To avoid becoming pure utilities, telcos must evolve their core businesses into more efficient and flexible infracos. But if they also want to accelerate growth and capture the full value of their network investments, they should strive towards building services businesses and becoming telecom techcos. We explore different pathways leading operators are taking to get there.
Telcos need new skills to change their organisations to compete like technology companies. Insights from our Future skills tracker tool show that telcos are behind techcos in the penetration of key skillsets and provides direction on the capabilities required to become more innovative, agile and software-driven overall.
Our analysis of five telco case studies highlights the challenge for telcos looking to introduce cross-silo working and how approaches are being adapted to fit the organisation and access business benefits.
How telecoms can adapt and offer customers and other stakeholders an attractive way forward in markets facing inflation, and geopolitical and environmental challenges.
As telcos attempt to capture the B2B revenue opportunity, marketplace is rapidly becoming an industry buzzword. We explore the characteristics of a marketplace and the industries in which telcos have a genuine right-to-play
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.
This research defines and considers the topic “Future of work” – exploring the impact of emerging technologies and economic and social changes on telcos, and identifying how A3 (analytics, AI and automation) can help solve new challenges.
More telcos are making deals to run their VNFs on the public cloud. Not much is live yet. But cloud hosting of network functions will support telcos in realising the benefits of cloud-native, and we believe telcos can safely go further and faster.
Stakeholders have a critical bearing on the success or failure of telco growth plans. What are the key groups, what’s needed to optimise chances of success, and how does the Coordination Age help?
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.
This report outlines best practice in identifying and scaling new business opportunities, in terms of how to organise, the necessary culture, where to start, who to involve, and how to exit.
STL Partners believes that telco cloud is a crucial enabler for operators’ success in the Coordination Age. In this manifesto we explain why.
Our latest research covers industry perceptions of likely changes regarding telco investment priorities and activities in 2021. It looks at the relative importance of different technologies (e.g. 5G, automation), propositions in enterprise and consumer markets, networks, strategy and leadership.
Our detailed analysis of the consumer markets in the UK and Brazil shows some common trends and highlights important differences. Beyond the triple play, innovation is sparse, particularly in the UK. So what can telcos do to grow?
We review telcos’ current strategies to drive revenue streams beyond connectivity and enhance their role in the Coordination Age, and explore how they can better leverage 5G and other core capabilities to provide unique value in a B2B2X environment.
As connectivity has become commoditised, launching new network technology can no longer be relied upon to generate operator growth. This report outlines eight guiding principles for operators seeking to move beyond connectivity into tailored vertical solutions.
Born of a unique partnership between Deutsche Telekom and Cisco, ngena leverages the networks of partners worldwide to provide a global enterprise connectivity platform. How did it come about, how successful has it been, and what does it teach us about innovation in telecoms?