executives is that they can benefit from high levels of consumer trust. This is crucial. Consumers are more likely to subscribe to additional services if they are offered through a trusted provider like their telco, rather than through a less familiar entity such as a retailer or social media giant.

Another leading SVOD executive comments that telco reach is also unmatched. Even the largest subscriptions can benefit from the massive reach telcos provide, helping them to acquire new users who might not be reachable through traditional direct marketing.

Bundling for lower churn and higher revenue

Our subscription executives identified major benefits on both sides when working with telcos to create Super Bundles.

And they’re well aware of what they’re bringing to the table for telcos – as an executive from a leading productivity app notes, market differentiation is the name of the game. For consumers there are benefits from the total package – value, simplicity, transparency.

Lower churn and increased loyalty

One of the biggest benefits of bundling is the potential to lower customer churn and increase loyalty, with a top three SVOD executive arguing that bundles “built our customer base”. Another leading SVOD provider highlights the benefit to telcos – by offering popular content as part of a bundle, telcos incentivize customers to stay with their services longer, reducing churn while creating a richer user experience.

Reaching new audiences

While telcos already have broad, existing customer bases that are primed for additional deals, one of the top five SVOD executives pointed out the huge opportunity to attract linear TV viewers who are transitioning to streaming. By reaching these users, telcos can capitalize on a group of very loyal customers.

As another leading SVOD executive emphasized, by partnering with subscription services, telcos can offer a broader range of content to a broader range of customers, and make their services more appealing to an ever wider audience.

Beyond simple bundling: the need for Super Bundling

To realize the full potential of these benefits, telcos must go beyond simple bundling and offer a fuller, more diverse selection of subscription services — Super Bundling. That’s the key to attracting and retaining subscribers in a crowded marketplace.

Optus SubHub in Australia and Verizon +play in the USA have already proven the success of this model. By letting consumers manage multiple subscriptions through a single ‘content hub’ platform they’ve not only driven down churn but also increased customer satisfaction and engagement.

Building a successful content hub: 4 key components

Building a content hub with multiple subscription partners is no easy feat, and many subscription providers have learned that the hard way. Creating seamless integration, effective marketing, and an excellent user experience requires careful planning and smart collaboration.

To help with this task, our subscription leaders outlined exactly what they need from telcos to make Super Bundling work for everyone.

1. A simple integration experience

Despite enthusiasm for bundling, most of our focus group report struggles with integration, as each direct integration project brings unique challenges. Unpredictable payment issues, complex contracts, obscure edge cases, and incompatible technologies all add to what one top five SVOD executive describes as “digital whack-a-mole”.

Our subscription execs also mentioned the complexities and costs of building APIs and ensuring systems talk to each other. Once again, telcos provide the solution, with one executive noting that subscription services need telcos to bring all these different integrations together. As our mental health app executive sums it up – every deal is different.

2. Marketing support beyond the bundle

Super Bundling is about more than just stitching together subscriptions. Without focused efforts in strategic placement, promotion, and awareness building these servives risk becoming lost in a sea of other apps.

It’s about creating compelling deals that resonate with consumers. Discounts, offers, and promotions are key for attracting both subscription partners and customers. If telcos want to bring in subscription partners, their preference is that marketing is baked into the telco approach.

3. Great user experiences

For telcos to create successful content hubs, a seamless user experience must be a priority. And as an exec from a leading wellness app explains, this takes time, effort and long-term commitment. A poor-quality front-end or frequent technical hiccups damages the reputations of both telcos and subscription providers.

A top five SVOD executive rightly points out that when issues arise, consumers often blame the subscription service, whether or not the issue is with the telco or the integration. This is a hurdle that telcos and subscription services must work together to overcome.

4. Shared data and insights

Analytics and shared data are vital for understanding customers, improving services, and tailoring marketing. As a senior executive from a leading SVOD platform explains, telcos must feed reliable data to media companies in order to help them know their customers better.

According to one leading American-Spanish broadcaster and streamer, this data allows subscription providers to make adjustments to their marketing as needed. Without the right data, subscription providers struggle to pick their own bundled customers out from the crowd, as one top three SVOD exec attests to.

Successful Super Bundling: Out of the box

Introducing the Digital Vending Machine®

Building a content hub that effectively incorporates multiple subscription partners is a complex project that requires substantial time, resources, and collaboration. To overcome these challenges, the Digital Vending Machine® (DVMTM) from Bango emerges as a transformative SaaS solution, designed to address and resolve the key issues currently holding telcos back from fully capitalizing on Super Bundling and content hubs.

The Digital Vending Machine® provides pre-built integrations, enabling rapid deployment of content hubs that unify various subscription services. With the DVMTM, telcos can offer content-rich, cohesive experiences without the typical obstacles that have hindered past bundling efforts.

Simple integration

The DVMTM is equipped with pre-built integrations for hundreds of subscription products, apps, and streaming services. With this one-to-many integration, telcos can avoid the time-consuming, bespoke arrangements that have historically been necessary. This standardized approach minimizes the need for custom APIs and manual processes, significantly reducing both complexity and integration times.

The DVMTM is designed to be agile and adaptable, enabling telcos to scale quickly and access an expanding ecosystem of global content providers.

Marketing support

Super Bundling is about more than merely offering multiple subscriptions in one place – it’s about providing compelling deals and ongoing value. The Digital Vending Machine® addresses this need by enabling telcos to easily run promotions, bundle deals, and marketing initiatives from a centralized platform.

Telcos can easily integrate partner content into their promotional activities, providing subscription partners with instant access to an established marketing and billing network. That way, telcos ensure that partners receive the visibility they need to thrive.

Front-end user experiences

The Digital Vending Machine® incorporates advanced front-end and UX capabilities that enable telcos to offer an intuitive, frictionless interface. With a user-friendly platform, the DVMTM helps mitigate the risk of subscriber frustration points and reduces technical errors that often plague fragmented bundling systems.

By emphasizing a seamless, visually appealing user experience, the DVMTM ensures that both telcos and subscription partners can maintain a high standard of customer satisfaction. This reduces the risk of customer complaints and negative brand associations, ultimately creating a more positive experience for end-users.

Shared insights

The potential for shared data is one of the most promising aspects of the Digital Vending Machine®. The DVMTM shares analytics and insights between telco and subscription service that can shape subscription strategies, improve offerings, and support targeted marketing efforts.

Greater insight into subscription habits allows both telcos and subscription services to tailor their offerings more precisely, adjust messaging, and ultimately boost user satisfaction and engagement.

The future of Super Bundling starts now

The Digital Vending Machine® from Bango offers telcos a turnkey solution to overcome the obstacles of Super Bundling and content integration. By simplifying integration, centralizing marketing efforts, enhancing user experiences, and enabling shared insights, the DVMTM makes Super Bundling accessible and effective for everyone involved.

If you’re ready to drive growth, improve customer retention, and become a leader in the subscription economy – reach out now to explore how you can leverage the power of the DVMTM to build the content hub your customers are looking for.