Snapshots from our analyst team's latest research
This is our latest article on operators’ transition to net zero and how many operators are (rightly) focusing on energy performance and efficiency as well as sourcing greener power for their operations. It highlights the challenges of green energy sourcing and provides an introduction into the main options.
Where are the ongoing shortages in semiconductors likely to affect the telecom’s industry, from core network equipment to IoT and consumer growth opportunities?
The last couple of years has seen Microsoft and Azure increasing their involvement in telecoms infrastructure and software while building partnerships with telcos around the world. This march into telecoms stepped up a level with Microsoft’s acquisition in 2020 of two independent virtual network function (VNF) vendors with a strong presence in the mobile core, among other things: Affirmed Networks …
A recent (August 2021) opinion piece in the Financial Times – “Telecoms innovation talk may be nothing but hot air” described some of the start-up and incubator initiatives over the last decade such as Telefónica Digital’s first London incubator, Three’s early innovations in video and music (x-Series) as well as Vodafone’s early initiatives in mobile commerce and wallets as “a history of …
Much of the analysis on the private networks market assumes that a network will service a relatively homogeneous set of use cases. However, in practice, many deployments will be in locations that serve multiple types of stakeholders, all with very different requirements in terms of security, reliability, latency, etc. We explore a few case studies of private networks deployments in …
The world’s transport systems could become a major consumer of 5G services, to support both remote monitoring and control of vehicles. Mobility-as-a-service Alongside the road closures, bike sharing and electrification, another potentially even more significant trend is underway – the lines between public and private transport are beginning to blur to make more efficient use of the available space and …
5G-aliser: Can telcos launch new services without standalone 5G? This quarter we drop two of our wildcard factors in favour of two newcomers, and discuss how telcos are developing their 5G services ahead of the launch of standalone 5G cores. New factors on the scorecard This quarter we dropped COVID-19 and 5G conspiracy theories in the wildcards factors, as …
The commercial 5G services of 5G pioneers SK Telecom, Verizon and Telstra focused on 5G-ready versions of mobile and data plans across consumer and business segments, with SK Telecom the only operator promoting 5G-specific plans and applications early on. Some are now moving beyond the premium propositions that targeted early adopters/heavy data users with speed and data generosity, towards a …
The different private network requirements and vertical dynamics, along with the need for flexible private network deployment options and scenarios, will drive various opportunities and business cases for new operators and owners to emerge across these industries. Traditional and new telcos have varying strengths and limitations across spectrum holdings/access, asset ownership, and telecoms and vertical expertise. In addition to leveraging …
There are clear benefits to operators who successfully implement A3 (analytics, artificial intelligence and automation) within their organisation. Analytics: Collecting and analysing data to drive better decision-making Artificial intelligence: Using computing capabilities to perform human cognitive functions Automation: Replacing or supporting activities that require human input with machines This is evident in the industry’s investment in multiple telco domains, albeit …
Telstra’s 5G commercial approach involves propositions in each of the highlighted categories below: Given that four of the top five key purchase criteria across all Australian telco customer segments are network-related (i.e., coverage, speed, reliability and security), Telstra strives to be the market’s network leader. It views its early and continuing investment in 5G as enabling it to stay ahead …
Disruptive forces could help telcos discover new opportunities for innovation and growth in the longer term. John McDonald is a strategist in disruptive innovation in the health industry in Canada. He takes a highly strategic approach to building alignment on emerging risks and opportunities three to five years out, centred on disruptive innovation, helping corporates see the world like a disruptor, and helping disruptors …
In June 2021 STL published a capex forecast as its first attempt at estimating the value of the O-RAN market. This O-RAN forecast is based on analysis of telco RAN capex and projected investment pathways for O-RAN. The assumptions are informed by public announcements, private discussions and the opinions of our Telco Cloud team. O-RAN capex will reach USD43 billion …
Although customer-facing teams in marketing and sales have been quicker to adopt AI and automation than network operations teams, there is a growing understanding in telecoms that delivering a good customer experience must start with the network. Achieving this is easier said than done, since getting a full view of an individual customer’s experience of the network depends on bringing …
STL’s June 2021 report: Why the consumer IoT is stuck in the slow lane considers the key B2C and B2B2C use cases for Massive IoT technologies – how NB-IoT and LTE-M are evolving and the implications for telcos’ strategies in terms of the consumer Internet of Things. Despite the pandemic, the IoT continued to expand in 2020. In fact, in some …
In April 2021, STL developed a new sizing model for 217 digital healthcare markets that reflects the recent impact of the COVID pandemic on the health sector, with the goal of identifying the new opportunities and risks presented to operators and others attempting or considering investment in the market. Our model focuses specifically on four application areas within the digital …
5G commercialisation goes beyond the service propositions that contribute to a telco’s bottom line. STL Partners considers the following four factors to be foundational to 5G monetisation: Value-adding service propositions, specifically those built on top of network connectivity (5G), that can be commercialised (Services) A network architecture that can deliver the features and flexibility demanded by such propositions (Network/OSS) IT/BSS …
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