Communication service providers (CSPs) are facing more pressure than ever to start generating new revenue streams and monetising their network assets. With rising demand for real time, data-rich services, telcos have had to invest in upgrading their networks, both in the core and increasingly at the edge, while simultaneously seeing their traditional revenue streams eroded thanks to the dominance of OTTs in messaging, voice and conferencing applications.
However, competition is not now just from OTTs. The hyperscalers – AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft – also have global network backbones that could, hypothetically, enable them to deliver connectivity services that would put them in direct competition with traditional CSPs. But – importantly – our view is that the future will be enhanced commercial relationships rather than marketplace warfare.
