Rotational churn is the phenomenon whereby a mobile phone subscriber replaces their subscription and handset with a new one from the same network operator by availing of an offer designed for new subscribers.  The subscriber leaves only to reappear as a different user. These people are also described as ‘spinners’. Rotational churn is estimated to make up between 30% and 50% of churn in many operators.  Some of the downsides of rotational churn are:

1. High rotational churn is indicative of a mismatch between acquisition and retention strategies, indicating that the company, having decided to spend relatively little on prepaid customer upgrades, is nevertheless spending large sums in this area.
2. Rotational churn means acquisition rates are overstated and the cost per new customer acquired (net of rotational churn) is understated.  This can create a vicious circle of increases in acquisition spend to compensate for increasing churn.
3. Rotational churn causes the churn rate to be overstated, giving an over-negative picture to investors. 
4. A habitual rotational churner presents a greater risk of actually churning at the next upgrade than a habitual upgrader does.
5. Valuable customer history, segmentation and registration data for rotational churners is lost. 

idiro fingerprinting

Idiro Fingerprinting is a new tool which uses Social Network Analysis techniques to identify rotational churners.  It analyses operator call records to determine the structure of calling communities.  These communities tend to be relatively stable over a period of a few weeks, so when a person leaves the community, it leaves a ‘structural hole’ in the community. The calling patterns and community status of an individual make up a "digital fingerprint" which can rapidly identify them as a rotational churner.

To learn more about the benefits that Idiro Fingerprinting can bring to your company, contact Idiro on +353 76 670 9533 or  via sales@idiro.com.