Disruptors Research
What are the threats, opportunities and lessons from telcos from disruptors’s business strategies?
February 2023
The state of telco transformation
Nine change stakeholders describe their experience of telco transformation, providing insights on the change process and learnings for others that are remodelling their organisations for the future.
November 2022
Empowering hybrid working
The world is entering the post-pandemic era of hybrid working. This report dissects enterprise perceptions of hybrid working and argues that operators have a crucial role to play in building a thriving hybrid working environment for enterprise customers.
September 2022
Pursuing hyperscale economics
We evaluate the role of disaggregation and cloud native infrastructure and key breakthrough opportunities for network operators.
August 2022
Beating the crash: What’s coming?
There are troubling signals in the business environment. Consumer confidence is at an all-time low due to inflation, conflict, Covid and climate change. What are the consequences for telecoms, and what should telcos, vendors, policymakers and others in the ecosystem do? In the first of two reports we examine the macro forces and outline three key steps to reshape priorities and the strategy agenda.
August 2022
Will web 3.0 change the role of telcos?
In recent years, the web 3.0 movement, which seeks to fundamentally change the economics of the Internet, has gained significant momentum. For many telcos, the disruption caused by a shift to web 3.0 could open up opportunities to rebuild relevance and revenues in the consumer market.
May 2022
The three telco Metaverse strategies
Beyond just connecting it, there are three broad telco strategies for the Metaverse that are being developed and led by Verizon, Telefónica and SKT.
May 2022
Why CFOs must drive telecoms business model change
Since we first published this report in 2019, telcos have made significant investments in 5G, but value continues to shift towards service differentiators. Transformation remains at the heart of most telecoms operators’ strategies but change has been painfully slow. This report explains why agility and innovation – the goals of transformation – will remain elusive until CFOs adopt new resource allocation models at their organisations.
March 2022
Telco edge platforms: Balancing speed vs value
Despite the hype around edge computing, telcos have been slow to commit investments amid competing priorities for networks teams. How can they work with partners to get the right balance between cost, speed of deployment and developer needs in a fast moving competitive market?
January 2022
Telco plays in live entertainment
Live entertainment is evolving fast, as greater connectivity and digitisation allows for new experiences for both the audience at the venue and the people watching online. How can telcos play a more valuable role?
January 2022
The new telcos: A field guide
Telecoms is too important to leave up to traditional fixed and mobile operators. Thanks to the “democratisation” of shared spectrum, virtualised networks, fibre and cloud – plus the demands of industry, government and local communities – a plethora of new service providers are emerging to fill the gaps. This report is intended as a “spotter’s guide” to the categories of network owners and operators.
December 2021
Forecasting capacity of network edge computing
There is much debate in the industry on the topic of telco edge computing, but little clarity for players within the telecoms industry and potential customers on how much capacity will be available. This report forecasts the capacity of network edge data centres from 2021-2025.
December 2021
Edge computing market sizing forecast
Edge computing: the US$500 billion opportunity, modelling total edge computing addressable revenue 2020–2030.
November 2021
Lessons from AT&T’s bruising entertainment experience
Why did AT&T buy, and then sell, DirecTV and Time Warner after only six years? This report looks at AT&T’s decisions, actions and their consequences, and the lessons for others attempting adjacent market moves and M&A.
November 2021
The Coordination Age Companies: The First Release
Which companies are bringing the Coordination Age to life, and how can the telecoms industry learn from or partner with them? This is the first report in a series outlining companies that we think are lighting the path on the journey to the Coordination Age. Its goal is to deepen understanding of the Coordination Age and to inspire innovation and engagement in this crucial transition.
September 2021
Why and how to go telco cloud native: AT&T, DISH and Rakuten
As telecoms operations become increasingly softwarised, network functions are getting broken down into their individual parts, and reassembled as an essential part of the IT stack for industry-specific applications and services. In this disaggregated telco value chain, is there anything left that is distinctively ‘telco’?
July 2021
What can telcos learn from Silicon Valley?
Many telcos have visited the Valley in search of new and “open” innovation opportunities, but the returns often seem fleeting. We talked with a 20-year veteran of the circuit to understand why, and what needs to change if they are to embed and operationalise such innovation.
July 2021
Private networks: Lessons so far and what next
We explore the recent developments in the private network market, regulatory activities and policies on local and shared spectrum, and the different deployment approaches and business cases for traditional telcos and the expanding range of other stakeholders.
April 2021
2020 in review and focus on North America: How should telcos do cloud?
5G is now the main driver of VNF deployment. But can telcos be cloud-native without being hyperscaler-dependent?
February 2021
Commerce and connectivity: A match made in heaven?
Will many other digital commerce and content companies follow Reliance and Rakuten into the consumer connectivity market?
January 2021
Microsoft, Affirmed and Metaswitch: What does it mean for telecoms?
Our in-depth analysis of Microsoft’s play in the telecoms market, why it acquired Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch, and what telcos should do about it.
October 2020
Reliance Jio: Learning from India’s problem solver
In a market written off by many as too competitive and complicated, Reliance Jio has risen extraordinarily quickly to be the leading operator in India, playing a major role in the delivery of Digital India. How did it do it, and what can others learn?
September 2020
Apple Glass: An iPhone moment for 5G?
The delivery of ‘mixed reality’ experiences through various forms of AR / VR ‘glasses’ is improving, and Apple may be planning to enter the fray alongside other heavyweight players such as Amazon and Google. We review the realistic timescales, and the opportunities for telcos.
August 2020
Telco edge computing: How to partner with hyperscalers
Both telcos and hyperscalers want to capture the value at the edge, but they need to work together to deliver of edge computing solutions and generate demand among customers. How can operators collaborate with hyperscalers while strengthening their role beyond connectivity?
June 2020
Fighting the fakes: How telcos can help
As public suspicion about the veracity of online information increases, telcos could use their behavioural data to help Amazon, Google, Airbnb, Uber and others counter fraud, identity theft and fake reviews.
January 2020
Cashing in on the end of cash
The global shift away from cash opens up a variety of potentially lucrative opportunities for telcos. What should telcos do to capitalise on the synergies between telecoms and financial services?
January 2020
Softbank: An overstretched telco or unique innovator?
As a conglomerate with growing investments across the Internet of Things and AI value chains, SoftBank is a unique and intriguing player in the telecoms industry. What exactly is SoftBank’s strategy, and does it give its telecoms businesses a competitive advantage?
November 2019
Cloud gaming: New opportunities for telcos?
How telcos should be preparing for the seismic shift in the video games market signposted by Google’s new Stadia cloud gaming service.
September 2019
How telcos can flex their physical strength
Amazon provides telecoms operators with a playbook on how to combine physical and digital assets into a compelling customer proposition. This report discusses how telcos can learn from and partner with Amazon.
February 2019
Can telcos help cities combat congestion?
How telcos can partner with disruptors and innovators, such as Uber, Bird and Lime, to carve a role for themselves in urban travel and address the myriad challenges facing cities.
July 2018
Uber and Tesla: What telcos should do
Uber and Tesla are at the forefront of a new age of personal transportation in which wireless connectivity will play a major role. Both of these disruptors could be important partners for telcos, while offering lessons about consumer engagement, relationships with regulators and strategic thinking.
March 2018
Can Netflix and Spotify make the leap to the top tier?
What the leading on-demand entertainment specialists – Netflix and Spotify – will need to do the mount a serious challenge to GAFA in the top tier of Internet platforms and how telcos can help them make the online world more competitive.
November 2017
Telcos and GAFA: Dancing with the disruptors
Telcos and the major Internet platforms increasingly rely on each other. What kinds of agreements should operators enter into with Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google and what should they avoid?
August 2017
Facebook’s Telecom Infra Project: What is it good for?
Facebook set up the Telecom Infra Project in 2016 to drive open source standards in core telecoms hardware and network operations. In this report we examine the implications of this project for telcos and other industry players, and recommend how they should respond.
June 2017
Apple’s pivot to services: What it means for telcos
With iPhone sales apparently peaking, Apple is looking to double its revenue from services over the next four years to approximately US$50 billion, taking it deeper into adjacent markets, such as entertainment, financial services and communications.
September 2015
Baidu, Xiaomi & DJI: China’s Fast Growing Digital Disruptors
Baidu, China’s answer to Google, is one of the world’s leading Internet companies by market capitalisation. But can Baidu break out of the Middle Kingdom? Fast-growing smartphone maker, Xiaomi, is building a multi-faceted ecosystem and a tribal brand among young people.
February 2012
Dealing with the ‘Disruptors’: Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft/Skype and Amazon (Updated Extract)
An extract from our 284 page, 124 chart, strategy report that analyses the business models, markets, objectives, strategies and modus operandi of the major adjacent players, and their current and future impact on the telecoms industry.