What makes a ‘modern telco’? A Total Telecom Congress Keynote teaser!

With traditional telco revenues beginning to dry up, operators know they must evolve to survive – but how?

It has become increasingly apparent in recent years that existing telco business models are fundamentally flawed, with customers unable or unwilling to pay significantly greater sums for faster speeds alone.

As such, telcos are beginning to look further afield for new revenue streams, from creating their own content and even metaverse platforms to building suites of enterprise software solutions, aiming to usher in the era of Industry 4.0. The line between telco and techco are rapidly blurring together, with the world’s most innovative telcos seeking to transform themselves into more agile and diversified businesses to take full advantage of the capabilities generated by 5G, the Edge, and AI.

This myriad of diverse approaches begs the question: what should a telco business model look like in 2022? What role can connectivity providers play in an increasingly digital ecosystem and, more importantly, how can this make them money?

At this year’s Total Telecom Congress, the opening CxO Keynote Panel will discuss the fundamental question of ‘Building the “modern telco”’, exploring not only internal business transformation but also how to approach forging effective and innovative partnerships.

The panel will be moderated by Angel Dobardziev, Senior Director, European Consulting at IDC, who noted the paramount importance of this topic in the emerging ‘Digital-First era’.

“At IDC we believe that over the last few, and the next few, years we will have completed a shift from the Digital Transformation era to a Digital-First era, where revenues from digital business models become increasingly central to most industries. Telcos will remain central to the Digital-First era and have major opportunities to accelerate their growth via their focus on 5G, Edge, IoT Cloud, SD Network, and Network-as-a-Service (NaaS),” he explained.

“Whether telcos are able to capture these growth opportunities will depend not only on their investments in their respective value propositions and partnerships in these areas, but also their ability to effectively grow awareness among enterprise decision makers that they are credible providers – or enablers – of industry specific solutions that have these technology building blocks at their core.”

Joining Angel in discussion will be a trio of the industry’s leading telco executives, sharing their insights from their respective markets.

Speakers:

David Tudehope, Chief Executive Officer, Macquarie Telecom Group

Dr Rolf Nafziger, Senior Vice President, Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier

Babak Fouladi, Board Member – Chief Technology and Digital Officer, KPN

(Left to right) Angel Dobardziev, IDC; David Tudehope, Macquarie Telecom Group; Babak Fouladi, KPN; Dr Rolf Nafziger, Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier

The telco landscape is changing and the industry must do likewise – and fast – if it is to reap the benefits of expensive infrastructure deployments and not be undercut by enterprising third parties.

Total Telecom Congress will take place live in the Business Design Centre in London on the 1st–2nd of November. It’s not too late to get your tickets! Book your place now.

Also in the news:
Understanding the telco’s role in the IoT market
Startup Stories: A new approach to telecoms consultancy
MTN Group joins the Telecom Infra Project’s Board of Directors

The post What makes a ‘modern telco’? A Total Telecom Congress Keynote teaser! first appeared on Total Telecom.

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UK “in danger of falling behind” in 5G, says Ericsson’s CEO UK&I

Interview

We caught up with Katherine Ainley, Ericsson’s CEO of UK & Ireland, at Connected Britain 2022 to discuss the UK’s 5G progress so far and what needs to be done to make the country a world leader in mobile technology

It has been over two years since the launch of 5G in the UK and yet for many people the technology still represents little more than a boost in speed – a far cry from the myriad of new experiences promised by technology’s hype-fuelled debut.

But why is this?

Part of the answer is that it is only in recent months, with the advent of 5G standalone, that the technology can really deliver the ultralow latency and high bandwidth that will enable some of the most exciting use cases, like augmented reality and network slicing.

But for Katherine Ainley, Ericsson’s CEO of UK & Ireland, the problem is much more systematic within the UK, suggesting that the country’s lacklustre 5G rollout speed has left the country unable to maximise its full potential.

“We’ve got to go faster,” said Ainley. “We’re at roughly 50% [coverage] of the UK population right now. We’re not in that top 15 of countries globally in terms of 5G rollout and I think we’re really in danger of falling behind.”

According to Ainley, the government must go further in putting 5G – and connectivity more generally – at the heart of their agenda, particularly when it comes to economic growth.

“DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport] is pushing really hard […] but what I’d really like to see is the other government departments really grasping hold of 5G and connectivity as a whole,” said Ainley. “It’s often that connectivity is a little bit of an afterthought, whereas if you build it in from the beginning you can get much more of a benefit.”

In particular, Ainley highlights the enormous impact that 5G can have for industry and enterprises in the UK, urging companies to be creative with how they use the technology’s capabilities.

“My plea to lots of people out there is: use your imagination for how we can use 5G. What we saw with 4G is that it only really got going when the apps and the ways you could use them began to really bite,” she explained. “We need that same revolution on the business side for 5G.”

You can watch our full interview from the link below.

Is there a 5G North-South divide emerging in the UK? Join the experts in discussion at the upcoming Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
Understanding the telco’s role in the IoT market
Startup Stories: A new approach to telecoms consultancy
MTN Group joins the Telecom Infra Project’s Board of Directors

The post UK “in danger of falling behind” in 5G, says Ericsson’s CEO UK&I first appeared on Total Telecom.