At the start of 2023, we were hopeful that the year would be that of 5G SA. In the event, only seven deployments materialised in the first 6 months leaving a staggering 30 in our tracker as “in progress” and to be completed in the second half of 2023. In this report, we discuss how likely it is that these deployments will take place in 2023 or at all and if 5G SA still matters.
Digital identity has become a critical aspect of modern life, but security and user experience are suffering from market fragmentation and limited visibility or control for end users over how their personal data is used. How can telcos build on their existing services to solve these challenges?
In this update, we present data and analysis on progress with deployments of vRAN and open RAN. It is fair to say that open RAN (virtualised AND disaggregated RAN) deployments have not happened at the pace that STL Partners and many others had forecast. In parallel, some very significant deployments and developments are occurring with vRAN (virtualised NOT disaggregated RAN). Is open RAN a networking ideal that is not yet, or never will be, deployed in its purest form?
Beyond just connecting it, there are three broad telco strategies for the Metaverse that are being developed and led by Verizon, Telefónica and SKT.
We found subtle but significant shifts at the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2022 that show how the market’s need is changing to ‘connecting technologies’ rather than ‘connectivity’. This has deep implications for the industry and telcos in particular.
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?
Edge computing is a strategic opportunity for telcos. We examine the driving needs and applications for telco edge computing, describe the market and the options for telcos, discuss their partnerships with hyperscalers and recommend key actions.
Telcos in South Korea and China have seen strong early demand for new 5G services. Where else is 5G commercially available, and what are the key lessons from early movers on 5G investments and positioning?
Mobile apps are at the heart of the modern digital economy. Although many telco-owned apps have struggled, some have broken the mould, achieving high levels of adoption and usage. How did they do it?
Telcos with a clear focus on what they are trying to achieve will do better at the risky business of M&A. So who’s buying what, and who’s doing well?
We outline three potential roles for telcos in the IoT, describing twelve potential application areas and forty use cases, as well as the structure and trends driving change. Looking beyond this we ask which market areas are most attractive, and what should telcos do within them?
This report provides detailed analysis of the IoT ecosystem, the technologies enabling it, and how telcos can establish themselves within it, by presenting case-studies of strategies from AT&T, Vodafone, SK Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom. The report also discusses the connectivity needs of several different IoT use-cases.
We outline our ‘proxy model’ for valuing Digital Services Businesses, based on current best practice, which has significant advantages over traditional approaches. This report, our second of two on valuation, gives a worked example of a telco’s digital business in Asia that is already worth $1bn, and includes an analysis of approaches being taken by some leading telcos today.
Telcos, Internet and technology players, banks and payment networks have disruptive $billion opportunities to act as intermediaries / enablers in mobile commerce and personal cloud services, based on the appropriate use of customer data. This report is a unique and comprehensive strategic guide for success in these roles. It analyses the strategies of the main and cutting-edge players, and outlines key success factors in designing and delivering customer propositions, technology, organisation and value network strategies. It also includes evaluations of the related strategic opportunities of ‘raw big data’, professional data services, and internal data use, and a business model showing how one type of candidate for the intermediary role, a telco, could grow profitable new revenues equivalent to c.$50Bn (5% of existing core revenues) within five years. (October 2013, Dealing with Dsiruption Stream). Telco 2.0 Transformation Index Small