TelcoDR’s Summer Reading List 2023

It’s the dog days of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. We’re reveling in the last days of our vacations, and our kids are reluctantly getting ready to go back to school. Even workers in Europe are wrapping up their epic month-long breaks to head back to work.

To kick off your August, we did you a solid and ran through all the content we’ve created this year to identify major themes and build a TelcoDR Cheat Sheet. Think of it as Obama’s summer reading list, but with a telco twist. We’ve curated five topic areas for you to read about: real examples of telcos that are moving to the public cloud; the future of CPaaS (did you see that AWS/Twilio deal that was announced last week?); the future of charging (how could I resist, as acting CEO of Totogi); all things GenAI and telco (I mean how can you keep up?!); and finally—how to save money on your cloud costs. Enjoy!

Telcos that have embraced the public cloud

I’ve called myself a public cloud evangelist for years. With all the news about telcos working with hyperscalers this year, there’s a story every day about how telcos are getting more and more comfortable with the public cloud. Here are three examples of telcos that are actually doing it, and reaping huge rewards.

PODCAST: The cloud-first mindset
In this podcast episode, I talk with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette about the MVNO’s public-cloud-native mobile core and the power of having a cloud-first mindset.

PODCAST: giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS
As one of the first operators to go all-in on the public cloud, UK MVNO giffgaff has no regrets. Who would, when you go from 12 releases a year on-prem to 16,000 (!!) with AWS, and save tons of cash on compute by using Spot Instances.

PODCAST: Catch the public cloud train with TELUS
TELUS CIO Hesham Fahmy shares how the Canadian telco got the industry buzzing about its cloud journey and strategies for refactoring apps.

The future of CPaaS

I came back from MWC23 so pumped about the future of the telco industry that I bought Kandy, a communications-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) company. As I learn more about CPaaS and Twilio, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, learning, and writing about this huge opportunity for telcos to generate revenue by opening up their networks, like …

BLOG: Telco execs: Are you jealous of Twilio?
I hit a nerve with this, my most popular LinkedIn post ever (more than 40k impressions)! It breaks down how Twilio, the communications platform, stole Application-to-Person (A2P) API revenue from operators—and ends with a rallying cry to take back what’s ours. Can telco overtake Twilio?

BLOG: Is Open Gateway the answer to telco’s Twilio woes?
The GSMA hopes its new Open Gateway framework will dislodge Twilio. It’s off to a good start, but there are still parts of the strategy we need to figure out. More than 30 telcos say they’re on board, but will software developers use the new APIs? This blog talks about what the initiative needs to succeed.

PRESS RELEASE: Skyvera to Acquire American Virtual Cloud Technology Assets
Here’s the press release about my acquisition of America Virtual Cloud Technology (AVCT), which, via its Kandy business unit, provides global, carrier-grade, white-label cloud communications services. What will we do with it? Stay tuned, we’re prepping to announce a new offering on September 5!

The future of charging-as-a-service

Have I told you how much I love charging, and how I think there’s a huge opportunity for telcos to monetize in new ways using Totogi’s innovative approach to rating? If you haven’t been keeping up with Totogi, here are a few resources covering what we’ve been up to lately.

PODCAST: Appledore Research sits down with Totogi
Appledore’s Robert Curran and John Abraham turned the tables and interviewed me! We talked about the state of charging in telecom, what Totogi is up to, and why software as a service (SaaS) is the future for the industry. Great conversation.

BLOG: Stop differentiating on price. Start personalizing the customer experience.
Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) run on somebody else’s network, and they need to use things other than low pricing to set themselves apart in the market. By using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), they can set themselves apart with excellent, personalized, subscriber experiences. This blog breaks down how Totogi is helping MVNOs stay a step ahead of their competition.

BLOG: Create new revenue streams by monetizing private enterprise networks
It’s never been easy or affordable to monetize private enterprise networks (PENs)—until now. For MWC, Totogi and its world-class partners created a cloud-native 5G PEN with multi-tenant, carrier-grade charging capabilities. By being multi-tenant on the network side of the equation, Totogi integrates once to the network and can spin up new instances in seconds. This blog explains how we did it, and how we can do it for your enterprise customers, too.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning

We can’t talk about 2023 without talking about AI and ML. There’s so much to learn about chips, software, and use cases. Personally, I’m overwhelmed thinking about how to use it for my organization to not only make us more productive internally, but also drive unparalleled results for our customers. Get started by becoming familiar with how it works.

BLOG: For Cloud AI, it’s all about the chips
Purpose-built chips from the Big Three hyperscalers unlock the power of cloud-based AI, helping you turn your data into insights that improve your network, processes, and customer experiences. These chips’ unparalleled speed, cost-effectiveness, and innovation simply can’t be replicated on-premise. With reports of Nvidia chips already being sold out through this year, this may be your best alternative for getting access to inference and training specialized silicon.

BLOG: The BIG problem with generative AI
The big question is how can enterprises—and especially telcos— safely use generative AI (GenAI) tools without risking proprietary and highly-regulated data? AWS has some great new tools to help you get started.

BLOG: We’ve just scratched the surface on machine learning in telco
Telcos can use ML to improve experiences, reduce churn, boost customer satisfaction, and increase average revenue per user (ARPU). This blog covers what ML is, how the public cloud made it affordable, and how SaaS products like Totogi can turbocharge it even more—especially for telcos.

Cloud cost optimization

The big risk factor in organizations moving to the public cloud? Not making the business case on the cost savings. Build a FinOps practice from the start to optimize your cloud costs and never look back. Here are resources to share with your CFO or anyone else who wants to keep your cloud budget lean and mean.

PODCAST: Save bookoo bucks with CloudFix
CloudFix founder Rahul Subramaniam tells the story of how CloudFix’s SaaS platform was born, why it’s such a great service, and how it saved one customer $50k a day in AWS fees. Listen to see if it can work for you, and contact TelcoDR if you want to use it and get access to a special discount.

BLOG: How to save 50-90% on compute with spot instances
Innovative MVNO giffgaff saves an estimated 50-90% on compute costs by using AWS Spot Instances, which is spare compute capacity offered at a deep, deep discount. (Azure and Google Cloud have similar options.) I explain how Spot Instances works in this blog.

PRESS RELEASE: TelcoDR and CloudFix join forces to revolutionize telco’s AWS spend with exclusive partnership agreement
Here’s the press release with all the info about the partnership and why it’s such a great offer for telcos. Basically, sign up with CloudFix, and if you want to save money on fees, buy it through TelcoDR.

So there you have it! A buffet of knowledge, served up TelcoDR style. Remember, the dog days of summer aren’t just about catching rays and eating tons of ice cream. They’re also an opportunity to brush up on the latest telco trends. So, whether you’re lounging by the pool or sneaking in a quick read between meetings, we hope our cheat sheet adds a dash of fun to your learning. Until next time, enjoy the sun, the surf, and the sizzling insights!

Later, nerds!