To Telco, or Not to Telco? That is the question… The move from closed, custom, hardware-based networks to open, cloud native, software-based networks bring with it the opportunity for disaggregation. It provides an increasing ability to innovate new dynamic and flexible services, rather than the typical static and fixed telco services of today. At least, that’s the theory. In practice, telcos remain tied to vertically integrated applications that are no longer their core competence, and where they have a growing dis-advantage against globally available applications, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Many chase the dream of the next killer application, but the stark fact is that telcos on the whole have not really approached innovation in the way that cloud providers have. Pressure (if not head-on challenge) from hyperscalers, the need to find new sources of revenue, and the swirl of technical possibilities around 5G in particular, pose an existential question for today’s service providers: to telco, or not to telco? Our latest in-depth research paper, Telco-as-a-Platform, offers a fresh analysis of the commercial opportunities and specific new business models made possible by disaggregation of telecom. We address the question of how telcos can create value and growth from having […]