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Tag: opex

Telecoms 2030 Part 1: The telecoms industry problem

The traditional “moat-building” business model adopted by telcos is no longer viable. If telcos are to compete with internet giants in 2030, they must fundamentally change as organisations. Part 1 of our Telecoms 2030 series outlines this need for change, providing three possible business models for the telco of 2030 – Servco, Infraco and Techco.

Five ways to get open RAN deployment back on track

The first commercial deployments of open RAN networks have been announced. But operators are unsure whether to deploy quickly for first-mover advantage or play it safe and wait for more proof points. We explore the causes of open RAN inertia and how operators can get deployments back on track.

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.

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.

Elisa Automate

Elisa Automate: Growing value with sisu

Finnish telco, Elisa, repeatedly achieves surprising wins with innovative new propositions. For example, it now sells Elisa Automate, its fully automated Network Operations Centre (NOC), to other telcos. Most telcos buy their NOCs from vendors. How does this relatively small telco punch so much above its weight? At the heart of the answer is a Finnish word which cannot directly be translated to English: sisu.

Reality Check: Are operators’ lofty digital ambitions unrealistic given slow progress to date?

STL Partners’ industry transformation analysis, including a recent global survey of telco executives, suggests operators’ digital ambitions are rising fast but, given 9 substantial implementation challenges, too little is currently being done to engender successful industry-wide business model transformation. We also look at the lessons from NTT DoCoMo, one of the operators that has made the most overall progress towards a ‘digital’ model.