Tech Trends For 2021 And Beyond

Barna Kutvolgyi

Managing Director, JT International

JT On An International Stage

A year of Evolution and Growth.

‘Flexibility’ has been the touchstone for JT International in 2020; and that looks set to continue through 2021.

It is also the main reason why a Tier 1 global telecommunications firm, based in the Channel Islands is still going from strength to strength on the world stage.

JT International is a small, but expert, team who can move swiftly to respond to the needs of our global customers; and who can also quickly pivot to maximise changes in the market. Something we have certainly seen in 2020.

Worldwide travel was reduced because of COVID-19 restrictions, diminishing the need for travel SIMs that enable customers to connect cost-effectively to a local network while abroad; however the connected devices market has seen a massive growth. Working from home has accelerated the need for machines to communicate between each other without human intervention. During 2020 the JT International team continued to connect customers’ devices and deliver some outstanding new products in the field of eSIM, which helps customers customise their connectivity remotely.

As human access has been restricted by virus control regimes, our customers have relied on equipment – such as remote cleaning machines – to do the job instead; and JT International’s role is to enable that kit to be connected, controlled, and monitored.

Throughout 2020 people across the world have relied even more heavily on their technology - which also brings with it the risk of cyber-crime.

In 2020 we launched our JT hosted educational webinars to help customers understand IoT technology and the potential it has. We may not have been able to travel but we engaged and interacted with our customers, partners and suppliers all over the world.

Click here to view a selection of JT Webinars

Despite the many obstacles faced last year our IoT business saw significant growth in Asia-Pacific where our share went from 13% in 2019 to 30% in 2020. Our Fraud Protection Services continued to be another area of intense growth, as global businesses had an increased need to authenticate their customers‘ identity quickly, simply and correctly – resulting in our expansion into the Australian market, where we onboarded our first financial customer in Q4 2020.

JT sits in a key position between mobile operators, banks and other participants, providing continuity of service in what is an increasingly complex area of business.

Allied to that, most of us will already be using contactless payments, and for many years we’ve been able to pay for goods using smart watches. As contactless payments increase, so will the use of virtual wallets that instead of having just our payment cards details, boarding passes and cinema tickets, will also have many other bits of personal data in them. The so-called ‘Internet of Payments’ (IoP) is an area of huge potential and one where JT International can play a pivotal role.

For many years, JT has provided bulk SMS messaging services, another part of our global business which has been of real value to customers throughout the pandemic.

Many businesses and governments have wanted to use this method to stay in touch with people, especially within the finance and legal industries. SMS provides a solution that isn’t reliant on having an online signal or even a smart phone.

As well as developing knowledge, contacts and revenues in the global markets, which can then be used at home to benefit our Channel Islands customers, that relationship works both ways for JT International. As a mobile operator, JT is able to provide comprehensive coverage of global number portability information through our direct operator connections and supply partners. Until recently we had MNP available only in the UK, where we had excellent market standing but we have now extended this to cover Germany, with other locations in the pipeline. That final example is a good one to sum up the real journey of JT International in recent years; it has taken our experiences in the Channel Islands, utilised the skills and flexibility of the talented team we have within JT, and delivered real success in markets across the world.

We see JT International as proof that although we might be based in a small archipelago in the English Channel, there is no need to let that limit our horizons.