Comments on: Threatened by startups, telcos try to think like entrepreneurs

By: The Voice on Telecom

The Voice on Telecom — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:12:51 +0000

It’s nice to see the highlight of Telefonica and Orange too – two operators who are really pushing forward even in very challenging market and financial conditions. The whole industry is moving towards a better user experience focus, which is not going to be a fast process, but these two are really on the ball.

http://thevoiceontelecom.blogspot.com/2011/10/is-telefonica-going-too-far-into.html

http://thevoiceontelecom.blogspot.com/2011/11/france-telecom-goes-outside-box-and.html

By: Curt Champion, Director, Global Telecom Marketing, Convergys Corporation

Curt Champion, Director, Global Telecom Marketing, Convergys Corporation — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:30:55 +0000

It actually takes more than organizational structure for telcos to be on the leading edge of innovative services — it takes a back office infrastructure (rating, billing, data management, etc.) that’s far more dynamic than the traditional systems designed for the simpler era of voice-only service. On another front, energy utilities are facing a similar challenge now, realizing the need for sophisticated back office systems to handle Smart Grid requirements such as real-time rating or usage alerts.

Consumers tend not to think about this aspect of the business, but when a telco is rolling out a new service — particularly in a fast-paced market that may include start-up competition — it’s no mean feat to build out the level of interactivity customers expect. Among the challenges telcos face: managing huge volumes data on tailored service packages to make sure that the bill is right, that the preferences are noted, that the right packages or bundles are offered — all without disruption to the existing services already supported by the back office. In many ways, having successfully provided services and billing for years, the telcos are well-positioned to provide new services with the same level of reliability. But innovation-minded technology is just as important here as that entrepreneurial spirit.

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:22:11 +0000

Huh???

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:21:43 +0000

Thinks about a Telcos DNA. They are regulated unionized monopolies not exposed to the forces of competition. So then, is it realistic to expect them to change their spots and become agile innovators?

Real examples of corporate entrepreneurship successes are rare. Yes, everybody is doing it to be pretend VCs but don’t have the right DNA (see above).

As an investor I’ve made money off of Telco startup’s in Core Services, but I would not touch their OTT or D2C attempts with a ten foot pole.

By: DDonegan

DDonegan — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:08:45 +0000

Telcos certainly are suffering due to lack of innovation in a market they seem to have become complacent in – even with the latest shift in smart phone technology. It’s simply accepted by typical users that you can’t perform simple tasks like manage my personal calls in a time based fashion or add telephony features to enhance my business’ revenue. Why?

A compelling case is your average SME. The phone call is their most valuable lead, delivering greater conversion and higher value through upselling. Online models have taken a forefront in both user interaction and business analysis yet the phone call itself is being foolishly ignored. As proven by our technology here at IOVOX, providing invaluable features to standard telephony and analytics tools to track essential KPIs can increase revenue ten-fold and be of as much value to an SME as online technology. If the telcos themselves deliver the feature-rich potential of telephony and harness the power of call analytics in the SME market alone they can reinvigorate a market that has turned into a race-to-zero, bridge the technological divide between telephony and online and bring priceless features to SMEs.

By: IOK

IOK — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:09:59 +0000

Funny…I remember many people encouraging operators to do M2M in 2001. Then a variety of us pushed (and personally invested) major bucks in operator centric services that might have avoided or delayed the OTT problem – only to be crushed by the operators’ own approach to dealing with “partners”.

In all likelihood it’s too late now. The VC community widely regards investing in any company that must sell to operators as unsupportable. Many entrepreneurs regard the operators as incorrigible and inflexible.

Good luck to them. I won’t hold my breath.