# https://telcodr.com/ llms-full.txt
## Telco Transformation Fund
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/#main)
# $1 Billion Telco Transformation Fund.
The telco industry is at an inflection point, and the only way forward is through public cloud adoption. We’ve raised significant capital to expedite this transformational shift.
Select to open video modal![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 736 399"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## Trending Insights
1. [Ep 118 – Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
2. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
3. [Ep 117 – Vodafone’s new rules with open APIs, cloud-native, and AI (Lester Thomas)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/)
4. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
## What we do
![Totogi](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 168"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Build
We build telco software on the public cloud – starting with a $100M investment in Totogi.
[Discover Totogi](https://telcodr.com/build/)
![TelcoDR](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 169"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Advise
We educate the industry –why move workloads to the public cloud, how to do it the right way, and how to make it awesome.
[Learn more](https://telcodr.com/advise/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 168"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Invest
We acquire telco enterprise software companies and refactor their products for the public cloud.
[Learn more](https://telcodr.com/invest/)
## Ep 118 – Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)
Mallik Rao from Telefónica Germany explains how the operator became the first brownfield operator to migrate its 5G core to AWS—a breakthrough the entire telco industry has been waiting for.
[Listen Now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Mallik Rao Telefonica Germany](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 540 540"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 "%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Curated news and insights, straight to your inbox.
Every two weeks, I’ll help you sort through the noise, giving you my unfiltered take on what’s really happening in the telecom industry when it comes to public cloud.
## The public cloud is NOW
Beating the drum about the public cloud: watch the most exciting talk from this year’s event to learn how to turn the public cloud into a competitive advantage.
[Watch now](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-public-cloud-is-now-keynote/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 962 732"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I’m better in person! Shoot me a DM on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TelcoDR) or feel free to shoot me a note [here](https://telcodr.com/contact/).
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 863"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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## Vodafone Cloud Innovations
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-clinic-blog/#main)
Blog
# Vodafone is putting on a public cloud clinic
August 2, 2022
I wish more telcos were like Vodafone.
I remember when Simon Harris, group head of big data delivery at Vodafone, [spoke at Google Cloud Next](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAitKERcDPU) in October of 2019 about the analytics project the company took on with Google. It was going to rebuild Vodafone’s data ocean on Google Cloud so it could eliminate more than 600 on-premise Hadoop servers and power-up business intelligence, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) analytics.
“Neuron,” which is what Vodafone called this big data analytics platform, provided real-time business insights from customer service to network planning and optimization to operations in 11 countries. At the time, a [Google Cloud blog](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/customers/vodafone-calls-for-digital-transformation-with-the-help-of-google-cloud) quoted Simon Harris as saying, “Neuron serves as the foundation for Vodafone’s data ocean and the brains of our business as we transform ourselves into a digital tech company.” The TelcoDR team wrote [a case study on the project](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/), estimating that Vodafone saved about 70% TCO on the project. Not bad for a start.
## From first step to stepping stone
Bringing all that data together in one place—rebuilding what Vodafone already had, but with cloud native tools in the cloud—was just the first step in Vodafone’s continuing evolution from a telco to a tech-co. Once the company had some experience working with the Google Cloud team and technologies, it next [created the Nucleus platform](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vodafone-and-google-cloud-to-develop-industry-first-global-data-platform-301281936.html), which was announced about 18 months later – in May 2021.
Nucleus is a single source of truth for the whole organization that helps people make decisions that can reduce costs, streamline operations, and bring new offerings to subscribers around the world. As Amol Phadke, the managing director and general manager of Google Cloud, [explained in my recent podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-42-talking-telco-with-google-cloud/), Nucleus can process _dozens of terabytes of data every day_.
What’s unique about Nucleus is that it aggregates data from a number of different sources across different countries within Vodafone’s deployed models. According to Amol (at 4:45 in the podcast), “It is a hybrid cloud in the sense that the data sits in disparate places and sources, and it gets moved seamlessly into cloud… essentially, you take all of the data together and then drive those insights.”
It’s an industry first, in an industry that really needs this kind of data processing power.
Next for Vodafone on its cloud native data journey? [A pan-European cloud-native network performance platform](https://www.vodafone.com/news/technology/vodafone-cardinality-io-google-cloud-smarter-pan-european-network-performance-platform), which Vodafone announced in May 2022. It will draw on eight-billion network data sources, analyze them with AI, and create a single source of business insight for Europe, replacing more than 100 network apps in use today. This project gives Vodafone insights into network data such as traffic patterns so the company can add capacity, respond to major incidents, manage energy efficiently, and restore services after severe weather. Vodafone cites a nearly 70% fall in network and IT incidents this year as a result of the project. Damn.
Finally, in July Vodafone [announced AI Booster](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/vodafones-ml-platform-built-on-vertex-ai), a scalable, unified AI/ML platform built entirely on Google Cloud that integrates with Neuron to optimize customer experiences, customer loyalty, and product recommendations.
When you put all of these announcements together, it’s clear that the scale and software of the public cloud is [giving Vodafone an advantage over other telcos](https://cloud.google.com/customers/featured/vodafone) that will only continue to separate it from competitors. Its forward-thinking attitude, commitment to rapid experimentation, and willingness to adopt new technology quickly have fueled its flywheel of success and built new capabilities in record time. All powered by the public cloud.
## Vodafone is years ahead of the industry
Vodafone has put in the hard work with Google (coming up on three years now) and has maneuvered into a great position: it has the ability to get insights at the subscriber level where it may be able to influence business and consumer behavior. Vodafone understands the basic equation that knowing your customers is the key to business success, so it started its cloud transformation by mining subscriber data years ago. It has continued to take on more ambitious projects as its technologists and leaders learn more about what’s possible with the public cloud.
And that’s the key to the Vodafone project: the public cloud. The scale and unlimited storage capacity of the public cloud allow you to ingest petabytes and petabytes of data. You have access to compute power that can scale up in milliseconds to analyze all that data. With the databases of the public cloud that scale instantly and elastically, you can use the right tool for the job: SQL, noSQL, graph, or big dumb tables. Finally, you have access to global-scale, world-class analytical tools that the hyperscalers have tested in their own businesses. The best part: you pay by the use! You don’t have to pre-provision, pre-buy, pre-set up, negotiate multi-year agreements with multiple vendors, refresh servers, manage licenses, buy maintenance, and deal with all the crap you’ve historically had to manage to get what you really want: valuable insights on your business so you can take action and grow your ARPU.
As Lao Tzu says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Telcos, it’s time to realize this is your path to higher ARPU. So go strap on those [Air Jordans](https://www.gq.com/story/air-jordans-ranked) and get going.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Case Study \\
**How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud**\\
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In November 2019, Vodafone announced they were moving their entire data analytics to Google Cloud. TelcoDR wondered: how much were they spending and how much did they save?](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
[![In the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud**\\
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Telcos have been taking steps to move applications to the public cloud. Here are examples of telcos using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and lead in their marketplace.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/)
[![Culture of innovation](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**So, you want to be a tech-co?**\\
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It's a revenue-boosting trend for telcos to pivot to become tech companies. Before you do, here's where and how you need to raise your game…](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/)
[![Executive Voice: Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS on becoming a cloud-native tech-co**\\
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TELUS is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. CIO Hesham Fahmy talks about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey and lessons it learned that other telcos should know.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Episode 42. Amol Phadke, MD & Gm, Global Telecom Industry, Google Cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 42 – Talking Telco with Google Cloud**\\
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Amol Phadke, Google Cloud's MD & GM for the Global Telecom Industry, talks about what the hyperscaler is doing in the telco space.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-42-talking-telco-with-google-cloud/)
[![Be like Vodafone and move your analytics to the public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Be like Vodafone and move your analytics to the public cloud**\\
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Vodafone has saved nearly 70% by moving its analytics platform to the public cloud. Telcos, listen up: you can do the same. Find out how Voda’s doing it, and why you should move to the public cloud today.](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-move-analytics-to-public-cloud-blog/)
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## Cloud Migration Preparation
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-factor-cloud-migration-blog/#main)
Blog
# Ready, set, cloud: How to prepare your people for a move to the cloud
October 7, 2020
Hopefully, you got a chance to check out my blog that I wrote on [Jim Abolt’s framework for change](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/). In that post, I mentioned using McKinsey 7S Framework to help you assess your organization in preparing for your move to the public cloud.
In this blog, I’m going to talk to you about one of the McKinsey S’s: **staff**. As defined by McKinsey, staff refers to the workers of the company, how big the team is, where their motivations reside, as well as how they are trained and prepared to accomplish the move to the cloud.
Make no mistake: moving your entire IT ecosystem to the public cloud is a massive change. Fortunately, the systems being moved don’t have feelings and you won’t get much push back from them. It’s the humans you have to worry about. I’m talking about all the people who have selected, implemented, maintained, fought with and individually succeeded via the “old way” of doing things. As a leader you must realize that the “new way” is a threat to them, and they are going to fight tooth and nail against it – unless there’s something in it for them.
So start by putting yourself in their shoes to understand it from their perspective.
### Get on the bus
As I mentioned previously – you’re going to need to repeat yourself until you’re blue in the face that you are, in fact, making this change. You have to create an air of inevitability about it. You need people to truly believe that you will not change your mind and you’re not backing down. Consequently, each individual in your organization will need to decide if they want to follow you. It’s a personal decision. Some will get on board quickly. Others, never. And many others in between.
For the people that follow quickly – great! Recruit them to be your champions and agents of change internally. Ask them what it was about your message that convinced them that this was the right path, or what got them personally excited about the vision. Their enthusiasm will bleed into the organization, infecting others and convincing them to hop aboard the bus.
Meanwhile, as a leader you need to continue to repeat your message liberally and consistently. At some point, you also need to decide when you’ve given the organization enough time to decide and you’re fighting against the laws of diminishing returns. Some people may never get on board. For these people, it is imperative to show them the door, because they can act like a POISON in your organization, distracting people from the excitement about the future.
### It’s hard to say goodbye
With a move to the public cloud you’re probably going to need fewer people in your organization, or you may need new people with a different skill set. I can tell you right now that the number of people who leave because they aren’t excited about the vision you’re painting is going to be a lot less than the number you need to release.
As you do your HR modeling and project your future state where you cease to have data centers with IT stacks to manage, have AWS/Google/Microsoft managing your infrastructure, and have your SaaS vendor managing its platform, you’re going to realize you’re just going to need fewer people. So many CTOs would tell me, “Well, we aren’t going to let those people go…we just won’t” and completely reject the HR savings on TCO. This is where having a HR plan is so important. Don’t try to ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist. Embrace it. This is your opportunity to build a GREAT TEAM that’s energized about your future, so create a solid plan to manage through this part of the change process.
I realize that there are a lot of different redundancy and layoff rules in different countries. What might work in an at-will environment like the United States may not work in a country like France, with workers’ councils. Typically with large scale transformations, the project is over a longer duration of time, and sometimes you can use that time to your advantage.
One thing I’ve done within my organizations that need to go through significant reductions is to communicate to people AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE exactly how the change will impact them personally. I’ve done calls for voluntary departures, told people their exit dates a year in advance, and done reference calls for people leaving my organization to help them find their next position. I always recommend that leaders be honest and transparent with their workforce because their teams can smell the bullshit a mile away. By sharing your plans with your team, even if it’s “bad news” for them personally, you give them more time to find new employment, which is better.
Many leaders I’ve worked with default to telling people at the very last moment, fearing that workers will become unmotivated and unproductive. In my experience, that is rare. Most people continue to work hard because you had the courage to treat them like adults and they appreciate that you’ve given them time to find a new position. I do not pay them transition bonuses to cooperate; instead, where possible, I use the provided severance as the bonus. I tell them if they continue to be a productive member of the team, they can stay as long as we need them; if they leave early or are an unproductive member, they will be terminated for cause. In thousands of implementations of this approach, I’ve had to ask only two people to leave early. I’ve released employees all over the world and have probably dealt with whatever tough employee situation you may find yourself in, so if you need help with this part of the planning, please [contact me](https://telcodr.com/contact/) and I’d be happy to give you some advice.
### Put the bus into drive
By this point, you have a group of existing team members that are part of the future. Everyone is excited and the organization is the right size for the path that lays ahead. Do you need to hire new talent to your team? It’s likely that you don’t have enough cloud technologists in your organization today.
One short-term option to close the gap is to lean on the shoulders of your hyperscaler to get the best talent. All three of the big public cloud providers have organizations that can provide migration talent. Leverage this temporary talent to help you move your project along while you maintain normal operations, as it offers an option to rent some excellent personnel and cloud skills for your project. As a side benefit, it will give your team exposure to working with experts – they can learn from the best, so definitely take advantage of this opportunity by mixing in your people with your hyperscaler’s resources.
Finally, you’ll probably need to permanently hire new people to join your team – like software developers. The big four – Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft – easily attract all the top talent, from university through to experienced hires. They offer the resumé cachet, culture, career development, training – and mostly tangibly, the compensation – that is going to be difficult for you to match.
As an example, according to [Levels.fyi](https://www.levels.fyi/), an entry-level developer at Google just out of college would be looking at a package of almost $190k a year. Microsoft is paying around $165k, Amazon $162k. The figure for the average telco software developer salary in the US is $115k. Accurate salary comparisons are difficult, but it’s a sure bet that the cloud hyperscalers are paying a lot more than telcos and therefore attracting and hiring the best.
There’s an art to change management. [You can’t roll out all the changes at once](https://hbr.org/2020/09/how-amazon-automated-work-and-put-its-people-to-better-use). You have to consider where you are as a company, your readiness to switch, the acceptance by the workforce, and how you’ll manage if there’s resistance. Some of your staff will stay doing the jobs they have always done. Some will be excited to retrain, learn new skills and support the cloud adoption. Some will leave, longing for the old way of doing things and refusing to embrace the change. Where expertise is better outside the company, outsource. Concentrate on creating and retaining a core, cloud-literate team to drive your business through the transformation to the public cloud. They will determine your success.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 1 – It starts with…transformational leadership**\\
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Telco needs disruptive leaders with the courage to drive change. Find out what sets these trailblazers apart and why it takes big changes to big things to succeed.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Troy O’Brien, Cloud Evangelist & Global AWS Practice Leader, DXC Technologies.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 536"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 7 – The HR Series: Telcos, get ready for workforce transformation**\\
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The HR Series, Part 1: If telecoms are going to survive the inevitable move to the public cloud, they need to start focusing on people – retraining, hiring, and yes, letting some workers go.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Farhan Thawar, VP, Engineering, Shopify.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 8 – The HR Series: Pair programming – the most powerful tool you’ve never used**\\
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The HR Series, Part 2: What has two heads, two keyboards and two monitors and can help you squash the competition? It’s time to adopt pair programming.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-8-the-hr-series-pair-programming-the-most-powerful-tool-youve-never-used/)
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## Cloud Transition Steps
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-cloud-journey-starts-with-a-single-step-blog/#main)
Blog
# The journey to the cloud starts with a single step
January 31, 2022
OK, so you read my last blog, [How to start your move to the cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-start-your-move-to-the-cloud-blog/). You followed my advice about planning the transition, working with your executive team, hosting workshops, hanging posters up around the office with catchy slogans to rally the troops. You worked closely with your human resources (HR) partners. People are ready. Now what?
As my mother always says, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
## Step one: Inventory all of your IT applications and categorize them
There are two major types of workloads to move to the public cloud: IT and network. My advice to telco executives: start with IT. Why?
Because network workloads are more complicated; have more requirements on uptime; have more demands on latency. You know what doesn’t have a lot of these issues? IT. So to start, get your feet under you with IT workloads.
The first bite is to make a list of all your IT apps—likely thousands of them (AT&T had 2000). Open up a spreadsheet, write them down, then categorize them into easy to move, harder to move, and hardest to move. Pick a way to group them that makes the most sense for your business, and get sorting. You might categorize them by number of users, how mission-critical they are, how expensive they are to run—it doesn’t really matter, and everybody does it differently, a point underscored in [this piece](https://inform.tmforum.org/cloud-native-it-networks/2021/12/how-bt-m1-verizon-are-approaching-cloud-native-adoption) by TM Forum chief analyst Mark Newman about how three operators have approached their moves. (If you need help, give us a call! TelcoDR happens to offer this exact service. This is our jam!)
## Step two: Start with the easiest thing in the easiest bucket
Begin where the stakes are lowest, because you’re going to learn a lot of things you didn’t know about the public cloud when you get underway. Cut yourself some slack at the beginning. There will be mistakes. Once you sign an agreement with AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, there are a lot of new things to think about: governance, legal and compliance issues, security, how to manage changes. It’s complicated. Plus, your apps have been on-prem for years—decades even.
But really, the bottom line is this: Pick something in your easy bucket, anything, and move it.
## Step three: Set a goal
When Jaime Miller was the CIO of General Electric, she brought her technical leaders together and told them that the company was going to move 50 applications to the public cloud. The team balked, argued, said it was a dumb idea and that it wouldn’t work. She acknowledged their concerns, but also asked them to take a month and do the best they could. Thirty days later, they’d moved 42 apps. Not only did it work, but during that time, the team also learned about their questions, roadblocks, workarounds, and other things. More importantly, **they got excited**. They saw opportunities for other apps to move, for how to do things better and faster. Now, GE has moved thousands of apps to the public cloud. By setting a goal, Jaime Miller kicked off a flywheel that is still turning today.
You can stand around and kick the tires, move one thing, fire up a server. It’s easy to experiment with the cloud but it’s another to intentionally move everything over. A good test to see if you’re making progress—is your spending going up? This is an easy report to run each month to see if there’s activity, or if people are just playing around with the cloud. The time to move to the public cloud is NOW. If you don’t build momentum now, you’re going to fall behind the rest of the industry quickly. This effort is going to take YEARS (yes, years), so get going.
It’s time to start eating the elephant. 🐘 🍽 ⛅️
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Time to go to the public cloud! The essential steps for cloud success.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Whitepaper \\
**Time to go to the public cloud!**\\
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In this paper, I talk about the power of the public cloud for telcos and lay out the four clear steps you need to take to trigger your transformation. As you’ll discover, it’s not about transition…](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/)
[![How to start your move to the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**How to start your move to the cloud**\\
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More and more telco execs are ready to make their move to the public cloud. Now, they're asking how to get started. Here's where to begin …](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-start-your-move-to-the-cloud-blog/)
[![Ready, set, cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ready, set, cloud: How to prepare your people for a move to the cloud**\\
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Let’s take a look at staff, and the role they play in the massive organizational change to get ready and set in the cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-factor-cloud-migration-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telco Customer Experience Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/improve-customer-experience-telco-tough-talk-blog/#main)
Blog
# Tough talk on telco customer care
November 10, 2020
If there’s a universally shared consumer experience, it’s that trying to contact your CSP for ANYTHING pretty much sucks. Telcos, sadly, remain the biggest culprits when it comes to terrible customer care.
This [TelecomTV](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/digital-platforms-services/my-bad-my-really-bad-telco-customer-service-is-as-awful-as-ever-39544/) article is full of depressing statistics, like: _‘Telco sector worse than any other industry on the planet.’_
WOW, that’s pretty bad.
## So, what’s up with terrible telco customer experience (CX)?
While telcos blazed the technology trail to bring digital mobile networks to the world (GO 17G!), they have neglected their customers along the way. For years (decades?) telcos have had the luxury of locking customers in with long contracts, early termination fees and clunky number portability, creating processes so difficult that most customers didn’t bother to leave. But in today’s world, switching providers is a lot easier. Multiple SIM slots have been added to phones and whatever loyalty telco subscribers had before has been thrown out the window (see Vodafone Idea and Jio in India). What we are left with is that telcos need to start concentrating on CX, or else.
Telcos that care about CX are moving into the 21st century and leveraging the power of **AI-driven customer care.** AI done right – and that’s tough to do to start with – delivers fast responses, flexibility and, crucially, data analysis in real time. Telcos relying on their own systems for collecting customer insights invariably have outdated data. This means accurately targeted campaigns are late, and inaccurate campaigns alienate, rather than engage, valuable subscribers. Real-time analytics mean proper personalized service, enabling telcos to offer customers real-time solutions – for example, extra data if a bundle is expiring, or new deals as a contract ends. Happy subscribers who feel valued will stay with you.
The best place to find awesome AI? The public cloud.
Verizon is a great example of how investment in AI, analytics and the public cloud can radically improve customer engagement and CX. In 2019, Verizon adopted [Google Contact Center AI (CC AI)](https://cloud.google.com/solutions/contact-center). CC AI uses advanced natural language understanding and high fidelity synthetic voice to sound nearly human, and a virtual assistant capable of handling far more questions in a conversation than a human agent. The conversational user interface means the virtual assistant can converse with the customer via chat, text and messaging, and use IVR if the same customer calls into the contact center. This brings consistency across all touchpoints – enhancing the Verizon brand and eliminating the total exasperation that comes with having to repeatedly reiterate your issue.
Check out this conversation between Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and Shankar Arumugavelu, SVP and CIO of Verizon, which describes the project and its benefits.
Another great example of public cloud software delivering great results is the AWS public cloud infrastructure [eGain Solve for Amazon Connect](https://www.egain.com/egain-solve-for-amazon-connect/) powered by AI and analytics, including virtual assistance via Amazon Alexa. It was deployed by a leading UK telco (my guess is this is BT – but it’s a total guess!) and supports customers through messaging, SMS, in-app, social, web, email, cobrowsing, video, click to call, and phone. This dramatically improved CX, with [first call response (FCR) increased to 85%](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/solutions/telecom/call-center), NPS improved by 20 points, agent training time reduced by 43%, and speed to competency of agents improved by 50%. With thousands of advisors across several countries, this massively improves consistency and therefore CX, as well as strengthens the telco’s brand.
Still don’t believe me? Gartner has [identified the technologies](https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/emea/customer-experience-uk/gartner-insights/top-cx-trends) that will have the biggest impact on CX going forward – they are: AI; virtual customer assistants and chatbots, and omnichannel customer engagement. They all exist, with ongoing development and enhancement by the best developers in the business – those that work for the public cloud hyperscalers. Just using the tech will get you only halfway there, though you need to really invest time in tuning the AI/ML to make it useful and super valuable.
[Check out this conversation](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-5-bfcs-testing-microsoft-azure-for-telcos/) I recently had with Microsoft Azure about the contact center projects it has going on. One of the ways these projects fail is that customers don’t put the time and effort into training the bots correctly. Sure, easy questions can be addressed out of the box; the real value is achieved when you put in the hours to deeply train the bots so they can answer real customer questions quickly and accurately.
It’s not like there’s no incentive to actually take care of the people whose hard-earned money the telcos are taking. [According to PWC](https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/pwc-consumer-intelligence-series-customer-experience.pdf), 32% of consumers globally will walk away from a company after just one bad experience. That’s a third of customers lost through what is basically carelessness! Canada’s BCE and Telus [revealed](https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/The-Full-Spectrum/How-churn-is-breaking-the-telecoms-market-and-what-service-providers-can-do-about-it#:~:text=Canada%27s%20BCE%20and%20Telus%20revealed,with%20retention%20costs%20of%20CAD11) in 2017 that it cost almost 50 times less for them to keep an existing mobile customer than to acquire a new one, with retention costs of ~CAD $11-12, while average subscriber acquisition cost weighed in at more than CAD $500! \[EYEBALL EMOJIS\] Given those economics, isn’t it worth it to keep the subscribers you have fought so hard to get in the first place?
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast. Tune in.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 5 – The BFCs: Putting Microsoft Azure to the test for telcos**\\
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Rick Lievano, Worldwide Director of Technology Strategy at Microsoft, builds a good case for why Azure should be telecom’s cloud platform of choice, not the least of which is Azure for Operators – a game changer in the quest for carrier-grade cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-5-bfcs-testing-microsoft-azure-for-telcos/)
[![Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer ❤️❤️❤️**\\
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Switching from being network-centric to customer-centric is not only necessary, but also the best thing you’ll ever do for your bottom line.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/)
[![Stop differentiating on price. Start personalizing the customer experience.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Stop differentiating on price. Start personalizing the customer experience.**\\
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MVNOs can set themselves apart by delivering exceptional, personalized subscriber experiences thanks to telco tools built with public cloud technology.](https://telcodr.com/insights/stop-differentiating-on-price-start-personalizing-customer-experience-blog/)
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## Telco Newsletter Archive
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#main)
## Newsletter archive
Missed out on a previous newsletter? Catch up on every single Telco in 20 newsletter to date, right here. ⬇️
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Jump to newsletters: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2025-newsletter) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2024-newsletter) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2023-newsletter) \| [202](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#the-secret-sauce-for-your-cloud-transformation-hr) [2](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2022-newsletter) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2021-newsletter) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2020-newsletter) \| [**Sign up!**](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#footer)
#### [AI will cost jobs, lots of them.](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-will-cost-jobs-lots-of-them)
June 3, 2025
Leaders lie about AI eliminating jobs, fearing bad press and employee backlash. But honesty works better. Early communication, skills training, and treating people like adults builds loyalty during transitions.
#### [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs)
May 20, 2025
My latest blog delivers five AI prompting techniques for executives that transform generic mush into million-dollar insights. This quick fix could be the highest ROI skill you’ll learn all year.
#### [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs](https://telcodr.totogi.com/mvnos-dont-need-mvnes)
May 6, 2025
New technologies simplify the equation for MVNOs, giving them the startup economics they need while creating new revenue streams for MNOs. Africa is poised to prove this new model to the world.
#### [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.totogi.com/the-green-paradox-of-ai)
April 22, 2025
AI is creating a sustainability crisis, with data centers’ energy demand projected to more than double by 2030. For Earth Day, we dig into how well public cloud providers are sticking to their green goals.
#### [We’re helping a customer leave CloudSense. Here’s why that’s a GREAT idea.](https://telcodr.totogi.com/we-are-helping-a-customer-leave-cloudsense)
April 8, 2025
Is it crazy to help a customer migrate off your platform? We’re using BSS Magic to help a Tier-1 telco leave CloudSense. Here’s why we think it’s a winning strategy.
#### [AI’s value is in the application layer](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-application-layer)
March 26, 2025
AI’s real competitive advantage lies in the application layer where it solves specific business problems and delivers more bang for your AI buck.
#### [The Wolf of MWC](https://telcodr.totogi.com/the-wolf-of-mwc)
March 10, 2025
Telco partnerships with Starlink can deliver benefits, but operators need to enter into them with eyes wide open.
#### [How to suss out the fake agents at MWC25](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-agents-at-mwc25)
February 25, 2025
AI agents will be everywhere at MWC25—use these questions to separate true innovation from vendor hype.
#### [The AI-first telco won’t wait 5 years for Amdocs](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-first-telco)
February 11, 2025
With BSS Magic’s AI-powered integration, you can finally innovate at the speed of your imagination, not your vendor’s timeline.
#### [Amdocs is ruining your business to keep their empire. AI to the rescue!](https://telcodr.totogi.com/https/telcodr.com/insights/ai-to-the-rescue/)
Januaary 28, 2025
Legacy vendors profit from keeping telcos trapped in expensive integration and customization cycles. AI offers a way to break free.
#### **[Totogi built a money machine for telcos](https://telcodr.totogi.com/totogi-built-a-money-machine-for-telcos-1)**
Januaary 14, 2025
Totogi’s Plan AI is driving real revenue growth for telcos. Here are all the details.
* * *
Jump to newsletters: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2024-newsletter) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2023-newsletter) \| [202](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#the-secret-sauce-for-your-cloud-transformation-hr) [2](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2022-newsletter) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2021-newsletter) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2020-newsletter) \| [**Sign up!**](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#footer)
#### **[Your single-model AI strategy is costing you millions](https://telcodr.totogi.com/your-single-model-ai-strategy-is-costing-you-millions)**
December 17, 2024
Using one AI model for everything may sound good on paper, but here’s why using a specialist approach to AI models is a winning strategy.
#### **[Signing a massive AI contract could be your biggest mistake of 2024](https://telcodr.totogi.com/signing-massive-ai-contract-could-be-a-mistake)**
December 3, 2024
AI is evolving rapidly and prices are plummeting, so now is the time to keep your AI options open. Here’s why, and how to do it.
#### **[My spidey sense about CloudSense](https://telcodr.totogi.com/my-spidey-sense-about-cloudsense)**
November 19, 2024
TelcoDR affiliate Skyvera just bought CloudSense—a CPQ solution that helps telcos sell and deliver services faster and more efficiently. Here’s how we plan to make it a powerhouse tool for telcos.
#### **[48% used, 100% paid: how to fix the overspend on your cloud contract](https://telcodr.totogi.com/48-percent-used-100-percent-paid-how-to-fix-the-overspend-on-your-cloud-contract)**
November 5, 2024
According to Infosys, telcos use only 48% of their cloud commitments, leaving millions on the table. Here’s how to fix this.
#### **[When it comes to DSS, telcos need to wake up and smell the AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14189702)**
October 22, 2024
When it comes to driving transformation, a recent survey shows promising trends and alarming blind spots in our industry.
#### **[Will telco get to the public cloud before Elon Musk gets to Mars?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14189156)**
October 8, 2024
My mission to bring the public cloud to telco is paying off—see how far we’ve come and where we’re headed next.
#### [The death of Amdocs](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14188639)
September 24, 2024
AI-generated enterprise software is becoming a reality, a breakthrough that is poised to transform telecom.
#### **[Getting AI right is hard](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14188080)**
September 11, 2024
Struggling to make AI work in your telco? You’re not alone. But before you give up, let’s talk about first-principles thinking.
#### **[**Telco _DR_’s back-to-school reading list**](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14187424)**
August 27, 2024
We’ve curated 2024’s top stories to help you catch up on what’s shaping the industry. Dive in and learn!
#### **[10 examples of how telcos are using AI (BESIDES customer support!)](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14186488)**
July 30, 2024
Telcos are putting AI to work in areas far beyond the low-lying fruit of customer service apps. Here’s inspiration for your next AI power move.
#### **[If you focus on business value, AI pays for itself](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14186015)**
July 16, 2024
Think AI is too expensive for your org? Think again. When implemented strategically, AI can pay for itself.
#### **[Let freedom ring (and break free from your BSS vendor)](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14185512)**
July 2, 2024
Despite fears of hyperscaler lock-in, it’s actually the legacy vendors that have you trapped. Here’s how to take back control.
#### **[The promise of AI is no UI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14184880)**
June 18, 2024
Discover how AI is set to change telco (and especially BSS) software forever, and what your business needs to do today to prepare.
#### **[Unlock the true value of your BSS with AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14184461)**
June 4, 2024
AI is transforming telcos’ BSS data, delivering strategic insights, predictive analytics, and more.
#### **[Telco’s shift to the public cloud gets real](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14183873)**
May 21, 2024
O2 Telefónica Germany is going all-in on the public cloud for its network—a signal that telco’s future is the public cloud.
#### **[Mi Casa es su Casa (if you’re Verizon)](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14183285)**
May 7, 2024
Casa Systems’ bankruptcy filing surprised many in telco. After all, it had a substantial relationship with Verizon. What happened and why?
#### **[Why AI’s future might depend on nuclear energy](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14182799)**
April 23, 2024
Earth Day 2024 has me thinking about the energy demands of artificial intelligence. Is nuclear power the answer?
#### **[The public cloud is PERFECT for Africa](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14159661)**
April 9, 2024
The public cloud is taking off in Africa—and it’s a perfect match for the continent’s telcos.
#### **[Cloud bursting for disaster recovery](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14157229)**
March 26, 2024
Telcos can slash disaster recovery costs by 90% and eliminate the headaches of maintaining an on-prem system. Here’s how.
#### **[How to transform your customer support with AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14154682)**
March 12, 2024
Customer support is the first place to look when adding GenAI to your org. We set out to boost performance in this area, and today we handle 56% of queries with no human intervention. Here’s how we did it.
#### **[5 things you gotta do at MWC24](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14004886)**
February 23, 2024
There are a few things I’m especially looking forward to at MWC 2024. You should check them out, too!
#### **[4 ways to spot \#fakeAI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13949326)**
February 13, 2024
There are companies doing it right and others that are faking it. How can you distinguish the true AI innovators from the charlatans?
#### [The perfect BSS](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13946674)
January 30, 2024
The BSS landscape in telecom is a mess. But change is coming. Totogi is ready to bring together AI and the public cloud to save the day.
#### **[Turn your Open Gateway APIs into a strategic advantage](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13942790)**
January 16, 2024
Open Gateway is solving one challenge to taking back lost CPaaS revenue. Now, telco needs to solve the other one.
* * *
Jump to newsletters: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2025-newsletter) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2024-newsletter) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2023-newsletter) \| [202](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#the-secret-sauce-for-your-cloud-transformation-hr) [2](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2022-newsletter) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2021-newsletter) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2020-newsletter) \| [**Sign up!**](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#footer)
#### **[Do telcos need an AI strategy?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13937314)**
December 19, 2023
GenAI is brand new and changing fast, which is why every telco needs a strategy to drive the use of AI through their organization.
#### **[Dead Vendor Walking – What to do when your vendor is TOAST](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13934110)**
December 5, 2023
Watch out for warning signs that your telco software vendor is struggling and take these steps so its problems don’t become yours.
#### **[Telco _DR_’s top picks for AWS re:Invent ‘23](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13930570)**
November 21, 2023
Next week is AWS re:Invent, the annual event where AWS makes major announcements and generally promotes itself and all of its cool new tech.
#### **[What to watch at Microsoft Ignite](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13923754)**
November 7, 2023
Microsoft annual Ignite cloud conference kicks off next week. I’ve whittled down the 500+ session catalog to 30-some topics that are most relevant to telcos.
#### **[MVNOs, it’s time to Moneyball with AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13923426)**
October 24, 2023
Embracing AI, the public cloud, and Totogi’s SaaS solutions can help MVNOs compete with big league MNOs.
#### **[How MVNOs can use AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13919490)**
October 10, 2023
Here are five ways operators and MVNOs of all sizes are leveraging AI for game-changing results. Don’t get left behind!
#### **[5 questions to test if it’s SaaS or not](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13915310)**
September 26, 2023
Worried you’re getting #fakeSaaS? Ask your vendors these questions to tell if their solutions are the real deal.
#### **[Ready to kick Twilio to the curb? Meet _Whoosh!_](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13910738)**
September 12, 2023
We 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.
#### **[Think you’ve already lost to Twilio? Think again.](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13908474)**
August 29, 2023
We 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.
#### **[TelcoDR’s watch list for Google Cloud Next](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0)**
August 15, 2023
We 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.
#### [TelcoDR’s Summer Reading List 2023](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13903158)
August 1, 2023
We 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.
#### [Who wins in the Nokia-Red Hat deal?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13900330)
July 18, 2023
Nokia recently announced that it will offload its Nokia Container Services and CloudBand Infrastructure Software to Red Hat. My initial response was: WUT?
#### [I can help you save BIG BUCKS on your AWS bill](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13897190)
July 4, 2023
There’s a super cool SaaS platform that can quickly find MILLIONS of dollars in savings and go get them for you AUTOMATICALLY.
#### [How to save 50-90% on compute with spot instances](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13893778)
June 20, 2023
The telcos that win big with the public cloud will be those that get really skilled at optimizing the cost of their workloads.
#### [Is Open Gateway the answer?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13889958)
June 6, 2023
Twilio, the communications platform, stole SMS and an important revenue stream from telcos. Let’s discuss the ingredients for a successful comeback.
#### [For Cloud AI, it’s all about the chips](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13887286)
May 23, 2023
Cloud AI stands ready to transform telcos, but they will need the hyperscalers’ purpose-built chips to unlock its power.
#### [Create new revenue streams by monetizing private enterprise networks](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13884462)
May 9, 2023
This year’s MWC attendees were blown away by how easy it was to set up a private network and let enterprise customers monetize it.
#### [The BIG Problem with Generative AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13881282)
APRIL 25, 2023
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is game changing for the telco industry. But can telcos fire it up “as-is”?
#### [It’s easy being green with the public cloud](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13878230)
APRIL 11, 2023
Telcos can reduce emissions and costs while meeting customers’ increasing bandwidth demands with help from the public cloud.
#### [I’m optimistic about telco](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13875426)
MARCH 28, 2023
Don’t listen to naysayers! The future of telco is bright. Celebrate your network and the untapped potential of solutions like Kandy.
#### [On Cloud 9: Special MWC23 Edition](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13871870)
MARCH 14, 2023
Did you miss any of the exciting haps around the public cloud and telco at MWC 2023? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!
#### [Machine learning is changing the game for telcos](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13791430)
FEBURARY 28, 2023
Telcos can use ML to improve experiences, reduce churn, increase ARPU, and more. And they need to use the public cloud to do it.
#### [Turn that telco data into customer love](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13787878)
FEBURARY 14, 2023
These MNOs and MVNOs are using subscriber data, AI, ML, and the public cloud to deliver personalized experiences, proactive support, targeted offers and customer love to their subscribers.
#### [Bring the CLOUD to your BSS](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13783934)
JANUARY 31, 2023
Totogi is bringing the public cloud to BSS on the ground. Why? Because BSS capabilities are what’s important—not necessarily where it’s running.
#### [I’m Buying.](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13739014)
JANUARY 17, 2023
Somebody has to refactor telco software for the public cloud. The big vendors aren’t, so my team will—through the $1B Telco Transformation Fund.
* * *
Jump to newsletters: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2025-newsletter) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2024-newsletter) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2023-newsletter) \| [202](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#the-secret-sauce-for-your-cloud-transformation-hr) [2](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2022-newsletter) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2021-newsletter) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2020-newsletter) \| [**Sign up!**](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#footer)
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#### [Should you build for repatriation?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13733782)
DECEMBER 21, 2022
Let’s talk about the elephant in the cloud: should you build your workloads in the public cloud with the idea that you can move them back on prem?
#### [TelcoDR’s re:Invent recap](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13730746)
DECEMBER 6, 2022
AWS re:Invent happened last week, online and live in Las Vegas. Here are the most interesting announcements for telco to come out of the event.
#### [Coding with connectivity: Using the new DISH network APIs](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13727550)
NOVEMBER 22, 2022
DISH Wireless has a new open network API platform that anyone can use to add connectivity to anything with unfettered access.
#### [MVNOs: Use personalization (and the public cloud!) for differentiation](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13724398)
NOVEMBER 8, 2022
MVNOs can set themselves apart by delivering exceptional, personalized subscriber experiences thanks to telco tools built with public cloud technology.
#### [Google Cloud Next And Microsoft Ignite: Let’s Recap The Haps](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13721190)
OCTOBER 25, 2022
Google Cloud Next and Microsoft Ignite have wrapped. Here’s a recap of announcements from both events that affect telcos the most.
#### [Your playlist for this week’s Google Cloud Next and Microsoft Ignite](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13717822)
OCTOBER 11, 2022
Google Cloud Next and Microsoft Ignite kick off this week. Here are top picks for sessions that telcos should attend.
#### [How Amazon ditched Oracle databases for good](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13714502)
SEPTEMBER 27, 2022
Amazon’s consumer business shut down 100% of its Oracle databases. Here’s how they did it so you can do it too.
#### [Why the public cloud is perfect for India](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13698250)
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022
The public cloud is perfect for India’s unique telco market. The only catch is that operators have to select software built for the public cloud.
#### [Public cloud outages are your problem](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13696446)
AUGUST 30, 2022
It’s time to set the record straight about outages in the public cloud. The tech of the public cloud is more resilient than your own data center.
#### [Deploying a new charger used to take a year. The Totogi Charging System takes hours.](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13681261)
AUGUST 16, 2022
The Totogi Charging System is so easy to deploy that people can’t quite believe it’s true. But it’s the real thing.
#### [A public cloud masterclass with Vodafone](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13678781)
AUGUST 02, 2022
Vodafone has been rebuilding its business intelligence infrastructure piece by piece, replacing outdated tech with the latest and greatest.
#### [The double bubble is NOT double trouble](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13675993)
JULY 19, 2022
There are two common approaches telcos use when moving workloads to the public cloud. Which one is best?
#### [Need innovation? You won’t find it in an RFP](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13673389)
JULY 6, 2022
Requests for proposals, or RFPs, were great when new software installations were costly, time-consuming, once-per-decade efforts. Times are changing.
#### [The Telco Pioneers: DISH Wireless](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13670277)
JUNE 21, 2022
DISH Wireless Executive Vice President and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network – a game changer for telco.
#### [3 Things You Need to Do to Become a Tech-Co](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13667361)
JUNE 7, 2022
Lots of telecoms are thinking about pivoting to become tech companies. Before you decide to do this, consider the challenges.
#### [Why Do People Think Kubernetes Is Cloud Native?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13664205)
MAY 24, 2022
In today’s cloud native infrastructure and applications, Kubernetes is not the final step. You’ve got to use more of the public cloud than just containers.
#### [Save Big Money By Storing Data In The Cloud](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13624937)
MAY 10, 2022
The economics are simple: you’ll save money by storing data in the public cloud.
#### [How to tell if that vendor’s application is truly cloud native](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13621841)
APRIL 26, 2022
Telco CTOs and CIOs, use these questions to figure out which vendors are doing cloud native right.
#### [Bet on the future](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13619457)
APRIL 11, 2022
Instead of making technical decisions based on where technology is today, factor in the hyperscalers’ plans for the future.
#### [TM Forum Open APIs hit a milestone](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13616781)
MARCH 29, 2022
TM Forum recently announced more than 500,000 downloads of the Open APIs, and they’re gaining momentum across a variety of vendors and CSPs. Why now?
#### [Can you feel it? The public cloud is NOW](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13604929)
MARCH 15, 2022
If you haven’t started your move to the public cloud, the time is now! Here are the three biggest things slowing telcos down, and how to address them.
#### [Three can’t-miss sessions for telcos at MWC 2022](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13601969)
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
We’re pumped for Mobile World Congress, the biggest event in telco! It runs from February 28 to March 3, 2022 in Barcelona (and also online).
#### [How to keep cloud costs under control](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13597109)
FEBRUARY 15, 2022
When you start shifting workloads to the public cloud, a couple of things happen. Your costs shift from fixed to variable, and power shifts from your bureaucracy to individual technologists.
#### [How to keep moving to the cloud](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13578241)
FEBRUARY 1, 2022
I get this question a lot from telco leaders who want to accelerate their cloud journey. I won’t lie: It’s a big job. It’s like what my mom always tells me, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
#### [The secret sauce for your cloud transformation: HR](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-13553265)
JANUARY 19, 2022
2021 was the year of the public cloud in telco. DISH went all-in on AWS. AT&T sold its Network Cloud platform tech to Azure. Verizon is integrating with all three hyperscalers. I could go on..
* * *
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#### [All aboard the public cloud train!](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5741602)
DECEMBER 28, 2021
I can’t believe it’s already time to usher in 2022. What a year 2021 has been. I went 5 for 5 on my predictions for this past year, but it still brought surprises, including the incredible opportunity to bring telco and the public cloud front and center during MWC21.
#### [AWS Private 5G blows the roof off re:Invent](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5738290)
DECEMBER 09, 2021
I was ready for some big announcements during AWS re:Invent. I shared my list of can’t-miss sessions. But AWS Private 5G? Huge. Like rock-the-socks-of-telco huge.
#### [Top takeaways from Microsoft Ignite](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5733538)
NOVEMBER 18, 2021
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced more than 90 upgrades to its cloud services during its annual Microsoft Ignite conference.
#### [Top takeaways from Google Cloud Next](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5729658)
NOVEMBER 3, 2021
It’s hyperscaler event season! Which means tons of announcements (easy to miss), tons of talks (who has the time?), all jam-packed together so we’re wading through all of it to help you navigate the noise.
#### [Here’s what you need to know about public cloud software](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5723710)
OCTOBER 12, 2021
In my many conversations with telco execs, one of the biggest myths I find myself having to overcome about the public cloud is that it’s all about the infrastructure.
#### [Why DISH’s cloud native network will work](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5718214)
SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
In April, news broke that DISH would be hosting its RAN and mobile core on Amazon’s public cloud infrastructure. Now, a new announcement has come around.
#### [Why use the public cloud at the edge](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/cloud-city-is-taking-shape-5711230)
AUGUST 20, 2021
Over the past few months, there have been a number of high-profile announcements of telcos partnering with the hyperscalers to augment their edge networks.
#### [And then there were three …](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/cloud-city-is-taking-shape-5708310)
AUGUST 6, 2021
During this past quarter three big telcos made bold announcements about their plans to partner with hyperscalers to get to the public cloud – DISH with AWS, AT&T with Azure and Bell Canada with Google Cloud.
#### [MWC21 has wrapped… and the journey has just begun](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/cloud-city-is-taking-shape-5704166)
JULY 20, 2021
MWC21 is in the books and boy, did we ROCK IT. We took over the Ericsson stand and created the most vibrant, engaging exhibit that MWC has ever seen.
#### [Show time! Don’t miss CLOUD CITY at MWC21](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/cloud-city-is-taking-shape-5704166)
JUNE 22, 2021
We’re raising the roof at MWC21 … Literally! CLOUD CITY is going from render to reality. The roof is going UP, and next week, vendors, visitors, and public cloud tech are going IN!
#### [Just 47 days away … all systems go for Barcelona!](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/cloud-city-is-taking-shape-5688186)
MAY 12, 2021
If you follow me on Twitter (and if not, why not? I’m hilarious!), you may have seen the video and photos of our vision for CLOUD CITY. It’s one hundred percent awesome.
#### [MWC is happening! Here’s the latest on Cloud City.](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/cloud-city-is-taking-shape)
APRIL 22, 2021
With 66 days to go, excitement about MWC continues to build. GSMA announced recently that Spain will allow non-EU attendees to travel to Barcelona for MWC – hooray!
#### [Countdown to Cloud City](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/countdown-to-cloud-city)
APRIL 1, 2021
You may have heard that we’ve taken over Ericsson’s 65,000-square-foot booth at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2021 in Barcelona.
#### [The new ant at the picnic](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5667374)
MARCH 9, 2021
This week I’m taking part in TelecomTV’s annual DSP Leaders World Forum. I’ll be participating in two ways: a panel and a talk, both available March 9.
#### [It’s time to get rid of software customizations](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5662598)
FEBRUARY 23, 2021
Just because you CAN modify software to do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD modify the software.
#### [FOMO about the public cloud](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5656878)
FEBRUARY 9, 2021
Telcos have been starting small, taking steps, and moving applications to the public cloud. But the other day someone on Twitter asked, “What proof do you have that this is ACTUALLY happening?”
#### [Be like Vodafone and move your analytics to the public cloud](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5143794)
JANUARY 26, 2021
Read about how one of the biggest telcos out there is reaping the rewards of moving to the public cloud.
#### [The double bubble](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5138166)
JANUARY 11, 2021
What stops so many people from even starting cost-saving projects is the dreaded DOUBLE BUBBLE.
* * *
Jump to newsletters: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2025-newsletter) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2024-newsletter) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2023-newsletter) \| [202](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#the-secret-sauce-for-your-cloud-transformation-hr) [2](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2022-newsletter) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2021-newsletter) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2020-newsletter) \| [**Sign up!**](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#footer)
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#### [2021 Forecast](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/2021-forecast-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-openran-5134290)
DECEMBER 29, 2020
Take a look at the biggest headlines from 2020, plus predictions for 2021. Here’s a good question: will telco get to the public cloud before Elon Musk puts people on Mars?
#### [BHAGs FTW!](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5127854)
DECEMBER 15, 2020
Big hairy audacious goals – B.H.A.G. – no it’s not the name of a kids’ book, but a phrase made famous by the mid-90s business book “Built to Last”.
#### [Think twice before building your own public cloud](https://mailchi.mp/e6623c3c96d4/telcodrs-newsletter-5122358)
DECEMBER 1, 2020
The other day I was talking with a telco exec in South America who told me he was planning to build his own public cloud.
#### [Hasta la vista, source code](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5114258)
NOVEMBER 17, 2020
One thing people don’t talk about enough when they talk about the public cloud is how you can completely eliminate MILLIONS of lines of code.
#### [Stop using latency as a reason to not move to the public cloud](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5106822)
NOVEMBER 3, 2020
Faster is better, and so when it comes to speed and telco services, it’s all about measuring latency. So what’s latency?
#### [Don’t listen to Rakuten hecklers](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5108082)
OCTOBER 21, 2020
At the end of last month, cloud-pioneering operator Rakuten announced the rollout of its ultra-high-speed 5G service. Exciting news, right? Not if you believe some voices in the telco sector.
#### [The public cloud can turn telcos into (data) oil barons](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5092430)
OCTOBER 6, 2020
It’s been more than 15 years since we first heard that ‘data is the new oil.’
#### [Call centers, you need to up your CX game – fast.](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5085242)
SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
Treat your customers like crap, and they’re not coming back.
#### [Get ready for increased chatter around OpenRAN](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5074798)
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020
If you’re not hearing about cloud, you’re hearing about “OpenRAN.’
#### [What gives with Amdocs acquisition of Openet?](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter-5063362)
AUGUST 25, 2020
Unpacking the claim that Amdocs acquired Openet for its cloud-native capabilities.
#### [Telcos, stop talking and just get on with it](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/telcodrs-newsletter/)
AUGUST 12, 2020
When we look back at the events of 2020, one of the few good things to result from the pandemic will surely be the re-focus on the importance of ‘digital transformation.’
* * *
Jump to newsletters: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2025-newsletter) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2024-newsletter) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2023-newsletter) \| [202](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#the-secret-sauce-for-your-cloud-transformation-hr) [2](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2022-newsletter) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2021-newsletter) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#2020-newsletter) \| [**Sign up!**](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/#footer)
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## Cloud Cost Management
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-keep-cloud-costs-under-control-blog/#main)
Blog
# How to keep cloud costs under control (and what to do if they get away from you)
February 15, 2022
Once the flywheel of change gets going, your movement to the public cloud will start to accelerate. Your teams will get excited with all the things they can do with the cloud, and early on it will generate a lot of activity as everyone starts to learn and explore with public cloud tools. But there’s another thing that’s going to be new to your organization:
Your monthly cloud bill (cue the scary music!).
Something you’ve never really had to think about before is now going to get the CFO knocking on your door to find out what the heck is going on.
To illustrate, I’ll tell you a true story. A telco we’re working with moved more than 2,000 workloads to the public cloud after making a successful pitch to its board that the company would save an estimated 75% on total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to its on-premise data centers. Once the board approved it, its hyperscaler came in and helped to quickly “lift and shift” the applications to the public cloud. Sounds great, right? But when the work was done, the run rate cost was MORE expensive than the old data center.
As they say in Spain: no bueno.
While the IT group looked around for tools that could help them figure out how to reconfigure their instances to save money, it was the FINANCE TEAM that ended up selecting a cost optimization tool that identifies problems and recommends fixes. However, there was one problem when they put the tool into action: the engineers had to evaluate every single recommendation the tool made to reduce costs and then make a decision on each one—work that was time consuming and took them away from their other tasks.
Sadly, what this telco experienced is an all-too-common problem, but also easily remedied. Luckily, the team came to TelcoDR, and we’re psyched to be helping them out of their jam.
### FinOps to the rescue
When you move to the public cloud, costs shift from fixed to variable. And with that, power shifts from finance to individual technologists.
In the old days, with an on-prem data center, when IT team members needed more capacity, they had to write a business case, get budget approvals, work with Finance and go through Procurement to buy the additional machines—a very slow, but highly controlled process. With the public cloud, that’s all changed. Now anyone can access more compute and capacity in seconds. The upside: it’s so easy to experiment! The downside is… no control. When your engineers have access to the public cloud, your technologists will be excited to play with these new tools. If they have an idea, it’s so easy to provision some compute and test it out. But it’s also easy to forget to turn it off when they leave for the weekend, or even vacation.
In the before times, when there was no variable bill coming in, the cost was there as pre-purchased, unused capacity sitting in your on-prem data center. Your organization had already paid for it in the form of excess capacity and spent CapEx. With the public cloud, suddenly you can see exactly when and how much you’re paying. You’re no longer paying for extra capacity when you don’t need it. That’s a win. But you’re going to have to get used to fluctuating costs as the needs change from month to month: a pre-planned product launch or an unexpected event flooding usage. Finance is going to have to learn how to roll with the lower, but variable, cost of the public cloud.
These shifts—from fixed to variable costs, from central to distributed control—are part of the culture change of moving to the public cloud. Finance has to get used to the idea of fluctuating costs. Technologists have to start thinking about the bottom line. IT needs to work with Finance to project and manage budgets, and to do that, it needs to understand the cost of what it’s designing technically. What’s the best solution? What’s the most cost-effective? Sometimes one big machine is cheaper than three small machines, or vice versa. In a recent Telco in 20 [podcast with Nanda Kumar, executive director of cloud engineering at Verizon](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-31-verizons-public-cloud-journey/), we talk about this very thing, starting at about eight minutes in.
### The solution: recommendation systems vs. action systems
So that’s the challenge. What can a telco do about it? You’re going to have to build a team that focuses on cloud cost optimization. This team needs to work closely with Finance to project spend while also keeping tabs on the hyperscaler’s technology AND pricing announcements to understand how the changes affect the environment—both technically and financially. You’ll need to arm your team with tools to help them scan the cloud environment for fixes to deploy.
If you’re someone who enjoys the cost optimization process, AWS publishes blogs regularly to help customers help themselves. There are a ton of them, which makes it hard to keep up. For example, here’s one on automatic [cost optimization](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-automatic-cost-optimization-for-amazon-s3-via-intelligent-tiering/) [for Amazon Simple Storage Service](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-automatic-cost-optimization-for-amazon-s3-via-intelligent-tiering/) (S3), another on [migrating your Amazon Elastic Block Store (ESB) volumes](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/storage/migrate-your-amazon-ebs-volumes-from-gp2-to-gp3-and-save-up-to-20-on-costs/), and another on [provisioning performance separately from capacity with Amazon EBS](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ebs-gp3-volume-lets-you-provision-performance-separate-from-capacity-and-offers-20-lower-price/). You can also check out this [new podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/0sH9zDLABk6FoLM0cpZHu1) from AWS-superfan Rahul Subramaniam. It just launched, and each episode will feature an Amazon product manager sharing tips for using their products and services.
There are consultants ready to help, like [Corey Quinn](https://x.com/quinnypig/), chief cloud economist at [The Duckbill Group](https://www.duckbillgroup.com/), a consultancy that specializes in helping companies not only shrink their Amazon Web Services (AWS) bill, but also be smart about their infrastructure. There are other consultants like Accenture, TechMahindra, and Tata that offer services to come in and help.
At TelcoDR, we focus on using great software tools to help us optimize costs for our clients. There are two main categories of software you can purchase: systems of recommendation, which identify cost savings and suggest a fix, and systems of action, which identify cost savings and then implement the fix automatically with your approval. At TelcoDR, we like the latter. Our tool of choice for quick AWS optimizations is [CloudFix](https://telcodr.com/cloud-optimization/), which will deliver 10-20% savings on your AWS bill and takes minutes to set up. And as I mentioned, there are lots of other options, too. They’re more complicated and more expensive, but can deliver 30-50% savings on your cloud bill. TelcoDR can help with AWS, GCP and Azure tuning.
So, when you’re ready to move to the public cloud (or if you’re already there), make sure to include cloud optimizations as part of your cost-management strategy. If you get stuck and need help, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I’ll help you in a jiffy.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Nanda Kumar, Executive Director of Cloud Engineering, Verizon.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 31 – Verizon’s public cloud journey**\\
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Nanda Kumar, executive director of cloud engineering at Verizon, has helped pilot the company’s successful digital transformation. He tells us about the journey, which started back in 2016.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-31-verizons-public-cloud-journey/)
[![TelcoDR can help you save big bucks on your AWS Spend](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**TelcoDR can help you save big bucks on your AWS Spend**\\
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There’s a super cool SaaS platform that can quickly find MILLIONS of dollars in savings and go get them for you AUTOMATICALLY.](https://telcodr.com/insights/save-big-bucks-on-your-aws-spend-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Michael Kearns, Chief Executive Officer, Virtasant.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 39 – Hacking Cloud Costs**\\
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A cottage industry has popped up to help companies optimize their cloud environment and spending. Find out what you can do to hack cloud costs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
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## Carriers Embrace Public Cloud
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/carriers-leading-public-cloud-charge-blog/#main)
Blog
# The big three carriers leading the public cloud charge
August 4, 2021
And then there were three…
Is it just me, or does it feel like telco made a strong move towards the public cloud this past quarter?
During Q2 we saw some big announcements: [DISH partnership with AWS](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/dish-gives-public-cloud-a-breakthrough/), [AT&T with Azure](https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_microsoft_azure.html) and [Bell Canada with Google Cloud](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/digital-platforms-services/bell-canada-boards-the-google-cloud-train-41973/). What’s important to note is that these aren’t the same ol’ same ol’ hand-wavy announcements of “strategic partnerships” (which believe me, are easy to do, that’s why everyone does them); these announcements each show that carriers are starting to move serious workloads to the public cloud.
Let’s start with the big kahuna, **DISH**. In April, it made a shocking announcement (read AvidThink’s breakdown [here](https://www.fierce-network.com/operators/dish-makes-a-splash-picks-aws-to-host-5g-ran-and-core-industry-voices-chua)) that it was putting its 5G core on AWS. Not only that, it plans to use [AWS Outposts](https://aws.amazon.com/outposts/) with [AWS Wavelength](https://aws.amazon.com/wavelength/) at the edge, going live with Las Vegas in 2021 and projecting the entire 5G network will be built for $10B. As far as TelcoDR knows, this is the most public cloud-forward network out there. Supposedly, almost all vendors selected had to meet the requirement of being “cloud native.” (If you listen to my [Telco in 20 podcast](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/), you know that means different things to different people.) We shall see if it’s put together a winning combination to keep costs low, move CAPEX/OPEX onto Amazon, and create the opportunity to deliver great service at a low price. Charlie does a great earnings call and takes a lot of good questions, so [check out the call](https://about.dish.com/2021-08-02-DISH-announces-conference-call-for-second-quarter-2021-financial-results) scheduled for August 9.
Next up was the news in early June that **AT&T** is working with Microsoft Azure on edge computing capabilities. The partnership between AT&T and Azure is not new; that was [announced](https://news.microsoft.com/2019/07/17/att-and-microsoft-announce-a-strategic-alliance-to-deliver-innovation-with-cloud-ai-and-5g/) quite generically back in 2019. But in this announcement, Microsoft is acquiring AT&T’s network cloud in a deal that includes IP, talent, and assets. Microsoft will spend the next three years moving workloads to Azure as it adds technical know-how to its Azure for Operators offering, which includes the Metaswitch and Affirmed acquisitions that happened in 2020. In return, AT&T will get cost savings, reduced CAPEX/OPEX, and speed to market as it adopts Microsoft services around AI and analytics. This deal shows that Azure’s not going to stand by while AWS runs a few telco laps; it is here to play and it is spending what I have to assume is serious bank in order to compete.
But hey, not so fast, says Thomas Kurian over at Google Cloud. Also in June, **Bell Canada** announced it was moving its critical workload and apps to Google Cloud and tapping the hyperscaler for data analytics, AI, capacity planning, service assurance (and more). What’s interesting about this announcement is the inclusion of [Anthos in the release](https://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/Bell-partners-with-Google-Cloud-to-deliver-next-generation-network-experiences-for-Canadians?page=1&month=&year=&perpage=25). I don’t know if that’s because Google’s really trying to push its Anthos offering and threw it into the press release (back in 2019, it was a big focus for Google) or if it mentioned it because Bell Canada’s workloads will run on Bell’s private cloud on premise. (Anthos is like AWS’s Outposts offering (see link above), giving you access to GCP on premise and managed by GCP. Only a BIG difference is that AWS provides and manages the hardware, and Google does not.) If you know the answer to my question, please HMU on Twitter or LinkedIn and let me know – I’m genuinely curious. At any rate, this deal shows that while Google may be in third place, it is not going down without a fight.
Moving workloads to the public cloud doesn’t mean you’re giving up on innovation. It means you’re giving up on managing tasks that don’t differentiate one telco from another (they may have in the 90s, but not anymore). In this day and age – with the hyperscalers giving anyone access to their tech and charging for it by the minute/API call/storage space – telcos need to understand that IF and WHEN their competitors start to use this tech in their businesses, the savings, speed to market, and focus on customer may be too much to overcome. Better get going now; it’s better to be first rather than last.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![In the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud**\\
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Telcos have been taking steps to move applications to the public cloud. Here are examples of telcos using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and lead in their marketplace.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/)
[![Video thumbnail - theCUBE INTERVIEW: Innovation at the Edge with AWS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**theCUBE Interview: Innovation at the Edge with AWS**\\
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AWS talk about the compelling 5G proposition, the rewards it can bring, and the challenges for the telecom operators who want to take full advantage of it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/innovation-at-the-edge-with-aws-video/)
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## Public Cloud Software Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-software-of-the-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# The software of the public cloud
October 6, 2021
There are still a lot of people who think the public cloud is just a way to outsource your data center. But the true power of the public cloud is understanding how to use the SOFTWARE and SERVICES it offers.
What’s so great about these services is that they are maintained and managed for you and improved continuously. Even better, they are offered on a pay-per-use basis, without requiring a long-term contract, and usually accessed via an API call. Compare this to the alternative, where you select, install and manage products in a private cloud (or pay IBM exorbitant fees to do it for you). Given all that, it’s pretty obvious that telcos need to learn how to use all of these services, understand which works best for their companies, and begin writing code for the public cloud.
When people think about the public cloud, they think of it as compute, storage and databases. But when you really start to understand what they offer, you’ll also find AI/ML, networking, IoT, ID and security, and data analytics.
While there are a few offerings that are distinct across the three hyperscalers, in most cases, if there’s a service on one public cloud, there’s probably a similar service on the other public clouds. You’ll have to read the documentation to understand the differences between the offerings and roadmaps, so your mileage may vary.
We found [this table](https://cloud.google.com/docs/get-started/aws-azure-gcp-service-comparison), which was created and maintained by Google Cloud, that compares the services it provides to similar offerings from Azure and AWS. I posted it on LinkedIn and it got a TON of views, so we wanted to put together a handy reference for developers who are familiar with one cloud and wanted to explore another, or found a solution on one cloud and needed to port it to another.
### Hyperscaler Services
First up, Google Cloud. Google created this infographic, which lists all of the services it offers, separated into categories. Those new to Google Cloud can create an account to see how these services perform in real-world scenarios. It’s try-before-you-buy, without the risk of investing in private cloud – so what’s to lose? GCP also offers a deal sweetener: new customers get $300 in credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.
Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gregsramblings/google-cloud-4-words/master/DarkPoster-lowres.png
Next, let’s look at Azure’s services. It also has a [list of all the services it offers](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/). Again, these range from AI/ML to DevOps, containers, and security. The grand total? An impressive 280. Like GCP, Azure offers some of these services for free for 12 months, as well as a $200 credit to use in 30 days.
Finally, AWS lists its equally extensive [range of services here](https://aws.amazon.com/products/). It has over 200 covering a huge range of technologies, industries and use cases. Customers can use more than 100 of these services and start building on AWS using its Free Tier.
After staring at these charts for a while you’ll see there’s a lot of overlap of the services across hyperscalers. The services offered are also constantly growing and improving, with new services being added all the time. For instance, check out the list from [AWS’s re:Invent](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/aws-reinvent-announcements-2020/) last year. Every year the hyperscalers each put on their own cloud events, so get ready for a mother lode drop of new announcements and launches from each of them. If you use a hyperscaler today (or are starting to kick the tires), then you’ll want to participate in these events. [Google Cloud Next](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next) is happening October 12 – 14, then [Microsoft Ignite](https://ignite.microsoft.com/) takes place November 2 – 4, and finally AWS’ [re:I](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) [n](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) [vent](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) returns November 29 – December 3.
Learning how to use these services isn’t hard but it does take some training. As a baby step into the cloud I advise organizations to just get started. Start to create applications and start to experiment with these services and begin to comprehend the possibilities. A place where your teams can start NOW is by participating in Totogi’s [TM Forum Digital Transformation World Series](https://dtw.tmforum.org/) Coding Workshop which will be held on October 7. We’ll use Totogi BS, the TMForum Open APIs and AWS to show you how to create, deploy and use a new feature in minutes. This workshop will give you the tools and skills you need to start getting way more than just infrastructure from the public cloud and get you to realize how much more is possible with the public cloud.
Want to find out more? Then drop me a [DM on Twitter](https://x.com/TelcoDR) or send me a message on LinkedIn if you want to attend.
See you there!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Why is everyone downloading TM Forum Open APIs?**\\
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TM Forum recently announced more than 500k downloads of the OpenAPIs. Here's why they've taken off.](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-download-tm-forum-open-apis-blog/)
[![Bring the CLOUD to your BSS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Bring the CLOUD to your BSS**\\
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Totogi is bringing the public cloud to BSS on the ground. Why? Because BSS capabilities are what’s important—not necessarily where it’s running.](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-in-the-cloud-blog/)
[![Don’t be a server hugger](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Don’t be a server hugger**\\
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You’re wasting a massive amount of money, time and effort on maintaining your private on-premise kit – don’t be sentimental about it!](https://telcodr.com/insights/hyperscaler-advantages-telcos-blog/)
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## Telecom Insights Hub
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/#main)
# More Insights
Browse our treasure trove of podcasts, case studies and blogs to your heart’s content.
![Danielle Royston at the DSP World Leader's Forum, Windsor](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 327"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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Type
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[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Mallik Rao Telefonica Germany](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 118 – Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)**\\
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23 June 2025 - \\
Mallik Rao from Telefónica Germany explains how the operator became the first brownfield operator to migrate its 5G core to AWS—a breakthrough the entire telco industry has been waiting for.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Why your AI strategy isn’t working**\\
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16 June 2025 - \\
Stop treating AI like enterprise software, wasting months on RFPs while models evolve at lightning speed. Instead, start with expensive pain points, build small solutions in production, and iterate daily.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Dr Lester Thomas, Vodafone](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 117 – Vodafone’s new rules with open APIs, cloud-native, and AI (Lester Thomas)**\\
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10 June 2025 - \\
Dr. Lester Thomas explains how Vodafone is leveraging TM Forum standards and building a modular, AI-ready technology foundation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/)
[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.**\\
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3 June 2025 - \\
Major US telcos have cut over 140,000 jobs since 2019, yet executives still won't admit AI's role. Dishonesty destroys productivity and trust when transparency could create competitive advantage.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Dr Ishwar Parulkar AWS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 116 – You CAN run the network on AWS’ public cloud (Ishwar Parulkar)**\\
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26 May 2025 - \\
AWS's Ishwar Parulkar explains how telcos can now run critical network workloads on public cloud infrastructure, bridging the gap between traditional telco requirements and cloud-native solutions.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/)
[![AI Prompt](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.**\\
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20 May 2025 - \\
The gap between mediocre and million-dollar AI outputs isn’t in the tech. It’s in how you’re using it. Here are five prompting techniques every exec should master.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Mark Sanders Telstra](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 115 – Telstra is disrupting the status quo (Mark Sanders)**\\
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12 May 2025 - \\
Telstra's Mark Sanders talks about their innovative approach to composable architecture using TM Forum's ODA, organizing telco knowledge into an ontology to drive autonomous networks and AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/)
[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)**\\
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6 May 2025 - \\
New technologies simplify the equation for MVNOs, giving them the startup economics they need while creating new revenue streams for MNOs. Africa is poised to prove this new model to the world.](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
View more
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## Public Cloud Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/still-wary-about-public-cloud-dont-be-blog/#main)
Blog
# Still wary about public cloud? Don’t be.
October 26, 2020
I think the advantages of moving to the public cloud are obvious. Yet with the adoption of this scale of platform shift, there are going to be many people who resist the change. This blog is for those people – and my responses to why I think you still need to [DO IT](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/).
### First, let’s look at the benefits.
**Adopting public cloud across the business will save money in both the short and long term – no question.** TCO can be reduced by a huge amount: depending on the application, anywhere from 50 to 80 percent. Capital costs are reduced, maintenance is reduced, staffing costs are reduced.
**Public cloud security levels cannot be matched by telcos.** The ongoing investment by the likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft in the security of their cloud services is deep and wide and underpins their business model. Moving to the public cloud will enhance the security of your network and your data and provide greater protection for your end-users.
**Disaster recovery is built-in – another thing you don’t have to worry about (or pay for).** Automatic network provisioning means your capacity will always match demand – no more worst-case scenario planning or investment in resources you don’t need.
**Using the public cloud will enable you to reinvent your workflows, impacting not only the economics of software development but the dynamic of your teams.** The public cloud platform provides a rich and flexible environment, so new services can be envisioned, created and brought to market much, much faster than you could manage in-house, by people you could never afford to hire.
### Now let’s look at the main reasons usually laid out for not moving to the public cloud – and debunk them.
**_Moving to the public cloud is too expensive_** _…_ I have heard this excuse a few times: “We looked at it, we costed it out, it’s more expensive than private cloud or public cloud.”
If this was your conclusion, your team is doing something WAY WRONG. If you are moving applications to the public cloud as is – a lift and shift migration – yes, you are correct, it will be way more expensive. If this is your plan, then my suggestion is to leave it where it is. Because the way you provision resources on the ground is drastically different than it is in the public cloud. Applications need to be redesigned and refactored for the public cloud, and when you do this, you can not only save a ton of money but you can also rip and replace whole components of code, which reduces your code base footprint, making it easier to support. Once you rethink the way you’ve deployed these applications, you’ll realize the $millions you can save.
**_The public cloud isn’t secure enough_**… the demand for security in the public cloud has resulted in providers focusing huge amounts of resources on this area. AWS, for example, has created its own cybersecurity service [GuardDuty](https://aws.amazon.com/guardduty/), while Google has [Private Service Connect](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/networking/introducing-private-service-connect). With a move to the public cloud, you don’t need to build or manage your own security solutions on premise. All public cloud providers have security stories. They all differ but they all have three things in common: they are robust, reliable and proven. According to [Gartner](https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/is-the-cloud-secure/), in nearly all cases of cloud security breaches, it is the user, not the cloud provider, who fails to manage the controls used to protect an organization’s data. [Gartner](https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/is-the-cloud-secure/) predicts that through 2025, 99 percent of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault.
**_We already have our own data center_** … data centers owned by the hyperscalers are global networks of highly secure interconnected facilities providing national and international access, managed and continuously enhanced by the best brains in the business. That level of capability simply cannot be replicated by a telco IT team. But also…why? Why not shrink or eliminate unnecessary work so you can focus on what’s most important: delivering an excellent customer experience and leave the slog of supporting hard drive crashes, virus updates – to the best technologists in the world?
**_We’re already using a mix of private cloud providers_** … everyone knows how much I love calling private cloud #fakecloud. It’s more expensive than bare metal, on premise. You’re still buying all that hardware, all that capex….and what are the tangible, measurable benefits? Sure, you may use private cloud as a half step on your way to the public cloud, but do not make it your destination. To realize the big savings I am talking about, you need to get as many applications to the public cloud. Don’t wuss out.
Perhaps the real opposition to the public cloud is more personal: fear of the new and unknown. This is a real issue. The public cloud is absolutely a threat to tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs. IT professionals inside telcos have got to be asking themselves what this change means for them personally. They don’t have public cloud skills and without data centers and machines to manage … what does this mean for their future? Leaders in telcos need to address this concern head on. Do not try to avoid the issue – you can’t. The truth is IT professionals who develop public cloud management skills can see a 20-30% increase in salary. Moving to the public cloud is a massive transformation project that, if done successfully, adds great, in-demand experience to anyone’s CV. Yes, it is true that thousands of jobs will be eliminated, but instead of hiding this fact, the future should be embraced. Tell the organization and get everyone prepared for the change that is inevitably going to come.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![In the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud**\\
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Telcos have been taking steps to move applications to the public cloud. Here are examples of telcos using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and lead in their marketplace.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/)
[![Time to go to the public cloud! The essential steps for cloud success.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Time to go to the public cloud!**\\
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In this paper, I talk about the power of the public cloud for telcos and lay out the four clear steps you need to take to trigger your transformation. As you’ll discover, it’s not about transition…](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/)
[![Cloud City stage](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The Paradox of the Public Cloud – Danielle Rios Royston’s Keynote at Mobile World Congress 2021**\\
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In this keynote, I delve deep into the huge benefits of the public cloud for telcos. The bottom line: the public cloud is HERE, the benefits are ground-breaking, and ignoring it would be a HUGE mistake.](https://telcodr.com/insights/keynote-paradox-public-cloud-mobile-world-congress-2021/)
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## AI in Telecommunications
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-using-ai-blog/#main)
Blog
# 10 examples of how telcos are using AI (BESIDES customer support!)
July 30, 2024
Last week I had a great meeting with one of the cofounders of Anthropic. At one point our conversation turned to all the amazing things telcos can do with AI. While we naturally started the discussion talking about co-pilots being deployed in customer support call centers (DUUUUUH), we both agreed that generational AI (GenAI) can do SO MUCH MORE than that.
Perhaps the biggest and boldest moves are being led by South Korea’s SK Telecom, which has professed to becoming an “AI-first” organization (which is a much better idea, IMHO, than a “telco to techco” transformation). So, what’s next? What other ways can a telco use AI to improve? Here are 10 real-world examples of how trailblazing operators are using AI to deliver real value to their organizations.
### **1\. Build a telco-specific LLM: Global Telco AI Alliance**
Claude by Anthropic and ChatGPT by OpenAI are general-purpose large language models (LLMs) known in the AI industry as “foundation models.” They’re able to handle, or be adapted to, a wide range of tasks. But like someone with general knowledge, they’ll be out of their league when it comes to anything that requires domain-specific, in-depth knowledge—like what business users with deep telco expertise need. For that, you need task- or industry-specific LLMs. Does telco need one? A new consortium says yes.
The Global Telco AI Alliance—comprised of SK Telecom, Singtel, Deutsche Telekom, e&, and SoftBank—is going for the big AI kahuna. [The joint venture aims to build a telco-specific LLM](https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/global-telco-ai-alliance-forms-joint-venture-to-build-telco-llms), with equal investment from each member. The goal is to provide better service to their combined 1.3 billion subscribers across 50 countries in a number of languages: Arabic, Bahasa, English, Korean, and German. Two questions: when it’s ready, will the Alliance keep it to themselves, or let the rest of the telco world use it? And will the effort and expense be worth it in the end, or will most telcos have gotten what they need with generic LLMs and a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) approach? ( [This episode of the podcast _Will 5G change the world_](https://www.rcrwireless.com/20240709/5g/will-5g-change-the-world-telco-ai-llms-with-aws-dell-e-and-rakuten) attempts to answer the second question.) Only time will tell.
### **2\. Code generation: Totogi**
The Anthropic co-founder and I agree that the REAL power of GenAI is code generation, and telco is lacking in this area. It’s time to say hello to Totogi’s [BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/bss-magic/).
A slew of STL customers (acquired by Skyvera in 2023) are all using BSS Magic to complete CRs in record time and for a lot less money. This AI-powered tool uses TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and Open APIs to help telcos customize their _existing_ multi-vendor business support systems (BSS) quickly and easily. Business users use natural language to describe the changes they want in their BSS for things like updating screens, adding new functionality in their system, or modifying the workflow. BSS Magic generates the code and adds it to their BSS without needing technical folks to write code themselves. [Check out this video to learn more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiUoH6Uu2L0).
### **3\. Network optimization: Three UK**, AT&T, and Ooredoo
Telcos generate and store a truckload of data, and have struggled in the past with being able to crunch it to find the valuable, actionable insights that can help improve service quality and subscriber experiences. But today we have AI, and it has the chops to do the job.
For example, Three UK handles 29% of the country’s mobile data traffic and [uses Azure Operator Insights](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/driving-performance-and-enhancing-services-across-three-uks-5g-network/) from Microsoft to quickly analyze data, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to improve service quality. The AI-powered approach allows it to deliver responsive, high-speed, low-latency services, ensuring an optimal experience for the growing number of gamers, streamers, and social media denizens asking more and more of its network.
And Three UK isn’t the only one striking network gold with the savvy use of AI. AT&T is [using AI, machine learning (ML), and predictive analytics](https://www.rcrwireless.com/20230807/ai-ml/how-does-att-use-ai-across-its-network-operations) to design, build, and maintain networks, including making decisions about acquiring spectrum and locations for cell sites. AI/ML also helps the US telco improve forecasting and capacity planning, validate new equipment, meet customers’ network capacity demands, detect network issues in real-time—and fix them. AI-based automations also help AT&T use network resources more efficiently, reducing its carbon footprint. As an early AI adopter, [AT&T hasn’t been shy about the billions it has saved](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/t-cfo-company-saved-6-105018557.html), and will continue to recoup as it reshapes itself for the future.
Ooredoo is also using AI for network optimization, having [deployed a new solution from Ericsson on Azure](https://news.microsoft.com/en-xm/2023/01/19/ericsson-and-ooredoo-qatar-provide-artificial-intelligence-solutions-for-customer-experience-leveraging-microsoft-cloud-datacenter/). It uses digital twin technology and advanced AI techniques to analyze the radio access network and provide optimization recommendations as well as resolve specific performance issues. The result: a better experience for subscribers and lower operating costs for Ooredoo. Smoother calls, faster downloads, and fewer frustrating “network busy” messages: what’s not to love?
### **4\. Expanding fixed network access: Vodafone Germany**
Increasing network availability and reach can be complicated and expensive, with a lot of variables to consider from geography, to capacity, to technology. Luckily, AI is perfectly suited to analyze a lot of variables!
Vodafone Germany uses a proprietary AI algorithm to [plan the expansion of its fixed broadband network](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/digital-platforms-services/vodafone-germany-boasts-operational-gains-from-use-of-ai-48762/). The algorithm creates rough network expansion plans for all of Germany in a few minutes, factoring in cost, time, and efficiency to deliver an optimal cost-benefit ratio. Then a team of human experts takes over from there. Compared to the old approach, AI has made the process five times faster.
### **5\. Cloud management: Globe Telecom**
AI is the cloud whisperer, making complex cloud management a breeze! It’s like having a consultant making sure everything runs smoothly.
Philippines-based Globe Telecom saw the writing on the wall regarding moving workloads to the public cloud years ago, and acquired cloud management platform Cascadeo back in 2019. Last year, the Cascadeo business unit of [Globe launched an AI-powered version of its platform, Cascadeo AI v3.0](https://www.bworldonline.com/corporate/2023/12/18/564041/globes-unit-launches-ai-powered-cloud-platform/). Multiple GenAI tools—OpenAI GPT-4, Amazon Web Services (AWS) SageMaker, AWS DevOps Guru, and proprietary tech from Cascadeo—have helped to enhance, simplify, and automate cloud management, enabling Globe’s enterprise customers to monitor, manage, and optimize cloud deployments in real time. If you’re running cloud workloads for your enterprise customers, you should think about providing an AI-powered management platform for your customers, too.
### **6\. Employee support: AT&T** and TELUS
Internal use cases are a great way to test out AI. It gets your team familiar with work with AI on a daily basis, coupled with lowered expectations on quality. Creating AI-powered tools that help employees by answering company-related questions and performing everyday tasks is a fantastic way to experiment and rapidly iterate with AI.
AT&T built an [internal, AI-powered tool called “Ask AT&T”](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/att/feature-how-genai-is-transforming-att/) via access to an early version of ChatGPT, thanks to its partnership with Microsoft Azure. The tool now helps over 68,000 employees with writing code, customer service, summarizing meetings, analyzing network data, and other tasks. The deployment has been so successful that AT&T is working on training the tool on more data so it can handle even more and different kinds of queries. [The company is also preparing for the NEXT phase of the revolution](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/att/att-arms-agents-for-next-phase-of-genai-revolution/) with autonomous assistants that are helping with fraud alerts, software development, and network optimization.
Once your people are comfortable using GenAI at work, you can extend that experience to customers. Note that [chief data officer Andy Markus mentions in this blog](https://about.att.com/blogs/2023/expanding-ai-across-company.html) that once open-source or cheaper large language models (LLMs) are able to do the job, AT&T would be happy to swap one in for ChatGPT to save some coin.
Another North American operator is also using AI for employee support. Canadian-telco TELUS launched [Fuel iX, an AI-driven platform that taps into more than 100 LLMs](https://www.telusinternational.com/about/newsroom/telus-international-announces-fuel-ix-beta-program) to help both internal teams and enterprise customers use and monitor AI across different systems and clouds. Since TELUS started using the platform to boost its ability to predict network issues, forecasting accuracy has skyrocketed from 69% to 89%. What a great way to help field technicians work smarter and more efficiently. Fuel iX is also contributing to cost savings, reducing network operating costs by almost $15 million dollars.
### **7\. Employee recruitment: Deutsche Telekom (DT)** and Omantel
Remember when chatbots were the new-new thing? Little did we know they were the GenAI bellwether, demonstrating how much work they could save us in the area of recruiting.
DT was a chatbot pioneer, [launching one in 2016 to field job seekers’ questions about its hub:raum startup accelerator](https://jobpal.ai/en/customers/deutsche-telekom-case-study/). Built on Facebook Messenger, [the bot is happy to engage after hours](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/year-our-recruiting-chatbot-anna-ott/), when human recruiters aren’t available. It can talk to multiple people at once, never gets tired of answering the same questions over and over, and never stammers when asked direct questions about pay. Candidates liked the experience and applicant quality increased! Now, other DT subsidiaries are incorporating recruiting chatbots to answer questions as well as let people search, browse, filter, and select jobs from within the bot.
And [Omantel used Elevatus’ AI-powered video interviewing technology](https://aithority.com/machine-learning/elevatus-helps-omantel-evaluate-five-thousand-applicants-in-two-days/) to screen more than 5,200 applicants for its Gen Z program in just two days—that’s serious efficiency. This is the kind of innovation that’s transforming telco recruitment and helping companies find top talent at lightning speed.
### **8\. Subscriber identification: Telefónica**
When I think of voice detection, I think of spy movies where characters use voice modifiers to disguise their identity. But you can use AI and make it way cooler and more creative, like this example.
To identify senior citizens calling in for support and give them priority service, global telco [Telefónica uses Nuance Gatekeeper, a security solution that authenticates people through voice](https://www.nuance.com/omni-channel-customer-engagement.html). When the COVID-19 pandemic forced seniors to rely on their phones for everyday interactions like doctor and pharmacy visits, Telefónica recognized the urgency of assisting this at-risk segment of the population and moved them ahead in customer service queues. You’d think asking callers if they were over 65 would be easy enough, but it didn’t work. Everyone figured out the trick to getting ahead in the line and it led to a lot of dishonest replies from wannabe line-jumpers (BOO!). So, the operator engaged Nuance to help validate the real seniors using voice characteristics, leaving the fakers at the back queue. Brilliant!
### **9\. Revenue leakage: Lebara**
AI is the Sherlock Holmes of the telecom world, sniffing out people trying to game the system in big and small ways at scale, and instantly. Here’s a more traditional approach to fraud detection.
Leading UK mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) [Lebara uses the SageMaker tool from AWS](https://www.purposefulgroup.com/blog/may-15th-2019) to identify and block all kinds of fraud, including SIM boxing, revenue share fraud, and good-old wangiri fraud. The process uses call detail records to build, train, and deploy machine learning models. [Here’s a presentation from an AWS Summit event](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EDxaTihQH8) where Lars Hoogweg, then-CTO of Lebara, explains. (His bit starts at 11:35.) Even with limited knowledge of ML, Lebara was able to use SageMaker to achieve previously undetected fraud results within a few days of its ML model going live. Imagine how well it’s performing now, after years of fine-tuning?
### **10\. Plan personalization: Mobile X** and Totogi
Forget one-size-fits-all plans! AI can create tailored plans custom-fit each customer based on any number of characteristics.
For example, do you know how much data you need? Startup MVNO MobileX is going after the US market with the belief that most mobile subscribers don’t. Instead of pushing unlimited plans, the company offers an AI-based tool that analyzes each subscriber’s usage and creates personalized plans for them. [Hear all about it from CEO Peter Adderton in this Telco in 20 episode](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-84-ai-driven-approach/).
And don’t forget Totogi’s work to optimize revenue at the individual subscriber level with micro-targeted plans and offers in our [PlanAI](https://totogi.com/charging-as-a-service/plan-design/plan-ai/) product. We use ML and AI to generate cohorts of subscribers to increase revenue based on charging data. A few of our customers are already piloting the technology with the goal of lifting revenue by 10%.
### **What’s next?**
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and no doubt there are new AI use cases in development right now. There will be more telcos creating their own AI-based solutions and leveraging new products and services that come to market in the next few months and years. Working on a cool and innovative AI project yourself? [Tell me about it](https://telcodr.com/contact/)!
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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### Listen
**Ep 91 – Exploring AIOps with Microsoft Azure**
Microsoft Azure is helping telcos manage their data for AI workloads and prepare for an AI revolution.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-91-ai-aiops-microsoft-azure/)
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### Watch
**MWC24: Danielle Rios Talk – Unveiling the AI-First Future of BSS**
DR opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS).
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Pb_G-Bb4g&t=29s)
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### Read
**If you focus on business value, AI pays for itself**
Think AI is too expensive for your org? Think again. When implemented strategically, AI can pay for itself.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-cost-business-value-blog/)
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## DISH: Telco Innovation
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/dish-the-telco-pioneers-blog/#main)
Blog
# DISH: The Telco Pioneers
June 21, 2022
When I kicked off the [Telco in 20 podcast](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/) almost two years ago, I wanted to claim a little corner of the podcast universe to explore how the telco industry is moving to, and using, the public cloud. My idea was to talk with hyperscalers, vendors, and even telco execs themselves, about how they’re redefining the way telco services are deployed.
I named the podcast “Telco in 20” because I was going to talk about the next 20 years in telco, AND I wanted to make each episode about 20 minutes long (so people could listen easily in the car or while on a quick walk!).
With the latest episode, the podcast is reaching new heights! I had the opportunity to sit down with DISH Wireless Executive Vice President and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne to talk to him about DISH’s new 5G network.
As astute readers will recall, Marc, along with DISH Chairman, Charlie Ergen, announced a year ago that DISH is deploying a new network in the United States and building it on AWS, while spending only $10-billion dollars to do it.
Almost immediately everyone said, “DISH is crazy! It’ll never work!” But just like Elon Musk on his mission to Mars, Charlie, Marc, and their team weren’t afraid to be telco pioneers. DISH is embarking on the journey to make its vision a reality and attempting to set a new standard for how networks operate. It’s apt that the DISH headquarters is in the western United States, known for pioneers and gold rushes.
I hope you will WATCH this video of the really great conversation I had with Marc and hear us talking about true cloud innovation in telco. For this recording, we conducted an in-person interview at the DISH headquarters in Littleton, Colorado.
You can catch the video on [the new TelcoDR YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeIvdd82B2q6HPAmLJCfxOw), but if you don’t have time to watch it, at least read the transcript of our conversation, which I’ve included below. Enjoy!
## Transcript: Telco in 20 \| Ep 44 – DISH: The Telco Pioneer
DR: \[01:46\] Marc Rouanne is Chief Network Officer and EVP at DISH Wireless. Hi, Marc. Welcome to Telco in 20.
Marc: \[01:52\] Hello.
DR: \[01:53\] I’m so excited to talk to you. I mean, when I put together the Telco in 20 podcast, which focuses on the next 20 years, and what you’re doing at DISH is exactly what I was thinking. I can’t think of a better guest for our podcast. So to start, I want to focus on your vision.
\[02:08\] DISH’s approach with its 5G network and its work with AWS is going to change how networks are deployed in the future. You’re taking new enabling technology, in this case, open RAN and AWS, and you’re creating a new telco business model that makes what was formerly very complicated and super expensive, now easier, faster and less expensive. If successful, it will set the new standard in the industry on how to roll out networks.
\[02:35\] So, do you see DISH’s network strategy as a totally innovative tech project that in 10 years, we’ll be saying, “Holy cow! DISH set the standard for the way networks are built,” because that’s how I see this project.
Marc: \[02:49\] Yeah. Actually, it goes well beyond DISH. I think we are lucky to be consuming technology now that is available to us and it’s completely new in the telco environment. You mention it’s the cloud, it’s new types of software. You have to see that all the cloud guys have been investing very successfully for 15 years, and for some reason, the telco never really tapped into that. Now, all of a sudden we can, and it’s almost unfair because, all of a sudden, we inherit 15 years of massive investment and capabilities.
\[03:18\] The other thing that is coming to us, where again we are lucky, 5G was designed by the standardization people to be cloud-native. So if you look deep into the 5G standards, you see everything for microservices, everything for data-centric networks, whereas 4G, 3G were never designed for the cloud. So it comes at the right time and we’re surfing that. So yeah, it’s brand new and very different.
DR: \[03:43\] I think you touched on something there that I think is very important. There hasn’t been another industry that’s invested as much CapEx as the hyperscalers. Usually, it’s always been telco that’s been the big CapEx people. Now you’re combining these two things together and you get to ride their investment as much as they’re riding yours so I think that’s another great insight.
Marc: \[04:04\] Yeah. The big investment they have made as an ecosystem is around silicon and stacks, which the telco never really did, right?
DR: \[04:12\] Yep.
Marc: \[04:12\] So we were a bit starving in the telco from a lack of very advanced silicon and software stacks. All of a sudden, now this is coming to us so yeah, it’s a new game.
DR: \[04:22\] Yeah. So there, you’re talking about Graviton2 and 3.
Marc: \[04:24\] Yeah, Graviton, but also Nvidia, Broadcom, Intel, Marvel. They’re all investing in ways that we’ve never seen before and this is pretty cool.
DR: \[04:32\] Yeah, it’s super awesome. So DISH is the first telco to really use AWS in this novel way. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing of the AWS platform, what would it be?
Marc: \[04:46\] I think I’ve said it a few times, we looked at all the cloud and when we started with AWS, they were not telco-ready, especially when it comes to networking, SLAs, all the different ways of transporting telco. So we’ve done a lot of work with them and they are upgrading that platform for us to be telco-ready and telco-grade. But suddenly, if we had come when they were already telco-grade, that would’ve been easier for us.
DR: \[05:11\] Yeah, yeah. So you’re forging new ground and it’s a learning path. I think with that, there’s going to be setbacks and delays, things on paper look easier than when you actually do it. But I think when you look at the long arc of time, you guys will work through this and get to that telco-grade state.
Marc: \[05:29\] Yeah. But you know it’s true, there are a lot of things to do. But on the other hand, I’ve been a vendor for decades and my technical work here is much easier than it was before. The reason is that I was carrying so much luggage and complexity for putting old stuff into the current deployments. It was a nightmare, and I don’t have that anymore. So yes, there are new grounds, but everything we do is much simpler.
DR: \[05:53\] Right. Well, software is much simpler. It moves much more quickly than hardware and so that’s my next question.
\[05:59\] I’m a software girl. We’ve seen a lot of vendors on the software side in telco claim or say that they’re cloud-native. I mean, you’re actually trying to deploy it on the public cloud and so as you put together the software, you need to deliver this kind of new network. What do you need from the software players to help you complete your vision?
Marc: \[06:19\] Again, because we were starting new, we put very strong requirements on being cloud-native and we told everyone before we launch, which is now, you have to be cloud-native, and I was a bit skeptical. But they did it, and they did it faster than I expected.
\[06:34\] Now we may see over time that we still have some bugs to correct our learnings, but I must say I have been impressed by all the software vendors. Because again, the cloud market is mature so for them, it’s easy to have engineers that understand cloud-native. It’s easy to understand what is a stateless machine, what are the CNI they need to use. All this is actually at scale so they have done it pretty well. I think most of them understood that they had to rewrite their software, start from scratch, not try to carry over the old stuff. That was a bit of debate we’re having at the beginning—are they going to bring us the old stuff and make it look like cloud-native? But I would say most of them didn’t do that so we are fresh.
DR: \[07:14\] Right. Well, that’s really hard for a software vendor because you have your legacy estate and your customers where they are, which in telco is mostly on-prem. Then also developing the software that you need that’s cloud-ready, not just, like you said, cloud-ported. That’s a lot of investment. So for the smaller vendors, they might struggle. Bigger vendors might be able to have the R&D capacity to pull that off so that’s interesting as you deal with that.
\[07:39\] That kind of brings me to cost. What do you see as the cost savings of building your network and IT systems on an AWS stack versus the old school approach of VMware and Oracle? Do you expect these truly cloud-native solutions to be 10%, 50%, 90% of the cost that you saw previously?
Marc: \[07:58\] I’ll talk about price later. But, first, the cost of running a software that is cloud-native, of upgrading a software, of maintaining it is much cheaper than the cost of having legacy.
\[08:10\] Now this is cost. Of course, there is a tension of price. Do you have people like AWS that have a price that is too high, or that it’s not what you want, or somebody else as an ISV? So there is a tension of procurement and customer. But if you forget that, the baseline is much cheaper. It’s cheaper, not only in terms of the cost of what we buy, like IT or computers, but also the OPEX that we have to put in is very different.
\[08:38\] Then it’s a play of the ecosystem. Who has the negotiating power and so forth? So far, we’ve been in a good place because as a trendsetter, everybody is trying to give us-
DR: \[08:46\] Must be a part of it.
Marc: \[08:47\] Yeah. They want to be part of it. They have given us good deals. But, of course, we’ll see how the market evolves. There may be places where, for example, for very massive compute, we have to in-source back into our old private capabilities when the scale is there so we are open to that as well. I mean, there is a tension that is going to be created between price and cost.
DR: \[09:05\] Right. I think that the price should be coming dramatically down. Again, speaking with my CEO of Totogi hat on, just on charging versus on-prem, not having to pre-provision the capacity and the failover-
Marc: \[09:17\] Absolutely.
DR: \[09:18\] … and being able to do that dynamically and elastically with AWS is huge. It just changes the economics for people. Software that previously was only available to the world’s largest telcos, now you can go a lot further down market to tier twos and tier threes and can now afford it. I think that’s going to change the landscape in telco. I’m super excited about that.
Marc: \[09:38\] It’s also the investment cycle. You can invest later when you have revenues and when you have traffic. And you make fewer mistakes because if you invest too early, you are on the very early generation, the bleeding edge of technology or silicon. Whereas we can just wait and take it when it’s ready.
DR: \[09:54\] Yeah, when it’s ready. Yep.
\[09:56\] Now switching a little bit to the enterprise market. AWS has become the dominant public cloud vendor and US IT companies inside those groups, but still we see telcos building their own private clouds with their proprietary APIs. Are you excited to compete with open APIs in an open stack versus your competitors that are still walking in with a private cloud and proprietary APIs?
Marc: \[10:19\] Yeah. I have a very simple principle. I always want to publish our APIs and capabilities and the more of our competitors that adopt it, the bigger the mass market, the better the economics for everyone. So I want everybody to join open APIs. I want everybody to publish and I will continue to publish everything we do because, again, you want to belong to the mass market.
DR: \[10:39\] Yeah. Well, I think the interesting thing here is enterprises. Your customers have already selected AWS. It has 50% market share and probably in the United States it’s pretty strong. So when those teams are comfortable with AWS and already using it, I think since you’re coming to the table with open APIs and AWS, it just makes that work so much more easily.
Marc: \[11:01\] Absolutely.
DR: \[11:02\] They don’t have to learn everyone’s different network and your APIs are published. Again, those IT people, they just want to use something that’s easy to use. Finally, you’re VP of enterprise sales. I’m like, “Give me AWS twice on Sunday. This is amazing.”
Marc: \[11:16\] I think you mentioned it. It’s all about developers and the ease of consumption. So yeah, if there is a big developer ecosystem, we’re going to need to adopt everything out there.
DR: \[11:25\] I mean, they’re just going to eat that up. Published doc, they just want to start coding, they start using and-
Marc: \[11:30\] Absolutely.
DR: \[11:31\] … they don’t want the hassle.
\[11:32\] All right. Now switching a little bit to competition. The other disruptors we’re seeing in telco are the cable guys. Their advantage in the market is their cable plant. They are in-ground cables already. So when you think about your strength that you’re bringing to the table with AWS’s CapEx and infrastructure, is that helping you as much as the in-ground cables are helping the cable guys?
Marc: \[11:53\] We have a number of assets. First, we have the Spectrum, so the Spectrum allows you to have access to mobility and devices and data. It’s a game about data. You need to have access to data and then you’re smart.
\[12:04\] But yes, the fact that we can go through AWS, its ecosystem of developers, of millions of developers, but also the frame of all the data centers they have in the US, it is a big asset for us in terms of SLA, redundancy, reliability, scalability so we are leveraging that.
\[12:20\] I mean, additionally, we like to do things where we can differentiate, so SLAs, software, but we never duplicate what people are better at. So cloud providers are good at cloud. We consume that.
DR: \[12:32\] Well, I think a really good example is 1&1 in Germany is also building a new 5G network, but they’re building all their data centers. They plan to build at least four major data centers and then all these micro data centers. So I think what’s really interesting what you said, you get to ride on the coattails of the most dominant public cloud vendor and I think that’s a huge advantage for you guys.
Marc: \[12:53\] And going forward we are very successful, we have a lot of traffic, we will measure the need to in-source some of that, do our own computing.
DR: \[13:00\] Yep, balance it. Yeah.
Marc: \[13:01\] But right now there is no need for that. We’re much faster using the cloud the way it is.
DR: \[13:04\] Yeah. Oh, it’s great. It’s awesome.
\[13:07\] Now sort of pivoting and speaking of competition, I hear that you’re big time into sailing. I read that in your spare time, you’re working on AI technology to give insights to teams during races. So I have to ask, are you using the public cloud for that? Please say yes.
Marc: \[13:22\] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Again, it’s all about data and once you have the right data, you sail much faster. So yeah, it’s the same story, same family.
DR: \[13:31\] Yeah. It’s so awesome. Well, Marc, this is such an amazing conversation. Thanks so much for coming on the podcast.
Marc: \[13:37\] Well, thank you.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Executive Voices - Marc Rouanne](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Marc Rouanne, EVP & Chief Network Office, DISH Wireless on rolling out a new, greenfield, 5G network.**\\
\\
\\
DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its partnership with AWS, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-44-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
[![Case study: 1&1 vs DISH: a tale of two Open RAN networks](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**1&1 vs DISH Case Study**\\
\\
\\
In 2021, major announcements were made about greenfield networks being built on Open RAN technology. In this case study, we look closely at two examples.](https://telcodr.com/insights/1-and-1-vs-dish-open-ran-case-study-download/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Amazon's Oracle Database Migration
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-amazon-weaned-itself-off-oracle-databases-blog/#main)
Blog
# Keep talkin’ Larry: How Amazon weaned itself off Oracle databases
September 26, 2022
There are a few vendors\* in the telco industry that have their claws deep into the telcos, and one of them is Oracle. Telcos are dying to get off Oracle databases, and because Oracle doesn’t have a strong roadmap for its future, Oracle knows it. So what’s the plan? [Raise prices](https://www.itbrew.com/stories/2022/08/02/oracle-reportedly-to-raise-support-prices-by-8-citing-inflation). The database behemoth ran this play outside of telco in the past, and Amazon saw the ambush coming. So what did it do? Switched off 100% of its Oracle databases. Here’s the story on how Amazon did it so you can do it too.
Amazon’s consumer business shut down its last Oracle database three years ago, in October 2019. The team migrated 75 petabytes of data in nearly 7500 Oracle databases to multiple Amazon Web Services (AWS) database services over the course of several years.
According to [the case study AWS published about the project](https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/amazon-database-migration/), the move cut database operating costs by 50%, eliminated most database-administration and hardware-management overhead, and lowered latency of most critical services by 40%.
You may think you’re stuck with your legacy databases. That Oracle databases are _fait accompli_. But if Amazon can migrate to AWS and achieve gains like this, so can you. (In fact, AWS is happy to help you do it! More on that later.)
### **Why Amazon ditched Oracle**
You can read all about the migration in [the AWS case study](https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/amazon-database-migration/), but I’ll give you the quick and dirty. Back in 1994 when Amazon started operations, on-premise databases were the best thing going for storing and managing enterprise data. And Oracle was at the top of the heap.
As Amazon’s retail business grew to become the powerhouse it is today, it became more entrenched with Oracle each passing year. At the same time, database technology was changing, with Amazon itself driving a lot of the change. [When AWS launched in 2006](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/), the company started to realize that it was spending way too much time and money managing all these legacy databases. It was a huge struggle to get them to scale to accommodate additional data that needed to be stored and the exponentially increasing transaction rates, especially for heavy transactions days like [Prime Day](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/when-is-prime-day-2024) or Black Friday (requiring 105-million requests per second).
Even though the AWS grass was clearly greener, the size and complexity of Amazon’s consumer business deployment kept it in Oracle, as did concerns about what would become of the army of database administrators (DBAs). Sound familiar? Things reached a breaking point over the price: staying the course with Oracle while continuing to grow would increase Amazon’s cost by 10% a year. When you’re already talking about an annual spend in the tens of millions of dollars, 10% more every year was just too high a price to pay. So the team decided to make a bold move: move off Oracle.
### **Gas on the fire: trading barbs with Larry Ellison**
On top of the cost, a heated rivalry developed between the companies. It started in 2014 when [AWS introduced the Aurora relational database service](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/highly-scalable-mysql-compat-rds-db-engine/), directly competing with Oracle, and amped up over the years. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (being Ellison, of course) was quoted as [saying AWS’s lead was over](https://venturebeat.com/business/larry-ellison-says-amazons-lead-is-over-as-oracle-unveils-new-cloud-infrastructure/), that its database [wasn’t ready for prime time](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/amazon-plans-to-move-off-oracle-software-by-early-2020.html), that there was [no way “any normal person would move from an Oracle database to an Amazon database](https://www.zdnet.com/article/oracles-ellison-no-way-a-normal-person-would-move-to-aws/).” Talk about famous last words.
AWS bided its time, kept its heads down, and did the work. When the consumer business turned off its Oracle data warehouse, AWS CEO Andy Jassy taunted back with a “ [keep talkin’ Larry](https://x.com/ajassy/status/1060979175098437632)” tweet. AWS CTO Werner Vogels said it was [his “best day” at Amazon](https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazons-move-from-oracle-werner-vogels-does-a-show-and-tell/).
I’m sure the competition and trash-talking motivated the AWS team. I wonder if they had Larry’s face on dart boards around the office? Did they make a thermometer poster that tracked when Larry would have to sell one of his yachts due to the loss of sales to Amazon? We will probably never know. But they definitely had a party to celebrate the accomplishment.
### **How they did it and why you should, too**
You can learn about how AWS made its move by reading [this “Migration Complete” blog post](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/migration-complete-amazons-consumer-business-just-turned-off-its-final-oracle-database/) from AWS chief evangelist and my Twitter buddy, Jeff Barr. To get into the nitty-gritty technical details, you can watch [this hour-long fireside chat with Thomas Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqTiS-EJTXY), senior manager of solutions architecture for Consumer Business Data Technologies at Amazon.com.
The truth is that the project took years and involved more than 100 teams in Amazon’s consumer business. Every single row was eliminated from Oracle databases and moved into different AWS database services, including [DynamoDB](https://aws.amazon.com/dynamodb/), [Amazon Aurora](https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/), [Amazon Simple Storage Service](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) (S3), [Amazon Relational Database Service](https://aws.amazon.com/rds/) (RDS), and [Amazon Redshift](https://aws.amazon.com/redshift/). Each team involved in the migration got to choose which services would best fit its workloads and budget. In other words: they picked the right database for the job.
Remember the DBAs? Instead of cutting them loose, Amazon offered training and turned them into database migration specialists and advisors! So now, AWS has a team of former Oracle DBAs who have \*real\* migration experience and are ready to shepherd your company through the same process: [AWS Database Migration Service](https://aws.amazon.com/dms/). Giddy up.
Do you want to get off of your expensive, slow Oracle databases? You know you do. So, do it! Follow Amazon’s example and follow these simple steps:
1. Do a technical deep dive to understand what kind of cloud databases you need for which workloads;
2. Set a goal for when to get there, including milestones;
3. Start the transition, working from easiest to hardest to do; and
4. Publish your results and celebrate the win.
To really get things going, piss off Larry and see what happens! It may give your team nonstop motivation. Love you, Larry. Mwah.
_\*You know who they are, don’t make me name them!_
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![How to start your move to the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**How to start your move to the cloud**\\
\\
\\
More and more telco execs are ready to make their move to the public cloud. Now, they're asking how to get started. Here's where to begin …](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-start-your-move-to-the-cloud-blog/)
[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Another great reason to use the public cloud: Variable data-storage pricing**\\
\\
\\
The economics are simple: you’ll save money by storing data in the public cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/public-cloud-variable-data-storage-pricing-blog/)
[![The double bubble is NOT double trouble](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 535"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The double bubble: Why refactoring after migrating to the cloud is the best approach**\\
\\
\\
There are two common approaches telcos use when moving workloads to the public cloud. Which one is best?](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-refactoring-after-cloud-migration-is-best-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## AWS re:Invent 2020 Recap
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/bhags-aws-reinvent-keynote-2020-recap-blog/#main)
Blog
# BHAGs. FTW?!
December 14, 2020
BHAG.
Do you know what that stands for?
Big hairy audacious goal!
This was made famous in the mid-90s business book titled “Built to Last” written by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (my second cousin!). Andy Jassy’s 3-hour LIVE (!) keynote, delivered on December 1 at the [AWS re:Invent 2020 conference](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/), reminded listeners that in order to be successful with a move to the public cloud, **you’ve got to set aggressive, top-down goals.**
While the AWS share of the cloud market is at 45% – more than double that of Microsoft Azure – there’s still much work to do. 96% of the estimated $3.6 trillion in global IT spending has yet to shift to the cloud.
So even though it feels like everyone is adopting the public cloud, there’s still a way to go. But there are a lot of execs out there (and even more in telco) who think they should just wait and see what happens. Do you know what happens when you miss the boat on a mega trend? Your company DIES. Andy reminded us that if you look at the Fortune 500 of just 20 years ago, only half of the companies on that list are still on it today. I guess it _is_ super hard to build a business that lasts.
So if you want to stay successful, you need to reinvent yourself on the reg. Jassy warned that many enterprises are waiting too long to reinvent, often not until the point of near bankruptcy, pivoting only when they are totally out of options. It’s better to reinvent early, when you are healthy, rather than in a moment of desperation – and he’s right. But you also need the right motivation, culture and technology to do it when things are going well. Thankfully, there’s a great way to reinvent yourself that fully applies to telco: the public cloud.
Our advice: don’t just dip your toe in the water with the public cloud. Set an aggressive goal and start moving applications. On the first of every month ask yourself: how many applications did we move to the public cloud last month and how can we double the velocity this next month? Then repeat – and don’t stop until you’re done.
In total, Jassy announced 24 new capabilities that AWS will be delivering – everything from customer service platforms and computer vision algorithms to machine learning operations and serverless deployments. I’ve picked out three that I think are the most exciting developments, and that should be part of your aggressive plans starting NOW:
### Chips
In the 90s, Intel ruled the roost when it came to cloud chips. But they made a pretty big mistake in 2006 when they decided to not pursue the ARM architecture for their chips. They have been paying the price ever since as both Apple and Amazon are starting to ‘chip’ away at that dominance. In 2018, [AWS announced](https://www.extremetech.com/computing/281338-amazon-launches-new-arm-based-custom-graviton-cpu) a custom Arm SoC for cloud workloads – the Amazon Graviton processor. Last year it made significant improvements with the Graviton2, optimized for cloud-native applications and based on 64-bit Arm Neoverse cores. The stats are impressive – the [Graviton2 processors](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200611005895/en/AWS-Announces-General-Availability-of-the-Sixth-Generation-of-Amazon-EC2-Instances-Powered-By-AWS-Graviton2-Processors) offer up to 7x more performance, 4x more compute cores, and 5x faster memory than the A1 instances – while also delivering up to 40% better price/performance over comparable current generation x86-based instances.
This is great news for telco if you’re using the public cloud. If you have workloads moved up into AWS running on [Intel machines](https://www.anandtech.com/show/15578/cloud-clash-amazon-graviton2-arm-against-intel-and-amd/9) (example: m5 machines) and move them to Graviton2 chips (examples, m6g machines), you could save 40% in costs WITH A FEW KEYSTROKES. Lots of people have independently verified these findings outside of AWS and detailed just how easy it was to move their workloads – usually a matter of hours.
> The [#graviton2](https://x.com/hashtag/graviton2?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) chips are truly a big money saving idea. Don’t believe me? Read this [@newsycombinator](https://x.com/newsycombinator?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) thread of actual results from engineers [https://t.co/nc3vdIUuh5](https://t.co/nc3vdIUuh5)
>
> — Danielle Royston (@TelcoDR) [October 24, 2020](https://x.com/TelcoDR/status/1320038744175616000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
You cannot do this with an on-premise data center, and this won’t be the last time this happens. Get your stuff up and into the cloud, and reap these automagical savings for your organization.
### Databases
People in telco are all worried that the hyperscalers are coming for them. Well get in line, because the BFCs are going after the database vendors first. Andy Jassy has been going after Oracle and then some. Amazon recently [eliminated all internal use of Oracle](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-amazon-weaned-itself-off-oracle-databases-blog/) and markets AWS Aurora as the ‘ [Oracle Killer](https://video.cube365.net/c/898738).’ Aurora is the fastest growing AWS service with 100k customers. Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 scales to hundreds of thousands of transactions in a fraction of a second, delivering up to 90% cost savings compared to provisioning for peak capacity. It’s a dream for customers that don’t want to deal with the work associated with self-managing database capacity.
But sometimes one enemy is not enough, and so Andy Jassy is going after Microsoft and the SQL Server team, too. See, Microsoft was getting pretty grumpy that people weren’t picking their cloud and were moving workloads to AWS and decided to jack up their licensing fee for SQL Server on AWS, while lowering it for people on Azure. And that didn’t sit so well with Andy.
So what did he do?
He had AWS create [Babelfish for Aurora PostgreSQL](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2020/12/babelfish-amazon-aurora-postgresql-available-preview/), a new capability for Aurora that allows customers to run SQL Server applications directly on Aurora PostgreSQL with little to no code changes. Finally, AWS shared its plans to open source Babelfish for PostgreSQL under the permissive Apache 2.0 license and make it available on GitHub.
This is great news for telco, as legacy enterprise databases like Oracle and SQL Server have been a very expensive line item for telco IT departments (like say, Vodafone, which has 17 PBs of data stored on premise!). With this new capability from AWS, telcos can dramatically reduce their licensing fees by switching out expensive on-prem databases with cheaper, faster cloud databases like Aurora. I’m sure somewhere Larry Ellison is crying in his beer (though probably while on his yacht, so don’t feel too bad for him).
### Business Applications
Perhaps the best part was hearing about [Amazon Connect](https://aws.amazon.com/connect/). Since its launch in 2017, Connect has been employed by thousands of companies, including the likes of The New York Times, GE Appliances, and Square. According to Jassy, the pandemic has substantially accelerated businesses’ cloud adoption, and more than 5,000 contact centers turned to the Amazon Connect service over the past year. He announced five new Connect capabilities designed to bolster customer service:
1. **Agent assistance**: [Amazon Connect Wisdom](https://aws.amazon.com/connect/q/) uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to detect customer issues during the call and subsequently recommends relevant content stored in the knowledge repositories. For example, Wisdom can detect when a customer says “arrived broken.” After hearing that prompt, Wisdom will automatically display instructions within the Amazon Connect agent application for exchanging an item, including specific answers and links to relevant content.
2. **Customer profiles:** When a customer calls, [Customer Profiles](https://aws.amazon.com/connect/customer-profiles/) scans and matches the customer records across multiple applications for unique identifiers like phone numbers or account IDs. AWS customers can also use pre-built connectors to third-party applications like Marketo, Salesforce and ServiceNow from the Amazon Connect console.
3. **Real-time analytics:** [Real-Time Contact Lens](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/contact-center/contact-lens-real-time/) enables contact center managers to create rules to flag customer issues using keywords (e.g. “not happy,” “poor product quality,” “cancel,” etc.) or sentiment analysis (e.g. negative sentiment, voices being raised, etc.). Managers receive real-time alerts when their specified conditions are met so they can provide guidance or have the agent transfer the call.
4. **Task automation and management:** [Amazon Connect Tasks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/adminguide/tasks.html) improves agent productivity by up to 30%. Managers can assign and prioritize tasks to agents based on availability and skill set, and the tasks are displayed to agents in the same Amazon Connect interface that they use to view their call and chat interactions.
5. **Caller authentication:** [Amazon Connect Voice ID](https://aws.amazon.com/connect/voice-id/) provides real-time caller authentication using machine-learning-powered voice analysis. Callers are given the option to authenticate themselves by using their voice, offering them an additional layer of security against fraud and saving them from the hassle of having to answer multiple questions to verify their identity. It makes contact centers more secure, provides a better customer experience, and improves the productivity of agents.
This is great news for telcos as Connect is rapidly adding great features that you can be using to drive better subscriber experiences. My suggestion would be to use Connect as a call center base but add the 10 – 20% additional code you need to make it telco-specific. Get all the rapid expansion of features, CI/CD provided by Amazon, plus all the awesome cloud benefits and start to really drive customer insights that help agents solve problems faster and build loyalty in the subscriber base. It’s moving so fast that there’s no way your on-premise call center solution can keep up. Adopt Connect now and catch the Amazon wave.
The public cloud stuff is so freaking cool. And it’s moving SO FAST. Even comparing the three cloud vendors, it’s got to be so difficult for Microsoft and Google to keep up with the pace of innovation being driven by Amazon.
The winners in all this?
The customers. You get the benefits of their price wars over compute chips and the pettiness over pricing of databases, while standing on the shoulders of the world’s best technologists thinking about generic business problems to solve, like call center.
My advice? Set some B.H.A.G.s and get moving to the public cloud – NOW!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![For Cloud AI, it’s all about the chips](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Blog \\
**For Cloud AI, it’s all about the chips**\\
\\
23 May 2023 – \\
Cloud AI stands ready to transform telcos, but they will need the hyperscalers' purpose-built chips to unlock its power.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-ai-chips-blog/)
[![Amazon broke with Oracle](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**How Amazon weaned itself off Oracle databases**\\
\\
26 September 2022 – \\
Amazon's consumer business shut down 100% of its Oracle databases. Here’s how they did it so you can do it too.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-amazon-weaned-itself-off-oracle-databases-blog/)
[![Recap of re:Invent: It’s time to ride the dragon](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Blog \\
**Recap of re:Invent 2021: It’s time to ride the dragon**\\
\\
8 December 2021 – \\
AWS had lots of news to share during re:Invent 2021, but the biggest headline for telco was the announcement of its new AWS Private 5G offering.](https://telcodr.com/insights/recap-reinvent-2021-time-to-ride-the-dragon-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Cloud CAPEX Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-88-public-cloud-capex-hyperscalers/#main)
Podcast
# Ep 88 – Cloud CAPEX: Not for the faint of wallet
April 2, 2024
## This week’s guest
![Telco in 20 Guest Charles Fitzgerald Platformonomics](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 300"%3E%3C/svg%3E)[View Linkedin profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesfitz/)
### Charles Fitzgerald
Managing Director Platformonomics LLC
* * *
If you’re partnering with one or more of the hyperscalers, their roadmap is your roadmap. It’s important to know where they’re steering their ships, and a great way to gain insight into this is to follow their CAPEX spending.
For this episode, I talk with Charles Fitzgerald, managing director at Platformonomics. His annual _Follow the CAPEX_ report tracks spending by the Big 3 hyperscalers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—and includes crystal-ball insights into their strategic plans and priorities. Listen now to hear:
- How the hyperscalers spent money in 2023 and how their paths are diverging \[02:10\];
- How AI strategy is affecting CAPEX spending \[05:47\];
- The last word on whether cloud repatriation is really a trend \[11:36\]; and
- Why it’s time for “clown providers” like IBM and Oracle to ante up or get out of the big top \[16:59\].
### Links and resources
- Read Charles Fitzgerald’s [2023 retrospective on public cloud CapEx spending](https://platformonomics.com/2024/02/follow-the-capex-cloud-table-stakes-2023-retrospective/) and check out his [Q1 2023 Repatriation Index](https://platformonomics.com/2023/05/platformonomics-repatriation-index-q1-2023-surfs-up/) TM
- Take a look at TelcoDR’s [Hyperscaler Region Tracker](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lsrP2BL7MgBfqEX4pCK5IU3Z0zIIAdRQW6y3MaeAOGI/edit?hl=en&forcehl=1#gid=1414701138) to see where the three “BIGS” have been putting their regions.
- Check out this [Bloomberg article](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-28/amazon-bets-150-billion-on-data-centers-required-for-ai-boom) about Amazon’s AI-focused data center investments, which includes quotes from Charles.
- You know I love a good playlist. Check out these songs about money:
- [_Money_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ) by Pink Floyd
- [_Can’t Buy Me Love_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srwxJUXPHvE) by The Beatles
- [_Money, Money, Money_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0) by ABBA
- [_Money for Nothing_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0) by Dire Straits
- [_She Works Hard for the Money_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GlJ1lFvkK4) by Donna Summer
- I can’t wait to pounce on telco execs while I’m in Diani Beach, Kenya, just like my favorite Winnie-the-Pooh character [Tigger would do](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27GuYQ2Oeng).
- Check out this episode on our [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JG8rmmvosI).
- You can find the transcript for this episode [here](https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EP-88-Charles-Fitzgerald-Transcript.pdf).
Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, [set up a meeting](https://telcodr.com/contact/) with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.
* * *
### Guest bio
Charles Fitzgerald is a Seattle-based angel investor, with a focus on developer platforms and infrastructure. Previously, he spent 20+ years working on platform businesses at Microsoft and VMware. He can see the cloud from his house.
* * *
#### Follow DR
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The Telco in 20 podcast won 2022 and 2023 MarComm Awards, a 2022 Gold Hermes Award, and was recognized as a Forrester [Top 100 Channel Podcast](https://go.forrester.com/blogs/the-100-best-channel-podcasts-of-2021/) and Feedspot [Top 10 Telecom Podcast](https://podcasts.feedspot.com/telecom_podcasts/). If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!
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2. [Ep 107 – 🧣Wrapping your head around Responsible AI🧣](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-107-responsible-ai/)
3. [Ep 105 – NVIDIA’s vision for AI and the RAN](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-105-nvidia-ai-ran-vision/)
4. [Ep 100 – The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-100-the-special-100th-episode/)
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![Telco in 20 Newsletter](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 63"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## Wanna talk public cloud?
Set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.
[Get in touch](https://telcodr.com/contact/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 863"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## More episodes from Telco in 20
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Brian Beutler Alianza](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 87 – Scaling telcos’ cloud mountain with Alianza**\\
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Alianza moved UCaaS to AWS, offering a SaaS solution that leverages the scalability and resilience of the public cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-87-scaling-telcos-cloud-alianza/)
[![Telco in 20: DR at MWC24](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 86 – Reinventing BSS**\\
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Last week I opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS). We captured the talk on video, and I’ve turned it into this podcast.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-86-reinventing-bss/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Chris Bradley, 2degrees](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 85 – What’s up with Totogi: 2degrees, a modern telco**\\
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New Zealand MNO 2degrees is tapping Totogi's multi-tenant charger to streamline MVNO onboarding and support, and to capture additional revenue.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-85-wuwt-2degrees-a-modern-telco/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Avoid Repatriation in Cloud
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-telcos-should-avoid-building-for-repatriation-blog/#main)
Blog
# The elephant in the cloud: Why telcos should avoid building for repatriation
December 21, 2022
I think it’s apt that the last blog of the year has a bit of a “year-end wrap up” feel to it. Of course, this year was all about telco passing the tipping point on the move to the public cloud; I mean, heck, Steve Saunders is even [launching a whole new media site dedicated to the topic of cloud tech and telco](https://www.lightreading.com/service-provider-cloud/saunders-preps-new-cloud-publication-with-questex/d/d-id/782419) (called “Silverlinings.” Cute).
If I had to call out another topic that’s been on a low simmer in the background, it’s the topic of just how cloud-native one should go. Journalists in telco like to frequently point out the obvious risk of vendor lock-in with the hyperscalers; but the topic of “how good is the public cloud, _really_?” bubbled over into VC-land last year with a16z’s almost [sacrilegious cloud blog](https://a16z.com/the-cost-of-cloud-a-trillion-dollar-paradox/). At first, I was a bit thankful the blog had hardly registered with the telco crowd. But then, [this October blog post by a CTO](https://world.hey.com/dhh/why-we-re-leaving-the-cloud-654b47e0), about how his email service company is moving from the public cloud BACK to on-prem, got into the feeds of telco folk and, well, I could feel everyone starting to light torches and call for the end of the public cloud.
So, yeah, let’s talk about the elephant in the cloud: should you build workloads in the public cloud with an eventual plan to move them back on-prem?
### Here we go again
The CTO behind the famous blog is David Heinemeier Hansson, aka [@DHH on Twitter](https://x.com/dhh). He’s known for his exuberant, intentionally controversial takes on tech topics. He’s plenty legit, with credentials that include creating the Ruby on Rails web-app framework and founding 37Signals (maker of Basecamp) and Hey, his new, web-based email client company trying to take on Gmail.
He shared the blog post with his 440,000-plus followers and it quickly went viral and riled everyone up. I tossed in my two cents previously, and would like to circle back with some deeper ponderings. Mine isn’t the only one; like I said, it pretty much lit up the cloud community. (Two notable non-telco rebuttals are this [How About Tomorrow podcast episode](https://tomorrow.fm/4) and [this tweet thread from Simon Wardley](https://x.com/swardley/status/1583814993514201089), which is nothing short of epic.)
To summarize, DHH and the team at Hey concluded that the public cloud is more expensive than on-prem and no simpler to manage, so they’re taking their toys and going back to their own data center. A main point in the blog is that the public cloud is best suited for small companies, because at scale the public cloud is way too expensive if you’re just “renting computers.”
I could argue that maybe DHH doesn’t get the public cloud; or maybe he’s not using it right; or he’s providing an email service and you should discount his recommendations because it’s totally different from telco (it is). I’m not going to do any of that. Instead, I’m going to focus on his conclusion: that he should retreat and go back on-prem, which I think is **wrong**.
Building on the public cloud for “portability,” or the ability to go back on-prem later, forces you down a whole line of sub-optimal, platform-agnostic tech decisions. Designing for repatriation automatically limits you to lowest common denominator tools—common processors, common databases, third-party software packages. Architecting for repatriation cuts off your business from innovative software—basically the whole reason to use the public cloud in the first place. I advise telco execs all the time: if your plan for the public cloud is to just go back on-prem, then don’t bother moving your workloads. Stay on premise. Conversations like this really tell me how much telco execs still don’t get the public cloud.
At the risk of repeating myself for the thousandth time: to take advantage of all the public cloud has to offer, you have to build applications that are native to THAT cloud. Does that lock you into that cloud? It does. Does it make it hard to move back on premise or to another cloud? Yes. But to use an example from life, you wouldn’t move houses by packing boxes, moving them, and then never unpacking them for fear of having to move again. No one does that. You unpack the boxes and live in the house. Does unpacking boxes and setting up your home make it hard to move again? It does. But the whole reason you move to a new house or in this case, the public cloud, is TO USE IT. So yeah, kick off your shoes and make yourself at home. Maximize all the benefits of the public cloud.
Let’s take Graviton, AWS’ custom-built ARM chip, which is available only on servers in AWS data centers. Now in its third generation, Graviton chips just keep getting better—cheaper, faster, more performant. If you take Mr. DHH’s advice and conclude that AWS provides just “rented servers” and you’re just going to move back on-premise eventually, then you would never use Graviton-powered machines. With that approach, here’s a list of all the things you’d miss out on:
1. [Using Graviton1 (2018)](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-ec2-instances-a1-powered-by-arm-based-aws-graviton-processors/), you would have gotten about the [same performance as x86 chips](https://www.percona.com/blog/comparing-graviton-performance-to-arm-and-intel-for-mysql/), at a lower cost compared to an x86 machine at AWS. A nice start, but not earth-shattering.
2. If you used Graviton1, then it would have been trivial to use [Graviton2 (2020](https://press.aboutamazon.com/2020/6/aws-announces-general-availability-of-the-sixth-generation-of-amazon-ec2-instances-powered-by-aws-graviton2-processors)), which delivered [40% better price/performance over x86 chips](https://www.anandtech.com/show/15578/cloud-clash-amazon-graviton2-arm-against-intel-and-amd/9). That’s 40% less compute needs, which means fewer servers and less cost. It was a huge jump in performance, and really created the movement of workloads toward the Graviton chip.
3. Then [Graviton3 came out in 2022](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ec2-c7g-instances-powered-by-aws-graviton3-processors/) and improved on Graviton2’s performance. Graviton3 processors use up to 60 percent less energy for the same performance as comparable EC2 instances. You would have been able to reduce your compute needs and gotten another bump of cost savings, with hardly any work.
If you’re on-prem with your purchased servers, that’s three hardware refreshes you’d have to go through over a period of four years. Graviton users would have been able to just move workloads to the updated chip, and reap all the benefits.
To bring it back to telco, just look at Japan’s NTT Docomo, which has realized the power of using Graviton for its 5G Standalone Core. It proved that [Graviton2 chips delivered a 72% (!) reduction on power consumption](https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2022/0929_00.html) as compared to its own servers.
I don’t know if Hey planned to move back on-prem all along, but if so, it means it wouldn’t have been designing for the public cloud from the get-go. Hey would have designed the product with lowest common denominator tools and databases. If true, it was doomed from the start, and its public cloud costs would have ALWAYS been suboptimal and more expensive all the way around.
To use the public cloud is not an easy task. Yes, you have to constantly optimize your workloads. You have to keep up with all the innovations and changes, which is such a different environment than the largely static experience of the on-prem world. But it catapults you into a world of possibilities—like increased ARPU and massive cost savings. Using the public cloud frees you from managing servers and data centers and everything that goes with that, so you can focus on your network and your subscribers.
Take my advice: don’t start your journey to the public cloud by building for repatriation; instead, build so you can fully use the public cloud.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Video thumbnail: DR's controversial TM Forum keynote.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Avoid vendor lock-in with TM Forum Open APIs**\\
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TM Forum’s Open APIs are giving telcos a way to build IT solutions that are easier and cheaper to deploy, integrate, and upgrade. It’s time to change your thinking about the best way to build applications – and gain scalability, flexibility and cost savings along the way.](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-vendor-lock-in-with-tm-forum-open-apis-video/)
[![Still wary about public cloud? Don’t be.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Still wary about public cloud? Don’t be.**\\
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The advantages of moving to the public cloud are obvious. But there will be resistance. It’s time to reconsider. Step 1? Stop looking at your telco as an IT company.](https://telcodr.com/insights/still-wary-about-public-cloud-dont-be-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Michael Kearns, Chief Executive Officer, Virtasant.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 39 – Hacking Cloud Costs**\\
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A cottage industry has popped up to help companies optimize their cloud environment and spending. Find out what you can do to hack cloud costs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
[![Cloud City stage](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The Paradox of the Public Cloud – Danielle Rios Royston’s Keynote at Mobile World Congress 2021**\\
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In this keynote, I delve deep into the huge benefits of the public cloud for telcos. The bottom line: the public cloud is HERE, the benefits are ground-breaking, and ignoring it would be a HUGE mistake.](https://telcodr.com/insights/keynote-paradox-public-cloud-mobile-world-congress-2021/)
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## Public Cloud Benefits for India
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-the-public-cloud-is-perfect-for-india-blog/#main)
Blog
# Why the public cloud is perfect for India
September 8, 2022
Sometimes people ask when I first got the idea about trying to move the telecom industry to the public cloud. It actually happened during a trip to India back in 2017. I had just become the CEO of a charging company called Redknee, and I was in Mumbai to visit one of our customers, Vodafone India (now Vodafone Idea). At the time, Redknee was managing the telco’s prepaid data charging across the country. It was operating in six urban areas with six failover setups—effectively managing 12 sites (not including emergency capacity).
I noticed immediately that Vodafone India’s charging and rating software was being run client-server out of homegrown, on-premise data centers—you know, like software was managed in the _last century_. The setup was a nightmare because we were trying to make 12 different sites in 12 different places exactly the same. Let me tell you: they were never the same. Maybe we needed a new server at one, and only the next generation machine was available. Or the manager at one site did things differently than the manager at another. I knew there had to be an easier way.
When I met with the Vodafone India CTO I presented the idea of moving to the public cloud. My team thought I was crazy. They expected Vodafone India to kick me out of the meeting and fire Redknee. But he didn’t. Instead, he said he wanted to start a pilot right away.
Fast forward to 2022, and India has just closed its [5G auction](https://www.voicendata.com/7-days-40-rounds-later-indias-5g-spectrum-auction-concludes-govt-nets-inr-1-50-lakh-crore/). Four telcos spent a record-breaking $19 billion USD to get in on the game. Reliance Jio spent just over $11 billion for 24,740 megahertz of airwaves—and then announced it would [launch 5G service in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata](https://www.voicendata.com/jio-to-launch-5g-services-in-delhi-mumbai-chennai-kolkata-by-diwali/) by late October, followed by a nationwide rollout of a 5G standalone (SA) network by the end of 2023. That takes bravado, and now all eyes are on the other telcos in India to see what they are going to do to match it.
Thankfully, 5G is written to a cloud-native standard, so now these telcos have the chance to keep up by using the public cloud. After all, elsewhere around the world, telcos like Vodafone, AT&T, and DISH are already on their way. Telcos are moving to the public cloud because of the huge benefits, benefits that are especially powerful for India’s unique telco market.
### India and the public cloud: a perfect match
The public cloud is perfect for India for two key reasons: it can provide scale, and do it at a low price. In terms of scale, India is gynormous. Home to 1.4 billion people and a billion subscribers, it’s the second-biggest market in the world after China. That means any software an Indian telco chooses has to be carrier-grade, able to handle the most scale and the hardest use cases, and perform like a rock star. At the same time, India has some of the lowest ARPU in the world—about $2 for India versus a low-side estimate of $20 for the US.
This combination presents a unique challenge for telco operators in India. They need tier-zero, carrier-grade software to handle the scale, so they look to the big vendors like Amdocs, Nokia, and Ericsson. But they also need the lowest price so they can make the numbers work business-wise, and these vendors’ solutions typically cost tens of millions of dollars.
What do you do? You look to the public cloud.
### The public cloud can handle the scale
Public cloud data centers are built to support the world’s biggest internet companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. In fact, Amazon built many aspects of AWS to support its own explosive growth and huge demands. Believe me, it can scale. And because of the public cloud and hyperscaler investments, telcos no longer have to build their own data centers. You can use hyperscalers’ cutting-edge data centers and pay by the use—using more one day and less another. It’s the world’s best technology, built and supported by the world’s best technologists, and [costing billions](https://x.com/KTRTRS/status/1324592966212612096) to build, like the [AWS region in Hyderabad](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/in-the-works-aws-region-in-hyderabad-india/) currently under construction. When you can use it and pay for only what you need, why wouldn’t you?
The only catch is this: to truly take advantage of all this technology, you have to select tools that are truly cloud native.
### How can you tell if it’s cloud native? With one simple test
I know all your old vendor buddies—Amdocs, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, and Oracle—are telling you that the new “cloud-native” versions of their legacy products are ready to support your shiny, new 5G spectrum. It’s really easy for them to say they’re cloud-native, but what they’re really doing is “cloud washing,” which is just rebranding an old product by adding the buzzword “cloud” to it.
The key is Indian operators (and everyone else, too) need to select software solutions that are built for the public cloud. When software and services are truly cloud native, they live on a public cloud and are 80% less expensive than their on-premise cohorts.
You might be asking yourself, how do I know if a product is truly cloud native? I put together [a list of the top five ways](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/) to tell if your vendor’s “cloud native” application is truly cloud native (which also happens to be a hilarious video I recorded with Ray Le Maistre at _TelecomTV)_.
But really, it’s pretty easy to tell. There’s a simple test: _the price_. If it’s not 80% cheaper than the on-premise version, it’s not cloud native.
### Real cloud verses fake cloud
For example, [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, offers the fully cloud native [Totogi Charging System on AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile?id=f4070acf-9402-4a6c-9464-0a74748972c7), with a starting price of one penny for the first 500-million transactions per month in a pay-as-you-grow model. [Amdocs is also on AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-jcyfhi7xpb3cq?sr=0-2&ref_=beagle&applicationId=AWSMPContessa), selling its Digital Brands Suite at $400,000 USD for up to 100,000 users. The page _says_ it’s Software as a Service (SaaS). I mean, if it’s on AWS Marketplace, it _seems_ like it should be cloud-native, right? But that price seems awfully high. Let’s take a look.
- If you take $400,000 and divide it by 100,000 subscribers, that comes out to about $4 per subscriber.
- In the fine print on the Amdocs AWS Marketplace page, it says, “All orders are custom,” and also, “additional taxes or fees may apply.” What fees could those be? Services to implement, customize, or integrate to your other systems.
- The Amdocs 2021 annual report shows the company’s mix of revenue at about 40% software and 60% services. Using that ratio, I would say customers should expect that the software product will be 40% of the total price they’ll pay, and additional fees and services will make up the other 60%.
- So, that’s about a million dollars for 100,000 subscribers, which works out to about $10 each.
That math holds up if we look at Amdocs’ largest customer, AT&T. It famously spends about a billion dollars on its roughly 100-million subscribers, so it’s spending about $10 a sub, too. So, what we’re seeing here is that Amdocs has not updated its pricing model for the public cloud. Compare that to Totogi, where we start pricing at $0.01. ONE CENT! With this kind of price point, it’s a no-brainer to adopt truly public cloud products. Especially for telcos in India.
This is the dawn of a new era in telco software. The new technology is cloud-native. It can scale to meet your needs—easily. The telltale sign it’s the real thing is massively cheaper pricing. You’re going to want to use it, especially as you upgrade to 5G.
The race is on. Not only are public cloud solutions infinitely scalable and cheaper, they’re also faster to deploy. Reliance Jio has thrown down the gauntlet, putting a stake in the ground and planning to launch next year. My advice to the other telcos—Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Adani Enterprises (and anyone else with 5G plans)—is to use the technology of the public cloud to get the scale, speed, and lower price you need, and maybe beat Jio to the punch. This is your moment! Good luck, and I’ll see you in the public cloud.
I’ll also see you in India! Catch my keynote at the [Voice & Data 5G Event](https://tlfindia.in/) in Delhi on September 13 at 10:00 am IST. See you there!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Deploying a new charger used to take a year. The Totogi Charging System takes hours.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Deploying a new charger used to take a year. The Totogi Charging System takes hours.**\\
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The Totogi Charging System is so easy to deploy that people can’t quite believe it’s true. But it's the real thing.](https://telcodr.com/insights/deploying-new-totogi-charger-in-hours-blog/)
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Instead of making technical decisions based on where technology is today, factor in the hyperscalers' plans for the future.](https://telcodr.com/insights/bet-future-telco-technology-blog/)
[![Kubernetes - in the cloud?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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After my blog on the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing, the most controversial turned out to be: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native”. So here’s an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/)
[![Video thumbnail: TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps**\\
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TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps Watch D.R. on TelecomTV explain her top five signs that your vendor’s “cloud-native” product may not indeed be cloud native..! More from TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## AI Integration Challenges
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/getting-ai-right-is-hard-blog/#main)
Blog
# Getting AI right is hard 🚀
September 11, 2024
The honeymoon phase with artificial intelligence (AI) is over. As organizations grapple with the complexities of integrating AI, many are finding it’s not the magic bullet they hoped for. But don’t give up! Instead, take a page from one of the most innovative thinkers of our time: Elon Musk.
When Musk set out to revolutionize space travel, he faced a problem that seemed insurmountable: the astronomical cost of rockets. Instead of accepting the status quo, Musk applied [first-principles thinking](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2023/09/13/first-principles-thinking-the-blueprint-for-solving-business-problems/), breaking down the problem to its most basic elements. He questioned every assumption, analyzed the raw materials, and rebuilt the entire process from scratch. The result? SpaceX managed to reduce launch costs by a factor of ten, making space travel more accessible than ever before.
This same approach—first-principles thinking—is exactly what you need to tackle the challenge of integrating AI into your telco. Just as Musk reimagined rocket construction, we need to reimagine every business process with AI in mind. It’s not about slapping AI onto existing systems (chatbots and copilots aren’t the killer application of AI, for example); it’s about fundamentally rethinking how we operate every process and system within a telco. And that’s hard to do.
### **The challenge of implementing AI**
Recent earnings reports and industry feedback reveal a sobering truth: enterprise AI adoption is progressing more slowly than anticipated. Take, for example, Microsoft’s reset of expectations on AI revenue growth in its [latest earnings report](https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-beats-quarterly-revenue-estimates-2024-07-30/). While AI has made solving many hard problems easier, implementing AI itself in a way that provides real business value is kinda hard.
Whenever my team at Totogi is facing a hard challenge like this, we apply first-principles thinking. Like Elon Musk, we methodically break down a problem to its most basic parts, and then build a new solution from the ground up (like say, [Totogi Charging-as-a-Service](https://totogi.com/products/charging-as-a-service/), which redesigned a real-time charging Online Charging System 100% for the public cloud). The idea is to simplify as much as possible, which frees you to focus on the most important elements. It encourages you to question assumptions, start from scratch, and think creatively to find the best possible answer. Just like Elon.
First-principles thinking is most useful when you’re solving a new problem, trying to find a new way to solve an old problem, dealing with complexity, adapting to a new environment, or wanting to be the first to jump on an emerging opportunity… **just like AI.**
### **Common errors in first-principles thinking**
While first-principles thinking is a powerful tool for implementing AI, it’s easy to fall into some common traps. Here are two of the most common errors people make when applying this approach:
1. They fail to really break down the problem, and
2. They anchor to existing solutions.
**Failing to break down the problem** is often the most consequential error. People frequently stop at surface-level assumptions instead of digging deeper to the most fundamental truths.
For example, many organizations get stuck on the high price tag associated with AI tech, viewing it as fixed and unchangeable (as discussed in my [recent podcast with Appledore Research’s John Abraham](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/), where he mentions that telco execs are concerned about the high cost of AI). However, with true first-principles thinking, you would not worry about costs; instead, you would break down AI costs to their fundamental components: computing power, data storage, algorithm efficiency, and so on.
By taking this approach you might realize that while current costs are high, the trajectory of these components suggests dramatically lower costs in the near future (see tweet below showing that in just 18 months, AI costs have plummeted 240X for just GPT-4 alone). While the AI Wars are being duked out, you don’t have to worry about the cost problem. Focus on the fundamental problem you are trying to apply AI to, use AI “wastefully,” and cost optimize later when prices have settled at the bottom.
The other problem I see: **anchoring to existing solutions**. Even when attempting to start from first principles, many struggle to fully detach from old approaches, current solutions, or conventional wisdom. This can severely limit creative problem-solving and prevent truly innovative ideas from emerging.
When applying first-principles thinking to AI integration, teams often subconsciously anchor to their existing in-house solutions or methodologies. They might break down the problem, but their analysis is colored by preconceptions about what solutions should look like—specifically, that they should be developed with existing tools, or done internally by their own teams. Your old vendors may not have all the right answers, especially in the age of AI. This bias can lead to dismissing external, new AI solutions that could be more effective, efficient, economical—and frankly, just BETTER. True first-principles thinking requires setting aside these biases. Instead of asking, “How can we build this ourselves?” or “What does Amdocs have?”, the question should be “What is the most effective way to solve this problem, regardless of the solution’s origin?” This might lead to discovering that an external AI solution, or a hybrid approach combining internal and external elements, is actually the best way forward.
### **Betting on the innovation curve**
Finally, when building with AI, don’t bet on where the tech is right now; bet on the trajectory, where it’ll be a few years from now. I was in an executive’s office one day and they drew this picture on a whiteboard about how they thought about using the public cloud vendors vs. building their own private cloud:
Even if your team can build something better in the short term (A), the **long term is what you’re betting on.** As the cloud vendors, or AI vendors, keep innovating, investing, and improving, you’re riding THEIR coattails up the curve (B). Why waste time and energy building it yourself, only to end up in a worse position over time (C)?
Even though the example above was for the public cloud, the same is true for AI.
In the age of AI, it’s easy to find a startup that has a swappable component that you can add to your project, see if it works, and keep the project moving along. Plus, you have other important problems to solve, like fine tuning your AI model, integrating it into your processes and systems, and getting your people to use it. Your list is long! Use new vendors’ tech, put it into your solution, and see if it starts getting used. If it doesn’t, then rip it out and throw it away. If it starts to take off, then swap it out for something cheaper or written by your team. You can always change it later.
### **This is your SpaceX moment in telco**
Elon Musk revolutionized space travel through first-principles thinking. Now, it’s your turn to have your own SpaceX moment in the world of telco.
Just as Musk didn’t accept the status quo of expensive rockets, don’t accept the status quo in telco. Break down the problems, question every assumption, and rebuild your processes from the ground up with AI at their core. By applying first-principles thinking, avoiding common pitfalls like cost fixation, NIH syndrome, and betting on the innovation curve, you can lead your organization to new heights. The AI revolution in telco is here, and it’s time to launch your own moonshot!
Who knows? A few years from now, your telco might be the example others use when talking about AI done right. Need help getting started with first-principles thinking for your telco or MVNO? Give me a call, I’d love to help you out.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 96 – How TELUS turned its data swamp into an AI oasis**
Canadian telco TELUS is using AI to drive efficiency and innovation across its business. Chief Insights Officer Jaime Tatis shares key learnings and success stories from the company’s transformation journey.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-96-telco-data-ai-telus/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Totogi’s Danielle Rios on the unifying power of AI**
DR explains how network operators can use AI to harmonise data structures, provide a common language across their often sprawling back-office IT estate, and enable “zero UI” (user interface) interactions.
[Watch now](https://youtu.be/Hj0WgCCy1fw?si=iZnR92XdxuLLFyBy)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**If you focus on business value, AI pays for itself**
Think AI is too expensive for your org? Think again. When implemented strategically, AI can pay for itself.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-cost-business-value-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Future Telco Technology Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/bet-future-telco-technology-blog/#main)
Blog
# Bet on the future: telco and technology
April 11, 2022
The other day while I was scrolling on Twitter, [I saw this awesome tweet from Colm MacCárthaigh](https://x.com/colmmacc/status/1500915606509477892), a VP and Distinguished Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
He said that consistently adding new regions is AWS’s secret sauce and that it moves the needle for its business more than anything else. And it got me thinking.
My first thought was that it means that AWS is going to continue to open regions. While they have [26 regions launched with eight more announced](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/) (double the count of any other hyperscaler), it means more will come. And it’s not just AWS. All three hyperscalers are adding new regions and availability zones _all the time_. [Synergy Research Group](https://www.srgresearch.com/articles/pipeline-of-over-300-new-hyperscale-data-centers-drives-healthy-growth-forecasts) forecasts that more than 300 new data centers are in the pipeline and the global number is expected to hit 1,200 by 2026. (Though if I were Synergy, I’d discount the IBM contribution to the count as they aren’t real cloud.) This is great news for telco. The takeaway: if there isn’t a usable region near you now, there will be soon—you can bet on it.
But the other thought I had was regarding the common mistake technologists make when it comes to technical decisions: they bet on where a technology (or in this case, a hyperscaler region) is at the time of the decision. They don’t factor in the future. When selecting technology vendors, of course you review where their tech is today; but you also need to calculate their trajectory and velocity.
- Where are they going?
- How fast will they get there?
- Will they get you there faster than if you did it on your own?
- Should you invest your money to build it, or let them spend their money and ride their coattails?
With the investment that all three hyperscalers are making in their regions and tech, I think it’s a no-brainer: you should bet on their innovation and investment trajectories.
## Don’t build a \#fakecloud
At TelcoDR, telcos ask us all the time about the timing of the move to the cloud. “Hey, DR, there’s not a region near me. I’m going to [build a private cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/building-your-own-public-cloud-blog/) instead.” After my facepalm moment, I shake my head and tell customers—no, that’s not how you should think about it. Instead, you should think that it’s coming soon, and that you should use this time to prepare for the day when it is available. You should thank your lucky stars that you’re not yet behind on your move to the public cloud. You have time to get ready, a luxury that other telcos in regions that have the public cloud already don’t have. Use it to your advantage!
Every time I see the news that a telco has chosen to build a private cloud, I mentally add five years to their public cloud journey (c-ya in 2027!). That’s because they’re going to have to spend significant CapEx money on the hardware. With every server you buy, your finance department is going to want you to squeeze every last ounce of use from it to maximize the investment. While this makes financial sense, it will add five years to your move to the public cloud.
The other thing private cloud does is lock your organization into the 10,000 tiny tech decisions your IT team makes that you have to live with in the private-cloud zoo. (I talk about the zoo [in this video](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-vendor-lock-in-with-tm-forum-open-apis-video/), at 6:15.)
- Which container system to use?
- Database?
- Orchestration product?
- How often do you upgrade?
Instead of relying on the excellence of the Amazon / Microsoft / Google technologists, you’re relying on your team to make all decisions. I’m not knocking your team, but the hyperscalers have been managing mega data centers for 15+ years now while your team is building a private cloud for the very first time. Who would you rather have make those decisions?
Finally, going with a #fakecloud will waste time and money you could have spent training your teams on public cloud while they learn a custom private cloud tech stack. Private cloud and public cloud are two very different things. Don’t fool yourself into thinking these are reusable skills that cross over into the public cloud. While there is \*some\* overlap, it is minimal. Get your team ready for the move to the public cloud today.
## Start hiring and training your teams now
Public cloud is a whole new tech stack: databases, APIs, services, orchestration. Each public cloud has its own set of tools that likely no one on your team knows how to use. I always recommend to telcos that they [start slow](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-cloud-journey-starts-with-a-single-step-blog/), with non-mission critical applications and workloads. Move “easy” applications to the public cloud to gain experience with managing costs and working with finance to budget variable usage. Build new processes for provisioning instances, optimizing application design, and teaching your team how to build with the cloud. This is a better investment of time than learning how to manage some Red Hat / IBM Cloud cluster that you’re just going to throw into the trash in five years’ time.
Don’t forget about the new talent you need to hire! You’re going to need a whole swath of new skills in your org that you’ve never hired for. Your HR department is going to need to recruit with new hiring profiles and source talent from new pools outside of telco. How will you screen and interview for the public cloud? Which certifications and experience do you need? Cloud expertise is the most in-demand tech skill in the market today and you’re going to have to adjust your compensation packages to attract top talent. Is your organization ready for that?
## Don’t have access to a public cloud? Start with Outposts, Azure Stacks, or Google Distributed Cloud
All three hyperscalers have come around and realized that they can’t build regions everywhere all at once. So they’ve compromised and come up with a solution: we’ll put our public cloud in your data center. [AWS Outposts](https://aws.amazon.com/outposts/), [Microsoft Azure Stack](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/azure-stack/), and [Google Distributed Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/distributed-cloud) (just launched!) allow ANYONE to put a piece of the public cloud right in their own managed data centers—and in AWS’ case, it even provides the hardware. While you won’t get access to 100% of the services they offer in their mega data centers, there are some good basic offerings you can use to start the learning process for your teams and the movement of workloads to the tech stack of the public cloud.
Again, I recommend this option over building a private cloud. While this approach is theoretically the same (workloads on your data center), there’s one key difference: your team will learn how to use the tech stack of the public cloud in the process, which sets you up for the day when you inevitably move to the public cloud.
Deciding to take a calculated risk on future technology is a tough call. Fortunately, the hyperscalers are investing as much CapEx in networks to build out their services as telcos do. Just as crazy as it sounds for someone to decide to build their own network instead of buying services from you, that’s how crazy it is to build your own private cloud. The public cloud has come to telco—time to jump on the train and start to use it.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Video thumbnail: DR's controversial TM Forum keynote.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Avoid vendor lock-in with TM Forum Open APIs**\\
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TM Forum’s Open APIs are giving telcos a way to build IT solutions that are easier and cheaper to deploy, integrate, and upgrade. It’s time to change your thinking about the best way to build applications – and gain scalability, flexibility and cost savings along the way.](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-vendor-lock-in-with-tm-forum-open-apis-video/)
[![The journey to the cloud starts with a single step](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The journey to the cloud starts with a single step**\\
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Your people are ready and excitement is building about your public cloud transformation. Now what? Here are three steps to follow.](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-cloud-journey-starts-with-a-single-step-blog/)
[![Nothing’s better than the real thing](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 269"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Nothing’s better than the real thing: true cloud-native**\\
\\
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Telco CTOs and CIOs, use these questions to figure out which vendors are doing cloud native right.](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/)
[![Think twice before building your own public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Think twice before building your own public cloud**\\
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Building a public cloud is harder than you think. Instead, look to the hyperscalers and use as much of their stuff as you possibly can.](https://telcodr.com/insights/building-your-own-public-cloud-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Kamal Ahluwalia, President, Eightfold.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 40 – New ways to build your future-ready workforce**\\
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Telcos need to hire a gazillion people with cloud skills. How can CSPs cultivate the talented teams they need? Good news – there are new workforce management strategies and AI tools that can help.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
[![Ready, set, cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ready, set, cloud: How to prepare your people for a move to the cloud**\\
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Let’s take a look at staff, and the role they play in the massive organizational change to get ready and set in the cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-factor-cloud-migration-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Moving to the Cloud
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-start-your-move-to-the-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# How to start your move to the cloud
January 18, 2022
## 2021 was the year of the public cloud in telco.
- [DISH went all-in](https://telcodr.com/insights/dish-with-aws-vs-11-with-rakuten-blog/).
- AT&T [sold its Network Cloud platform technology](https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_microsoft_azure.html) to Microsoft.
- Vodafone and Google Cloud Platform are [partnering on a global data and analytics platform](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vodafone-and-google-cloud-to-develop-industry-first-global-data-platform-301281936.html).
- Aussie telco [Telstra is committed](https://www.afr.com/technology/telstra-s-big-plan-to-end-call-centre-hell-20210924-p58uh5) to having 90% of its applications running in the cloud by 2025.
- Even the world’s oldest telecom, British multinational BT Group, is [headed for the cloud](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/digital-platforms-services/public-cloud-to-play-a-major-role-in-future-bt-says-chief-digital-officer-42735/).
So, what’s next? I’ve convinced a lot of telco execs that they should move to the public cloud. Now, I’m having the next conversation with many of them: how do we start? My answer might shock you. It starts with human resources.
## It’s about changing the culture
When we talk about tech and we talk about change, we hardly ever talk about the thing that makes it all possible: the people inside your company. I spent a decade working in human resources (HR) and one of the biggest lessons I learned is that making lasting, effective organizational change often requires an intentional change to your culture.
Changing a company’s culture is hard work. It means you’re changing the implicit contract and expectations about what the company is about and what the work consists of. A change like a move to the public cloud threatens to upset those expectations. If you don’t intentionally prepare your workforce for a change, then expect rough waters through any type of transformation.
## Why transformations fail
The biggest mistake organizations make is in the way they communicate the change. Leaders generally do a good job of explaining why change is **good for the company**. They often don’t do a good job of explaining why change is **good for the** _**people**_ **in the company**.
Employees fight change because they don’t know if the effort required is going to be worth it to them, personally. This manifests itself with indirect excuses about all the things that will go wrong with a move to the public cloud. For example, maybe they tell you how it won’t work. It’s too expensive. The laws won’t allow it. You don’t have the right talent with the right skills. Perhaps your managers are pushing back because a move to the cloud means you likely won’t need as many people as you currently have, and nobody wants to be the bad guy and exit employees. Maybe they’ll resist hiring people and restaffing – it’s so much work! Recognize what’s really going on: people are resisting the change because they don’t know or don’t understand what’s in it for them. So make it clear.
## Cascade your message through the org
To make a big change like adopting the public cloud and going all-in, you have to get buy-in at every level. Start with your executive team, but don’t stop there. You have to reach everybody, cascading all the way through the org chart and all the way to the entry-level individual contributors. For the average telco, we’re talking about hundreds and thousands of people. That’s a lot of mind changing. You’re going to need to repeat it until you are blue in the face, then repeat it again.
Make it clear why doing things differently will be good for their career, skillset, and pocketbook. How is it going to make their lives better? Until people know the benefits and believe in them, they’ll continue to fight it.
## Lead courageously
When you move to the public cloud, you’re going to change how people get work done and how they make technical decisions. Instead of building things in-house, they’re going to use someone else’s solution. The new influx of talent will change the vibe of the company. The pace of the company will change too, as the public cloud accelerates your capabilities. All of these things will change your culture, whether you like it or not. So create a plan.
This is pretty fundamental stuff. Safety is the second level of [Maslow’s pyramid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs), just above the physiological level of food and water. To illustrate the idea, we had a little fun riffing on Maslow to make the “Why I Work Here” pyramid above.
To get people on board, help them see all the positives in the levels of the pyramid. For example, take that paycheck in level one: People with AWS, Google Cloud or Azure skills who don’t already work for those tech giants see a 20-30% increase in pay when they gain cloud experience. If your engineers help with the transition, they’ll build a very marketable skill set. And it works both ways – the hyperscalers are looking for people with telco expertise, too.
Another example at levels four and five: It’s more fulfilling to work on the latest and greatest technology. Engineers rightly see on-premise solutions as old, boring stuff from the ‘90s. For the best and brightest, learning new skills and working on the cutting edge is personally fulfilling. (Inside tip: I hear from telco industry people all the time who want to work for me because I’m working with the “cool tech.”)
Moving to the cloud will change your business and your culture. To be successful, the transformation has to be intentional. You must think through how people’s daily lives will be affected and change. It can’t be a side effect. It can’t be an afterthought. You have to drive it to make it happen.
**How do you start convincing people that the change is right?**
Leadership guru and SVP of human resources Jim Abolt puts “What’s in it for me?” in the number two position in his five-step framework for change, which I share in detail in my blogs [Go Get ‘em (Part One)](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/) and [Go Get ‘em (Part Two)](https://telcodr.com/insights/go-get-em-hr-framework-part-two-blog/). Follow Jim’s [framework for change](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/). (Hear more of his philosophy in my podcasts episodes [one](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/) and [seven](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/).) Or [read this paper](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/), which lays out how to trigger your transformation. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. We can help!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Go get 'em.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The HR transformation framework I swear by**\\
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Follow this framework for moving to the public cloud to have the best shot at driving a successful transformation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/)
[![Change](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The Go Get ‘em HR Transformation Framework (Part Two)**\\
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More big reveals from the 5 step framework for making your cloud vision a reality – this is how you can make it happen.](https://telcodr.com/insights/go-get-em-hr-framework-part-two-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 1 – It starts with…transformational leadership**\\
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Telco needs disruptive leaders with the courage to drive change. Find out what sets these trailblazers apart and why it takes big changes to big things to succeed.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Troy O’Brien, Cloud Evangelist & Global AWS Practice Leader, DXC Technologies.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 536"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 7 – The HR Series: Telcos, get ready for workforce transformation**\\
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The HR Series, Part 1: If telecoms are going to survive the inevitable move to the public cloud, they need to start focusing on people – retraining, hiring, and yes, letting some workers go.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Kamal Ahluwalia, President, Eightfold.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 40 – New ways to build your future-ready workforce**\\
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Telcos need to hire a gazillion people with cloud skills. How can CSPs cultivate the talented teams they need? Good news – there are new workforce management strategies and AI tools that can help.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
[![Time to go to the public cloud! The essential steps for cloud success.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Time to go to the public cloud!**\\
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In this paper, I talk about the power of the public cloud for telcos and lay out the four clear steps you need to take to trigger your transformation. As you’ll discover, it’s not about transition…](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/)
[![Ready, set, cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ready, set, cloud: How to prepare your people for a move to the cloud**\\
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Let’s take a look at staff, and the role they play in the massive organizational change to get ready and set in the cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-factor-cloud-migration-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Public Cloud in Africa
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/public-cloud-in-africa-blog/#main)
Blog
# The public cloud is PERFECT for Africa
April 9, 2024
The hyperscaler investment into Africa has changed dramatically over the last six years, and as a result, tech leaders in Africa have started to move their workloads to the public cloud. African telcos should take note, and start moving their workloads to the public cloud, too. The public cloud is PERFECT for African operators for two reasons: total cost of ownership (TCO) savings and access to world-class software. With billions of dollars of data center investment by the Big 3 clouds, regulations shifting to accommodate use of the public cloud, and big telco groups signing big deals, it’s time for the rest of the continent to take notice.
### **Telcos are signing up**
One of the first ways you see public cloud adoption shifting in any region is the announcement of partnerships with the large telcos. We saw this happen in western Europe and North America, and then in Asia. It’s starting to happen in Africa, too. For example:
- After consolidating its data worldwide with Google Cloud, Vodafone has signed a [$1.5 billion, 10-year strategic partnership with Microsoft Azure](https://www.vodafone.com/news/corporate-and-financial/vodafone-microsoft-sign-10-year-strategic-partnership-generative-ai-digital-services-cloud) to help the company offer digital services to the underserved small- and medium-enterprises (SME) market, among other things. [It also signed a collaboration with Amazon’s Project Kuiper](https://www.vodafone.com/news/technology/vodafone-and-amazons-project-kuiper-extend-connectivity-africa-and-europe), a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications initiative, aims to extend the reach of its services to more customers, and is [partnering with both Microsoft and Google Cloud on generative AI (GenAI) initiatives](https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/google-and-microsoft-loom-large-in-vodafone-s-gen-ai-plans).
- [MTN signed a five-year strategic partnership deal with Microsoft](https://www.mtn.com/mtn-and-microsoft-accelerate-africas-digital-transformation-in-the-public-cloud/) to migrate its BSS and OSS to Azure. It’s also working [with Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/partners/mtn-brings-advanced-analytics-to-african-telecom) to use AI to improve customer experience.
- [Safaricom partnered with both AWS](https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/27/aws-partners-with-kenyas-safaricom-on-cloud-and-consulting-services/) and [Google](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/api-management/safaricom-harnessing-the-power-of-apis-to-transform-lives-in-africa) to bring cloud computing, AI, and OpenAPIs to the continent’s enterprises and developers.
- And my favorite, an African Tier-1 mobile network operator (MNO) signed a deal with [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) to use our Charging-as-a-Service. Together, we deployed a new charger for all its retail subscribers in just 18 days!
### **The hyperscalers are investing**
Six years ago there weren’t any regions in Africa. Now there are three regions on the continent, all in South Africa. [Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/explore/global-infrastructure/geographies/#geographies) and [Google](https://cloud.google.com/about/locations) each have one in Johannesburg, while [AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/regions_az/) has one in Cape Town. Each region represents roughly $3 billion dollars of investment, given that they are built with multiple availability zones situated hundreds of kilometers apart.
AWS has also built Local Zones in Nigeria and Kenya, which are basically mini versions of regions. They use them as a way to test a new market for a full-scale region as they monitor adoption and usage in the country (so Nigeria and Kenya, take note!). Local Zones bring compute, storage, and a select set of services to a physical location. This allows for lower latency and better performance for applications that work better in closer proximity to end-users or on-prem infrastructure, and helps meet any data sovereignty requirements. For telcos, it’s a great way to start to learn how to use the public cloud technology and begin the shift of workloads to this new paradigm.
### **Keep an eye on the regulations**
One of the first objections execs give me about the public cloud is, “I can’t, because of my country’s regulations.” But you’d be surprised how many countries DO allow use of the public cloud, even if there’s not a hyperscaler region located in that country. For quick-and-dirty research, the Telco _DR_ team likes to use the [OneTrust DataGuidance™ tool](https://www.dataguidance.com/), which gives a great, up-to-date summary of telco regulations and data requirements by country. And you need to keep up with it, because regulations can change on a dime, like they did in Ecuador, when, [after a massive data breach by Ecuadorean IT consulting firm Novaestrat](https://apnews.com/general-news-cd62f4c673c34b0d848b1c56d32e4f1f), the regulators flipped and mandated the use of the public cloud, as it is more secure.
Here are some common patterns to data regulations we find when researching countries:
- It’s allowed: you are free to use the public cloud!;
- It’s allowed, as long as you have a short list of “friendly” countries;
- It’s allowed, if you can prove that the hyperscalers’ data storage is as secure or more secure than your approach (easy to do!); and
- It’s allowed, but needs regulator approval.
Don’t forget that the hyperscalers themselves are a _great_ resource. They want your business, and want to help you use their services. They even have resources on staff that work with governments (like the recent telco hire by Google for EMEA). For more information, examples, and helpful links [read this Telco _DR_ white paper](https://telcodr.com/insights/data-regulations-pave-way-for-telcos-whitepaper-download/) on meeting data sovereignty regulations.
### **Use the public cloud, it’s 80% cheaper**
The public cloud can provide everything telcos need to serve millions at a low price point. How? It offers pay-as-you-grow hardware and services, with no massive upfront costs to get started. It’s cheaper to run, too. The public cloud puts powerful, cutting-edge computing resources and storage, the best hardware, and the best chips at your disposal. The infrastructure is managed for you, so no need for extra IT personnel or the headache of maintenance.
This is a massive win for Africa, where electricity costs are high and average revenue per user (ARPU) is low. Plus, getting hardware through customs and to its final destination can take months. With the public cloud, there’s no physical assets to ship. Just connect to the nearest point of presence, and _voila_, you have access to the latest and greatest tech. I love to see the look on execs’ faces when it dawns on them what access like that can do for their business.
For example: let’s look at what happens when you deploy a software-as-a-service (SaaS) charger. For large-scale deployments with Totogi we typically see an 80% lower TCO compared to on-prem systems. That’s because we don’t install one customer at a time, on premise, where you have to guess your capacity needs and pre-purchase all that unused hardware. Our solution is fully public cloud native, deployed in AWS as a SaaS platform. You don’t need to estimate and buy for peak capacity, and you don’t need a disaster recovery system, either. Totogi saves you boatloads on unused compute, yet can scale up to handle any surge in usage in seconds—all thanks to the public cloud.
So the next time your Ericsson sales rep visits you to force an upgrade to the next version of their charger, ask them if their charger’s TCO is going down by 80%. I’ll bet the answer is, “no way, Jose.”
### **Use the public cloud for the software**
Getting access to the latest and greatest software—including cutting-edge AI—is the biggest reason the public cloud is PERFECT for Africa. African telcos already know how the big software vendors don’t want to sell in Africa due to the low ARPU and the difficulty of doing business. They don’t want to ruin their margins, so they send in their low-end partners and skip Africa all together. And who suffers? The telcos. They don’t get access to the software they need to provide cutting edge services.
But with the public cloud, kickass SaaS companies like [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) can serve African telcos as easily as they can serve any other location, and at an affordable price. The more customers we put on our platforms, the more we amplify our economies of scale. We can support the entire continent, every telco, and the billion-plus people they serve across all 54 countries. And we can do it on one platform because we’re multi-tenant. Plus, we work with all generations of networks, from 2G to 5G. Imagine the additional revenue African telcos can drive by applying AI to a 2G, “pre-data-heavy” network. The opportunities are endless!
So, let’s get African telcos on the public cloud! The hyperscalers are there. Regulations won’t hold you back. We’re looking at a huge opportunity to overcome infrastructure deficits, enable widespread access to digital services, and accelerate economic development. By leveraging the scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of public-cloud solutions, African countries can unlock new avenues for innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive growth.
Want to talk about this some more? Come meet with me in Diani Beach, Kenya at the [NOVACOM Africa Digital Transformation Strategy Summit](https://novacomsummits.com/events/kenya/) in two weeks! Let’s do this, Africa!
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**A digital telco: Meet Yaqoot**
Juha was instrumental in Zain Group’s launch of Yaqoot, a digital mobile operator in the Middle East. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a bonafide, digital-transformation success story.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-18-digital-telco-meet-yaqoot/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Keynote: The public cloud is PERFECT for India**
India is home to more than a billion subscribers, while also having some of the lowest ARPU on the planet. This means mobile operators there not only need carrier-grade software products, they need to get them for a low, low price.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXRbTfksdEI)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Cloud burst for disaster recovery**
Telcos can slash disaster recovery costs by 90% and eliminate the headaches of maintaining an on-prem system. Here’s how.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-burst-disaster-recovery/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Stop Customizing Software
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/stop-customizing-your-software-telcos-blog/#main)
Blog
# Stop customizing your software, telcos.
October 6, 2020
The telco move to the cloud is set to transform our industry, and the momentum is building. Acquisitions teams are sniffing around the software providers, one example being the [purchase by Amdocs of Irish software company Openet](https://www.rcrwireless.com/20200728/bssoss/amdocs-pays-180-million-for-bss-specialist-openet), a digital BSS company that provides charging, policy and data management solutions. “The Openet solutions complement our portfolio and this acquisition is part of our mission to accelerate this industry’s move to the cloud,” stated the Amdocs CEO.
I wrote about the crappy valuations software companies in telco get in an article for [Light Reading](https://www.lightreading.com/ossbss/why-do-telco-software-companies-have-such-lame-valuation-multiples/a/d-id/763331). I got a lot of “Amen, sister!” from other vendors, echoing the frustration they have experienced in this industry. I guess I touched on a nerve when I said something that everyone thinks, but no one talks about – at least not publicly. So let’s talk about it some more.
I’m talking about what a slippery slope customizations are to a software company, and by extension, to its customers. At most software companies, customization revenue is buried somewhere in the professional services revenue line. The margin is typically low when compared to software margins – it hovers around 20-30%; at well-run software companies it may get up to 50% or higher. It’s difficult to replace, since it is usually one-time revenue and not recurring, so once you deliver it, the company has to find that revenue again, typically with another customer. Since you’re always looking for replacement revenue, coupled with the fact that customers usually don’t have a super deep understanding of your product (and your people in the field don’t either), when a customer asks if the product can handle some business logic, the easy answer is to say yes – via a customization. It solves your revenue treadmill problem and you solve a problem for your customer.
It seems like it would be easy enough to do this, so what’s the big deal? I’ve run 16+ software companies and I’ve seen A LOT of different ways to handle customizations. The best way is a low code / no code approach via configurations. I scream HALLELUJAH when I get a company that handles it this way. I’ll tell you right now, very few companies do.
Another way is via an _Application Programming Interface_ (API), which requires coding but is abstracted away from the product code base. A lot of companies handle it this way. It’s not ideal but it’s not the worst way. You can deliver customizations and not impact the product, but it makes upgrades pretty difficult because not only are you upgrading the product, but you have to maintain the customizations along the way and update them too.
The absolute worst way ever, ever, ever known to man is to embed customizations in the base product. Who ever even thought this was a good idea? When you spot this approach you should run far away, because you don’t have a product, you have _N_ code bases, where _N_ equals the number of customers. It’s totally brutal. I’ve seen two or three companies like this (and a lot in telco), where they let their customers customize their installation so much that it was more expensive to upgrade them than it was for them to just swap to another product and start over. That’s a really, really bad place to be, for both company and customer.
If this was the most profitable way to bring software to the telcos, then there would be many more private equity and venture capital companies showing interest in telco software companies. However, the intensive nature of the development work required for exactly one customer at a time limits the valuation multiples of these businesses. Most service businesses are valued at two to three times revenue, not 10 times revenue, like you see at typical SaaS software companies.
So why do software companies continue to accept customizations to their products? Because the **CSPs DEMAND IT.** Telcos believe that in order to provide a differentiated service to their subscribers, they must be able to customize their software. Most customizations have been done in the name of providing an omni-channel, consistent, and excellent customer experience. But in fact, it’s done the opposite: the systems are old, clunky, slow to improve and difficult to upgrade. Most software upgrade cycles are 3-5 years apart, not every month or every quarter like in other industries.
So here’s my controversial take: telcos should aim for less _customization_ (changes that require coding) and more _configuration_ (changes that do not require coding). Working from a widely used product base means that the time to market becomes more cost effective and faster. It has fewer bugs, it’s faster to upgrade, and it has lower cost of operations and maintenance because more people are using it and testing it in lots of different ways. By minimizing the potential failure points you mitigate operational risk. But in order to achieve this state, it means telcos would have to give up all their beloved customizations.
But they can’t. At least, not yet. That’s because the software products offered on the market presently are not good enough: they need to be **10x better than they are today**. Most of the current offerings do not have a strong enough user interface to implement the business changes required as a configuration. Therefore, the software vendors need to step up and develop it, to allow for configuration. But that’s going to be hard to do, too. Professional services revenue is pretty lucrative and all the vendors are addicted to it. Just ask Amdocs if it’s ready to give up its consulting revenue. My guess is the answer will be a simple “no way, Jose.” Even if it did, it’s going to take A LOT of money to pivot all this software to this state. It is possible, but it’s going to take some time and a bunch of investment.
Which brings me to what I’m trying to do in telco – convince everyone to move their software to the public cloud. It’s scalable, reliable, redundant; you get off the treadmill of buying and managing infrastructure; and you completely eliminate capacity and disaster recovery planning. The software that’s available only in the public cloud is extensible, reusable, and better than what you have today, built by the world’s most advanced technologists.
But beware, vendors: don’t move your customers to the public cloud AND try to keep everyone’s customizations, otherwise you’re going to end up not with multi-tenant software-as-a-service with all the wonderful economies of scale – you’ll end up with HOSTED CUSTOMIZED CUSTOMERS. If this is your plan, you might as well stay on bare metal. It’s going to be way easier and way cheaper.
So that’s my pitch: get rid of your customizations, move to multi-tenant SaaS software, put your business logic into configurations and be able to turn on new functionality and services at the speed of light. But if you insist that you need to hold onto your customizations (and customization revenue), be prepared to be left in the dark ages, seeing the sun only every 3-5 years and being left in your competitor’s dust.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Customizations suck](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Customizations suck**\\
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A few months ago I wrote an article for Light Reading called, Why do telco software companies have such lame valuation multiples? I made a few key points that are worth checking out.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-software-customizations-suck-blog/)
[![DISH network APIs](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Coding with connectivity: Using the new DISH network APIs**\\
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DISH Wireless has a new open network API platform that anyone can use to add connectivity to anything with unfettered access.](https://telcodr.com/insights/coding-with-connectivity-using-the-new-dish-network-apis-blog/)
[![EP 24 – What’s up with Totogi?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**EP 24 – What’s up with Totogi?**\\
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Here's the latest on Totogi, the telco software darling built specifically for the public cloud – 80% lower TCO, anyone?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-24-whats-up-with-totogi/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Public Cloud Outages
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/public-cloud-outages-your-problem-blog/#main)
Blog
# Public cloud outages are \*your\* problem
August 29, 2022
Every time I see news of a public cloud outage a little part of me groans on the inside because it means a slew of news articles will be written about how you can’t trust telco workloads to the public cloud.
For example\*:
- “ [After Google outage, telcos should think twice about public cloud](https://www.lightreading.com/security/after-google-outage-telcos-should-think-twice-about-public-cloud/a/d-id/766132),” from Iain Morris of _Light Reading_ about a 45-minute outage;
- “ [The public cloud wilts in the UK heatwave](https://www.telecoms.com/516554/the-public-cloud-wilts-in-the-uk-heatwave/),” from Scott Bicheno of _Telecoms.com_ about Google and Oracle outages that lasted a few hours;
- “ [Can mobile cloud operators really trust the cloud?](https://www.fierce-network.com/5g/mareks-take-can-mobile-operators-really-trust-cloud)” from Sue Marek of _FierceWireless_ about how Amazon Web Service’s five-hour outage on December 7, 2021, should give telcos pause; and
- “ [AWS Outage Stresses Telco Cloud Challenges](https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/aws-outage-stresses-telco-cloud-challenges/2021/12/),” from Matt Kapko at _SDxCentral_, which confidently states “telecom networks can’t yet, and may never be able to, fully rely on cloud infrastructure for critical services and workloads.”
Reading through articles like this, I invariably find myself shaking my head at the lack of understanding about the public cloud. While the authors like to write about “the public cloud” being “down,” they fail to make the key distinction that it’s not the \*entire\* public cloud (or even all of the services) suffering from loss of service. Readers need to understand that during “public cloud outages” other [public cloud regions](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lsrP2BL7MgBfqEX4pCK5IU3Z0zIIAdRQW6y3MaeAOGI/edit?usp=sharing) are still up and running like nothing’s happened. So it’s time to set the record straight about outages in the public cloud.
## The bad old days
In the early days of the public cloud (I’m talking 2006–2012), there were significant outages, affecting the services of global companies like [Netflix](https://www.reuters.com/article/net-us-companies-netflix/netflix-blames-amazon-for-christmas-eve-outage-idUSBRE8BO06H20121226) and [Apple](https://www.wired.com/2008/07/apple-opens-up/). Remember [the 2011 Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) outage](https://www.informationweek.com/it-infrastructure/amazon-ec2-outage-hobbles-websites)? Or the day that [Google Talk, Twitter, and Azure all went down at once](https://www.informationweek.com/software-services/google-talk-twitter-azure-outages-bad-cloud-day)? Back then, I would have agreed that the public cloud wasn’t ready for telco workloads. But since then, the public cloud is ready for carrier-grade workloads. So, what’s changed?
In short: the hyperscalers. They have been working hard and spending BIG BUCKS to improve the **resiliency options** they offer to customers. Because they serve a huge variety of customers with a wide variety of workload needs, they allow each customer to configure resiliency according to their workload’s needs. Which means resiliency is now YOUR problem.
## Shared responsibility model for resiliency
The hyperscalers employ what they call a _shared responsibility for resiliency_. For example, [AWS commits](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/disaster-recovery-workloads-on-aws/shared-responsibility-model-for-resiliency.html) to the resiliency of its infrastructure—the hardware, software, networking, and facilities that run the services—and it makes commercially reasonable efforts to ensure these services meet or exceed its contractual service level agreements (SLAs). But everything else becomes the responsibility of the _customer_. For example, a service such as Amazon EC2 requires the _customer_ to perform all of the necessary resiliency configuration and management tasks. _Customers_ are responsible for managing resiliency of their data including backup, versioning, and replication strategies—not AWS. [Azure](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/reliability/overview) has a similar approach, as does [Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework/security/shared-responsibility-shared-fate).
Net net: _you_ are in control of your resiliency strategy. You decide if your workloads need to run across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) in a single region as part of a high availability strategy, or not. You can design a multi-AZ architecture if you need to protect workloads from issues like power outages, lightning strikes, tornadoes, earthquakes, or other disasters. Depending on the workload criticality, you can use more of the resiliency options, or less. The benefit of this approach is that you have all of this built-in and ready to use at a moment’s notice as a service of the public cloud. Use more options and your workload will be more resilient, but you’ll spend more. On the other hand, if you don’t need it, you don’t pay for it. As they say—Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).
## Your DR strategy
Figuring out your approach to each workload will be key to your move and your costs in the cloud:
- The most cost-effective and simplest way to run your workloads is in one availability zone in one region, but this approach leaves you the most exposed. This is a good tactic for when you are experimenting with the public cloud or with non-critical workloads that can tolerate some downtime.
- You’ll pay more to run on multiple availability zones in a single region; but it will give you good protection and it is a great approach for most workloads. With [AZs separated by up to 100 kilometers](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/regions_az/) (60 miles), this path is decently resilient ,making it a great middle ground.
- It’s more expensive (as well as operationally complex) to run workloads in multiple regions with the same hyperscaler, so do that only when absolutely necessary for mission critical systems that really can’t be down for more than a few minutes.
- Lastly, some people suggest going multi-region across multiple hyperscalers (say, both AWS and Azure for the same workload). I say no. This approach requires your team to learn two different hyperscalers, making it incredibly operationally complex and super duper expensive to do, plus it doesn’t give you that much more coverage assurance than the previous approach. Not worth it. I’d do the previous approach first, and if you get that right, then try this approach if you must.
**_Table 1: Cost vs. Difficulty of DR Strategies_**
| | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Disaster Recovery (DR) Strategy** | **Cost** | **Difficulty level** |
| One availability zone, one region | 💰 | 🍰 |
| Multiple availability zones, one region | 💰💰 | 🛠️ |
| Multiple regions | 💰💰💰💰 | 🛠️ 🛠️ |
| Multiple hyperscalers | 🏦 | 😩 |
## Don’t blame the cloud vendors
The ability to avoid outages is available to public cloud customers. Next time you read a write up about an internet service going down that blames the public cloud provider, remind yourself what it really means is that affected customers decided to not spend money for resiliency, or had an operational snafu and didn’t set things up right. But don’t blame the cloud vendors. They’ve invested hundreds of billions of dollars building out 69 regions in 39 countries to give you the power to avoid outages.
So, if you’re putting workloads on the public cloud (as you should be), then avoiding outages is your problem. Luckily for you, public cloud technology continues to become more and more resilient and outages are becoming less significant. This shit is more than [battle tested](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/how-google-cloud-blocked-largest-layer-7-ddos-attack-at-46-million-rps), so use it to your advantage and GO CLOUD!
_\\* Where are the articles about the on-premise outages —_ [_Rogers_](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62174477) _and_ [_KDDI_](https://www.lightreading.com/asia/kddi-network-goes-down-for-two-days-after-maintenance-failure/d/d-id/778761) _— where their whole systems went down for most of a day to several days? (Service restoration varied for Rogers customers from 19 hours to several days. KDDI’s outage lasted two days.) Had those services been in the public cloud, the telcos might have been able to manage a failover to another availability zone or region in seconds. Tell me again: which approach is riskier?_
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
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Instead of making technical decisions based on where technology is today, factor in the hyperscalers' plans for the future.](https://telcodr.com/insights/bet-future-telco-technology-blog/)
[![The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud**\\
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Telcos can gain competitive advantages by using the public cloud. But you have to change the three things slowing you down.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hurdles-stopping-telco-maximizing-public-cloud-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Understanding Latency in Telco
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/look-at-latency-blog/#main)
Blog
# Let’s take a look at latency
November 2, 2020
## Stop using latency as a reason to not move to the public cloud.
Faster is better, and so when it comes to speed and telco services, it’s all about measuring latency.
So what is latency?
Put simply, it’s the measurement of delay – the time it takes for information transmitted over a network to complete the round trip. Measured in milliseconds, it is key to the user experience and critical to telcos in terms of delivering quality of service and keeping customers happy.
Latency requirements vary by application. For example, gaming needs near real-time data delivery to ensure the best user experience. Therefore, latency can be a big differentiator between a great service and unusable.
A big reason why telcos want to retain ownership of their end-to-end networks is so they are in control of service levels and by extension, the subscriber end-user experience. I get a lot of push back on moving workloads to the public cloud for this exact reason. So my question is: **if telcos were to move their workloads to the public cloud, is the latency low enough?**
The short answer: it depends. It depends on where you’re calling from and if the datacenters are nearby and, of course, how fast you need it to be.
For a telco to use a hyperscaler (like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Microsoft Azure (Azure)), it means it is moving workloads that have historically resided on premise (usually at a telco’s headquarters or an offsite, but nearby, datacenter) to a datacenter owned and managed by the hyperscaler. Obviously when the workload is nearby, the latency time is relatively low. But when you move the workload to a hyperscaler, what happens to latency? Let’s look at how you measure latency from the perspective of the telco: making a call from the core network, out to a hyperscaler to an application running in the public cloud, and back.
In order to get your network request to a hyperscaler’s datacenter you have to get your traffic to one of its **Points of Presence (PoPs)**. Once you’ve reached a PoP, you have a direct route into its datacenter (which means latency is pretty low there and back). So the first thing to figure out is – **how do you get your traffic to a hyperscaler’s PoP?**
PoPs are pretty much everywhere, as the hyperscalers have been building out their PoPs for several years – and continue to grow them. It may vary from region to region, but a quick survey based on the most recent available information shows that AWS has [220+ PoPs](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/), Google [130](https://cloud.google.com/infrastructure), and Microsoft Azure [more than 170](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/explore/global-infrastructure/global-network/).
**So, how does data get from your core network to a PoP?**
An easy analogy I like to use is “hot potato” or “cold potato” routing. The first involves traffic being routed via the public internet – no one owning it and it being moved around like a _hot potato_. Traffic remains on public networks for most of the time, entering the hyperscaler’s private network for only the ‘last mile.’ Performance and latency are dictated by the involved ISPs, and may change from one call to the next. On the way back, same thing: traffic is mostly on the public internet, back to the user. This is usually a cheaper option, but also will not be the fastest.
On the other hand, the _cold potato_ approach tries to get traffic onto the network as close to the call out as possible and then route it to a hyperscaler’s private network. Return traffic follows the same path, staying on the private network for as long as possible to minimize the number of re-routing points. This is great because the path will have deterministic latency as opposed to the hot potato approach, which may be fast one time and not fast enough the next. Cold potato is usually more expensive, but for those workloads where latency is important, it’s worth the additional cost.
All the hyperscalers have BOTH OPTIONS available. AWS was last to the table in offering its customers choice, which it started doing only in 2019. In most cases it’s a service offering that you select by the workload, so you can have some parts of your footprint with one level of service, and configure other workloads to have the other.
With that, let’s discuss the offerings.
### Azure
[Azure gives its users the option of cold or hot potato](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/updates?id=azure-routing-preference-is-now-available-in-preview). Default is routing via the Microsoft Global Network, where the traffic does not enter the public internet at all (cold potato), or via the public internet (hot potato). The former is deemed the better option, as it involves the least number of hops and therefore the best performance and lowest latency. The latter is dependent to some extent on the quality of the ISP and network provider, so there is less control over performance and quality.
### Google Cloud Platform
GCP also [gives users choice](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/networking/google-cloud-networking-in-depth-understanding-network-service-tiers). Its Standard Tier hands off traffic to the public internet early in its journey, while Premium Tier customers benefit from traffic staying on the Google backbone for most of its journey and being handed off to the public internet close to the destination user.
### AWS
By default, AWS offers a hot potato routing algorithm. Recently it has introduced its cold potato solution called [Global Accelerator](https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/), which moves user traffic off the public internet and on to Amazon’s private global network.
Whichever selection you choose, be sure to measure both. While it would seem that cold potato is always better, your mileage may vary. To use a 2018 example, GCP in Eastern Europe using the cold potato approach would be slower than the default hot potato approach if you were using its Mumbai datacenter. That’s because it didn’t have a backbone running from Eastern Europe to India. Instead your traffic would route westbound – and therefore, around the world (see page 23 in the Thousand Eyes [report](https://marketo-web.thousandeyes.com/rs/thousandeyes/images/ThousandEyes-Cloud-Performance-Benchmark-2019-2020-Edition.pdf) where they discuss this more eloquently than I do).
## How do I know if my path will be fast enough?
The best way to figure out if your location is fast enough for your workloads to move to the public cloud is to just measure it. There are a number of free tools out there to check latency. Two great tools that work on all three major hyperscalers are [CloudPingTest](https://cloudpingtest.com/) or [CloudHarmony](https://www.gartner.com/en). There are also proprietary tools you can use; [Azure](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/networking/azure-network-latency) allows users to check latency from an [IP location to Azure datacenters](https://www.azurespeed.com/Azure/Latency); between [Azure regions via its backbone network](https://www.azurespeed.com/Azure/RegionToRegionLatency); and between [Azure availability zones](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sap/workloads/high-availability-zones#network-latency-between-and-within-zones). GCP outlines the differences between different testing tools [here](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/networking/using-netperf-and-ping-to-measure-network-latency), and AWS’s [ping tool](https://ping.psa.fun/) is great to use for AWS. Note that some of these tools require you to be located at the IP address where the call out will take place, so get someone at that location to run the tests for you.
Note that not every region is fast enough for all workloads to move to the public cloud – yet (I bet Antarctica has some crappy latency pings!). But as the hyperscalers continue to expand their datacenters and their PoPs, things will continue to improve and continue to get faster. Soon, the latency excuse will be a thing of the past.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud**\\
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Telcos can gain competitive advantages by using the public cloud. But you have to change the three things slowing you down.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hurdles-stopping-telco-maximizing-public-cloud-blog/)
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[![Telco in 20 podcast. Featured guest: Neil Bunn, Head of Customer Engineering, Media & Telco, Google Cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 6 – The BFCs: Is Google Cloud Platform (GCP) right for telcos?**\\
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[![Telco in 20 Podcast. Tune in.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 5 – The BFCs: Putting Microsoft Azure to the test for telcos**\\
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Rick Lievano, Worldwide Director of Technology Strategy at Microsoft, builds a good case for why Azure should be telecom’s cloud platform of choice, not the least of which is Azure for Operators – a game changer in the quest for carrier-grade cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-5-bfcs-testing-microsoft-azure-for-telcos/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Personalizing Customer Experience
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/stop-differentiating-on-price-start-personalizing-customer-experience-blog/#main)
Blog
# Stop differentiating on price. Start personalizing the customer experience.
November 8, 2022
I love great stories about [transformational leadership](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/) in the telco space. We’re starting to hear more of them now that industry leaders are realizing how valuable a move to the public cloud can be. But my favorites are about companies that took bold steps early on, like UK mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) giffgaff.
Way back in December 2020, giffgaff [announced it was going all-in on the public cloud](https://amazonuk.gcs-web.com/node/30506/pdf), handing all of its technology infrastructure and application development to Amazon Web Services (AWS). giffgaff isn’t new to visionary thinking; it’s [been winning awards since 2010](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffgaff#Awards)—for innovation, for being the best MVNO, best telecom services provider, even best network. Since the AWS announcement, [it won Uswitch Network of the Year 2021](https://www.giffgaff.com/blog/giffgaff-wins-uswitchnetwork-of-the-year-2021/). A few months later, [it was number one in the UK](https://www.telecoms.com/509493/giffgaff-tops-uk-mobile-customer-satisfaction-survey/) in mobile customer satisfaction according to Which?, a consumer advice organization that has [continued to recommend the MVNO](https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone-providers/article/mobile-phone-provider-reviews/giffgaff-mobile-review-aDkPd2m9vJnT#recommendations-you-can-trust) ever since. It basically rocks all things telco in the UK.
When industry pundits heard about giffgaff’s AWS plans, they said it was crazy to “ [sell its soul](https://www.telecoms.com/507847/giffgaff-sells-its-soul-to-aws/)” to a third party. But was it? The move is a success story because public cloud technology is _perfect_ for MVNOs. Let me tell you why.
### MVNOs race to the bottom
When your product is based on someone else’s product—in this case, the mobile network operator’s (MNO’s) network—it’s a tough spot to be in. MVNOs are not in control of the network, and it’s not their job to improve it. That’s why many MVNOs try to differentiate on price, in what has become a race to the bottom. Competing on price turns the greatest product on earth—the network and all its glorious data—into a commodity. Everyone is offering the same basic service for a lower and lower price. It’s the _opposite_ of differentiation.
Instead, MVNOs should ditch the pricing games and stand out from the crowd by delivering excellent, personalized, subscriber experiences. It’s easier than ever to do that because there are telco tools being built with public cloud technology.
### Time for the anti-telco
The big MNOs may have huge subscriber bases—but they also have terrible net promoter scores (NPS). They own networks, but use antiquated client/server software built on last century’s technology. They are enterprises with a ton of talent—and filled with bureaucracy and processes that entrench the status quo. Why are you trying to be like them?
Instead, you need to be like an _internet_ company. Internet companies have small teams that move fast and turn on a dime. They have virtually zero infrastructure. They use the latest and greatest technology to beat established players that lumber along with old, outdated systems.
What sets apart the most successful internet companies—and attracts customers in droves—is the highly personalized experience they offer. For example:
- Uber knows exactly where I am in any city in the world, and can summon the nearest available car to pick me up and take me where I need to go;
- Spotify finds new artists for me based on other people who enjoy the same music I like;
- Similarly, Amazon is constantly recommending products based on what I’ve browsed and bought in the past, and what other people with similar shopping histories buy; and
- When I walk into an Apple store, the app knows I’m there to pick up an order and instantly notifies someone to fetch it for me.
Customers love it, and it brings them back again and again. These companies have customer loyalty numbers that are through the roof. _This_ is the experience MVNOs should be emulating!
With all the data we have—about the network, and about how subscribers use their devices and how often—there’s no reason telco can’t do it, too. And we can do it _better_. We know if subscribers are streamers, gamers, texters, or TikTokers. We know if they’re golfers, scuba-divers, or soccer moms. We know when they travel. We know where they go. This kind of data, when used right, can be used to deliver tailored, timely offers that increase satisfaction and [drive up average revenue per user (ARPU)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/).
So far, MNOs haven’t been able to do this. They’re too busy building and operating their networks. They’re still trying to figure out how to bring their legacy IT technology into the 21st century, trapped under tons of customizations and loads of technical debt.
Luckily, MVNOs don’t have these problems. It’s time to ask yourself: Why are you trying to be like a telco? Instead, use your small size, wealth of subscriber data, and freedom from bureaucracy and outdated technology to create better, more personalized experiences for your subscribers.
### Meet Totogi’s Charging as a Service
To be able to personalize experiences for subscribers, it all starts with charging and plan design. I’m the acting CEO of an exciting SaaS startup called [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where we are building a public cloud-based [business support system (BSS) enhancement platform](https://totogi.com/platform-overview/) to help you do everything I’ve been talking about, but especially to help deliver personalized experiences to your subscribers.
Totogi’s [Charging as a Service](https://totogi.com/products/charging-as-a-service/) is built on AWS, so every time AWS improves one of the services we sit on, we get a free upgrade. It’s the same with our charging platform. It’s also a service, so whenever we post an update, all of our customers get it simultaneously and instantly.
Totogi, like a lot of cloud-based business tools, has a free tier, so you can try it with zero risk. We also have a super easy plan design system and an awesome engine. But what really sets us apart is the ability to personalize. We use machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify ARPU-lifting opportunities to tailor an individual’s plan based on their individual habits—and automatically create a new plan using powerful APIs. The future of BSS has arrived. It’s personalized, and it’s a game-changer.
### Why now?
Until now, it’s been prohibitively expensive for MVNOs to get anything like this from any BSS vendor. An installation from Amdocs, Ericsson, or even a smaller player costs millions to tens of millions to install and maintain. For MVNOs with thin margins, that high price tag, plus the months required for implementation, have historically added up to an unsolvable equation.
But the public cloud, along with cloud-based tools like Totogi, changes all that. It democratizes technology, giving you world-class software at a price you can afford, with the ability to scale and pay as you grow. It also lets you experiment and bring new ideas to market fast, and you don’t need an IT team to manage it.
You don’t have to settle for less anymore. You can plug into the public cloud and modernize your offering, personalize the subscriber experience, build loyalty, and drive up ARPU. That’s how you become an internet company. That’s how you get to number one in customer satisfaction and not only crush the competition, but actually reduce your churn and grow your ARPU.
Keep your eye out for my keynote at [MVNO Nation Live](https://www.mvnonationlive.com/), where I’ll be doing a demo of Totogi and sharing even more about creating personalized subscriber experiences. See you there!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Deploying a new charger used to take a year. The Totogi Charging System takes hours.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Deploying a new charger used to take a year. The Totogi Charging System takes hours.**\\
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The Totogi Charging System is so easy to deploy that people can’t quite believe it’s true. But it's the real thing.](https://telcodr.com/insights/deploying-new-totogi-charger-in-hours-blog/)
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Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Steve McDonald, Chief Operating & Technology Officer, giffgaff.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 68 – giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS**\\
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In 2020, award-winning MVNO giffgaff went all-in on the public cloud. Chief Operating and Technology Officer Steve McDonald shares the inside story on its courageous move.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 1 – It starts with…transformational leadership**\\
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Telco needs disruptive leaders with the courage to drive change. Find out what sets these trailblazers apart and why it takes big changes to big things to succeed.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/)
[![Stop differentiating on price. Start personalizing the customer experience.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Stop differentiating on price. Start personalizing the customer experience.**\\
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MVNOs can set themselves apart by delivering exceptional, personalized subscriber experiences thanks to telco tools built with public cloud technology.](https://telcodr.com/insights/stop-differentiating-on-price-start-personalizing-customer-experience-blog/)
[![Turn your data into customer love](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Turn your data into customer love**\\
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These MNOs and MVNOs are using subscriber data, AI, ML, and the public cloud to deliver personalized experiences, proactive support, targeted offers and customer love to their subscribers.](https://telcodr.com/insights/turn-your-data-into-customer-love-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telco DSS Report Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-dss-report-blog/#main)
Blog
# 3 key takeaways from TelecomTV’s DSS report—one will surprise you
October 22, 2024
[TelecomTV’s latest survey on digital support systems](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/dss-the-evolution-of-oss-bss-report-oct-24/) (DSS) just dropped, and it’s got me fired up. The results reveal some fascinating insights into the telco industry’s mindset when it comes to the evolution of operations support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS). The final report includes some good news, some head-scratchers, and signs of MASSIVE opportunity on the horizon. I have to share my take—after all, [I’m on a mission to help telcos understand the greatness of the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-move-to-public-cloud-before-elon-musk-gets-to-mars-blog/).
### **The good: Startups are where it’s at**
The survey results show that 50% of respondents are looking to startups for DSS solutions. HOORAY! That tells me industry leaders are spotting the real transformation engines in our industry.
While incumbent vendors are stuck maintaining their dinosaur systems so they can continue to support their customers, startups are out there sparking real innovation. They’re not weighed down by legacy tech or afraid to use new tools and approaches to solve old telco problems. Take our work at [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO. We’ve brought [100% public cloud, real-time online charging](https://totogi.com/products/charging-as-a-service/) to telcos for 70% less than their incumbent solutions. (Read about our work with [Zain Sudan](https://totogi.com/case-studies/telecom-disaster-recovery-case-study/).)
Now is the time to embrace startups and set yourself up to modernize at a lower cost using software-as-a-service (SaaS) and pay-as-you-grow models. Use startups on low-risk, low-cost projects to test their tech, and put your incumbent vendors on notice that you’re open to challenging the status quo. You (and your wallet) may be pleasantly surprised.
### **Biggest disappointment: Still clinging to hybrid cloud**
Now, here’s where I’m scratching my head: 62.5% of TelecomTV survey respondents still believe hybrid cloud is the optimal platform for DSS. I get it. It seems like a safe space: some tech on premise, some in the cloud. But a half-measure like this is destined for disaster.
Hybrid cloud isn’t a strategy. It keeps you tied to tech that’s available only on both platforms, which prevents you from leveraging the full benefits of the public cloud. You can’t use the price-optimized chips, specialized databases, and cutting-edge software. I know many in the industry think a hybrid cloud approach prevents vendor lock-in, but the [hyperscalers actually make it EASIER for you to leave them than your incumbent vendors do](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/). Hybrid cloud is not cheaper, better, easier, or faster. [It’s the worst of both worlds](https://telcodr.com/insights/o2-telefonica-telco-public-cloud-blog/). If I were making this decision for you, I’d pick on-premise before I went hybrid cloud. That’s how terrible I think this approach is! Don’t do it.
### **Smaller disappointment: We think we have to wait**
Despite progress on so many fronts, telcos still seem to think we’re not ready for what’s next. Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents said they need the right skills and operational structure in place before they can upgrade their DSS. If you take this approach, you’ll never get to your destination in time, and by the time you do, the tech will have changed, especially given artificial intelligence (AI). Learn by doing. Start small, and take on more complexity as your team gains knowledge and confidence. This applies to [moving to the public](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-cloud-journey-starts-with-a-single-step-blog/) [cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-cloud-journey-starts-with-a-single-step-blog/) as well as to [bringing AI to your organization](https://telcodr.com/insights/getting-ai-right-is-hard-blog/). Just GO.
### **The real game-changer: AI**
With all the talk about AI in the last couple years, why do people not realize this is the biggest thing to happen in tech in the last 25 years? TelecomTV’s survey shows that 52% of respondents think “AI will help, but isn’t totally necessary.” What??? This couldn’t be more wrong. AI is your big opportunity to flip the script and gain a huge advantage.
While some see AI as a “nice-to-have,” those who embrace it early (i.e. NOW) for high-value impact will reap huge financial rewards down the road. How do I know? Just look at how Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are betting BIG on AI, [pouring more than $100 billion into building AI-ready data centers](https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/constellation-inks-power-supply-deal-with-microsoft-2024-09-20/). They know AI is going to be huge, and they’re investing big bucks to ensure they’re ready for it.
AI is already materially transforming customer support. It can reliably and autonomously not only handle tickets, but actually improve customer experience in every industry. Telco is no exception. It can slash costs in one of the biggest expense areas for operators, and that’s just the start. The code-generation capabilities of generative AI will turbo-boost organizations that have traditionally been constrained by their hiring capabilities or budget. I believe AI will have an even bigger technological impact than the public cloud! Just look at how [SK Telecom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjmJOf_8CPI) and [Deutsche Telekom](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peter-leukert_opticfiber-femaleattech-activity-7251512372400443393-R7Sp) have repositioned themselves to become AI-first companies. They aren’t crazy; they’re right.
The telcos that move first in their markets on AI will have a massive advantage. Don’t squander this opportunity.
### **The big picture**
I’m psyched that 92% of survey respondents recognize the need to REPLACE current OSS/BSS apps with modern solutions. The next big success story in telco will be an operator that embraces startup innovation, goes all-in on public cloud, and leverages AI to redefine the way it runs its business. It’ll build networks at a fraction of the cost, move at tech-company speed, and delight customers—returning telco’s heyday of the past.
That telco can be yours. You’re on the right track about working with startups. Now, ditch the hybrid cloud crutch and your worries about not having the right skills, and sprint towards your AI-powered future!
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**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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### Listen
**Ep 97 – The big trends in BSS with Appledore Research**
Appledore’s John Abraham discusses how vendors and operators are applying GenAI, major BSS trends, and how the cost of AI can be justified by real business outcomes.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**How AI is helping enterprise innovation**
AI is enabling an enterprise tech revolution and changing the way companies, including telcos, tackle their most important operations and business challenges.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huihZrQp-7c)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Will telco move to the public cloud before Elon Musk gets to Mars?**
I’ve been on a mission to convince telcos that moving to the public cloud is inevitable, and we’ve made real progress. Maybe we’ll even beat Elon to Mars!
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-move-to-public-cloud-before-elon-musk-gets-to-mars-blog/)
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## Telco in 20 Podcast
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/#main)
Podcast
## Listen now!
Over the next 20 years, the telco industry will radically change as we move the entire IT estate to the public cloud to use AI. Are you ready?
Telco in 20 helps telecom execs drive transformative change through the savvy use of public cloud and AI. Host Danielle Rios and high profile guests from across telecom share their vision for the industry’s future, the impact of artificial intelligence, and what telcos need to do to thrive.
☑ Created in 2020
☑ 100+ episodes
☑ Over 250,000 downloads
☑ Ranked in [top 5% of podcasts globally](https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/telco-in-20-danielle-royston-telcodr-aFxtKYINuM-/) by Listen Notes
☑ Global audience spanning 163 countries
☑ Celebrated Latina host in male-dominated industry
[Meet our host](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/#about-host)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 300"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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## Latest episodes
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Mallik Rao Telefonica Germany](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 118 – Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)**\\
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Mallik Rao from Telefónica Germany explains how the operator became the first brownfield operator to migrate its 5G core to AWS—a breakthrough the entire telco industry has been waiting for.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Dr Lester Thomas, Vodafone](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 117 – Vodafone’s new rules with open APIs, cloud-native, and AI (Lester Thomas)**\\
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Dr. Lester Thomas explains how Vodafone is leveraging TM Forum standards and building a modular, AI-ready technology foundation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Dr Ishwar Parulkar AWS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 116 – You CAN run the network on AWS’ public cloud (Ishwar Parulkar)**\\
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AWS's Ishwar Parulkar explains how telcos can now run critical network workloads on public cloud infrastructure, bridging the gap between traditional telco requirements and cloud-native solutions.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/)
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###### Access all episodes: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2021-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#podcast-0)
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## Listener favorites
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Chris Penrose NVIDIA](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 105 – NVIDIA’s vision for AI and the RAN**\\
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AI is poised to help telcos turn underutilized network capacity into a new revenue stream. NVIDIA's Chris Penrose shares how AI-RAN is helping operators unlock this potential and transform their business.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-105-nvidia-ai-ran-vision/)
[![Telco in 20 Featured Guest Jim Abolt](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 103 – How to build an AI-first organization**\\
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Most companies are getting AI transformation backwards. Here’s a practical framework for using AI to achieve breakthrough business results.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-103-how-to-build-an-ai-first-organization/)
[![Telco in 20 Brandon Pizzacalla](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 102 – 3 ways to maximize hyperscaler discounts**\\
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Telcos leave millions on the table by not using the right strategies and tools to maximize hyperscaler discount programs. CloudFix CEO Brandon Pizzacalla shares the secrets to capturing untapped savings from AWS’ EDP.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-102-ways-to-maximize-hyperscaler-discounts/)
[![Telco in 20 Neerav Kingsland Anthropic](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 101 – Anthropic’s BIG PLANS for telco**\\
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Anthropic's Neerav Kingsland shares the latest on what’s happening with AI in telco, and explains why it's critical for operators to prepare for the future today.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-101-anthropics-big-plans-for-telco/)
[![Telco in 20 100th Episode](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 100 – The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20**\\
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In this milestone episode, we take a look at telecom's journey to the public cloud over the past four years and recap the game-changing moves that have pushed the industry forward.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-100-the-special-100th-episode/)
[![Telco in 20 Guest Anna Yip Singtel](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 94 – Are you ready for Singtel?**\\
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Singtel, a leading MNO in AsiaPac, has a reputation for innovation. Anna Yip, CEO of business development and deputy CEO for Singapore, shares insights into the telco’s efforts to build new revenue, customer satisfaction, and subscriber loyalty.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-94-singtel/)
## Every Telco in 20 podcast ever!
###### Access all episodes: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2021-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/\#podcast-0)
### Listen now:
- [\\
Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/telco-in-20/id1534232642)
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Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/16DSXKM77zxWb2Ov5MX2tp)
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YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@telcoDR)
## Recognition
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## What our listeners are saying
> I have recently discovered and listened to all episodes of your podcast (and shared a few with members of my team). I especially loved the one with Juha about his work at Zain, as it’s very relevant to what we’re doing.
>
> Telco Digital Transformation Director
> I’m hearing your podcast episode, ‘The paradox of the public cloud’ and just read about your CLOUD CITY initiative at MWC. Love the clarity in your fanfare and vision for the industry.
>
> Hyperscaler Global Account Director
> As a telco exec…I really enjoy your podcast…Highly engaging!
>
> Telco Executive General Manager
> Love your TelcoDR podcast, thanks for sharing!!!
>
> Hyperscaler Global Account Director
> I’ve recently found and enjoyed Telco in 20 … not only is host Danielle Royston an accomplished telecom pro with a terrific track record, she is a woman in telecom. Even in 2023 that is still such a rarity…
>
> Technology Leader
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## Our host, Danielle Rios
Danielle Rios (who goes by DR) is the founder and CEO of TelcoDR and the acting CEO of [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), the world’s most advanced telco SaaS software company purpose-building products for the public cloud. She has over 30 years of enterprise software experience and 15+ as a CEO specializing in turnarounds.
Widely recognized as a thought leader, DR has been asked to speak on some of the biggest stages in the industry, including keynote stages at MWC ‘21, ‘22, ‘23. She has also been featured in numerous publications including Forbes, TelecomTV, Light Reading, and Fast Company.
As telecom’s leading public cloud evangelist, DR has been the driving force behind the industry’s adoption of the public cloud, most notably as the creator of CLOUD CITY at MWC Barcelona in 2021. She has raised $1 billion to fundamentally transform telco software, propelling the industry to new heights with the power of the public cloud. She resides in Austin, TX, and holds a B.S. in computer science from Stanford University.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 728 936"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## Wanna talk telco?
Our podcast focuses on the many ways telco execs can drive transformative change through the savvy use of public cloud and AI, and features insights and conversations from top C-level executives in the telco industry.
To help us evaluate your suggestion for a potential podcast guest, please fill out this form:
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## Amdocs' Future in AI
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/death-of-amdocs-blog/#main)
Blog
# The death of Amdocs
September 24, 2024
_“I predict one day Amazon will fail. Amazon will go bankrupt. If you look at large companies, their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years.” –_ [_Jeff Bezos_](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/15/bezos-tells-employees-one-day-amazon-will-fail-and-to-stay-hungry.html)
If the world’s richest man can predict the downfall of his own trillion-dollar company, is it really a stretch to predict Amdocs will fall one day, too?
You guys know all about Amdocs, the 41-year-old $5B revenue company that is the largest enterprise software provider in the telco industry. So, what will bring down Amdocs? A few weeks ago, I saw something that made me think it could be the beginning of the end.
Klarna, the innovative fintech company, made waves by [announcing it’s parting ways with Salesforce and Workday](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4144652-klarna-shuts-down-salesforce-as-service-provider-workday-to-meet-same-fate-amid-ai-initiatives). Its plan? Replace these SaaS mainstays with in-house systems powered by AI. Needless to say, this raised eyebrows from Silicon Valley to Wall Street.
Reactions have ranged from intrigued disbelief to outright skepticism. Even [Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff chimed in](https://thelettertwo.com/2024/09/14/salesforce-marc-benioff-responds-klarna-ceo-using-ai/), likely sensing the potential implications for his own company. But here’s the thing: if Klarna succeeds, it’s not just an interesting experiment. It could be the beginning of a significant shift in enterprise software.
So, let’s consider the bigger picture: Could AI be poised to disrupt the entire enterprise software market? And the question that should be on every telco exec’s mind: Is there potential for AI to replace our complex, customized business support systems (BSS) with more agile, AI-driven alternatives?
In my view? Abso-effing-lutely.
### **Klarna doubles down on AI**
For those unfamiliar, Klarna is a fintech powerhouse that’s revolutionizing e-commerce with its “buy-now-pay-later” model. But its latest move? It’s not just disrupting payments—it’s potentially upending the entire enterprise software landscape.
CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s ambitious project to replace established SaaS giants with GenAI-powered alternatives is nothing short of audacious. As a software company, Klarna should have the technical chops to pull this off. But more importantly, if it has cultivated an AI-first culture internally, it’ll have the mindset to completely reimagine these applications from the ground up.
Even if Klarna doesn’t nail it on the first try, we’re witnessing the dawn of a new era. Major Large Language Models (LLMs) are evolving at breakneck speed, and their coding capabilities improving exponentially. It’s not a question of _if_, but _when_ Klarna—or one of the myriad AI startups flush with funding—will succeed in this endeavor.
One thing’s crystal clear: it’s a perilous time to be a dinosaur software vendor. Declaring the death of Amdocs might seem bold, and as a self-proclaimed software girl, I’m not blind to the complexities of replacing entrenched enterprise software. But let’s face it—the writing’s on the wall, and it’s in AI code.
So, what does this mean for the telecom industry? If a fintech company can potentially replace CRM and HR systems, imagine the possibilities for BSS. The question telecom execs should be asking isn’t, “Could this happen?” but “How can we make this happen for us?”
Let’s break down what it will take to turn this AI-powered vision into a reality.
### **The challenges of AI-generated enterprise software**
Let’s cut through the hype and get real about AI-generated enterprise software. While it’s enticing to think of using AI to whip up your own enterprise apps instead of buying them from vendors, developing software with AI is not without challenges—at least at the moment. I should know; my company [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) is trying to do this with BSS for telecom. I’m coming at you with real experience—blood, sweat, and tears shed as our team works to overcome hurdles.
Everyone’s knee-jerk reaction to the Klarna news started with the fact you have to comply with legal, regulatory, and security concerns. That’s _actually_ the easy part. Let’s talk about all the other problems you have to solve before you get to that stage, like…
##### **These systems are complicated.**
Enterprise software like CRM and ERP systems are incredibly complex, with intricate business logic, workflows, and integrations. Teaching an AI to understand and replicate these nuances is a monumental task. In telecom, imagine the complexity of a BSS that needs to handle real-time billing for millions of customers, integrate with various network elements, and manage complex product catalogs. But since the products are usually also super bloated with features users don’t use, Klarna (and you) can skip about 90% of the features in the product and just focus on the functionality your organization needs, making the task easier.
##### **You’ll be on a roadmap of one.**
Every organization has unique processes. While AI can create highly customized code to mirror your own internal processes, you’ll be managing the product, trajectory, everything. But with Amdocs, you were _already_ on a roadmap of one with all of your expensive customizations. With AI, you don’t have to hire the technical talent to do this. AI can code and manage the product for you, but you _will_ need master AI prompters, AKA [Centaurs](https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/how-generative-ai-can-boost-highly-skilled-workers-productivity), to keep the features rolling into the “product.”
MIT’s research on “Centaurs”—the collaboration between humans and AI—shows that when used effectively, AI can boost productivity by up to 40%. In BSS development, this means having skilled workers who can guide AI within its capabilities, understanding both business requirements and AI limitations. This “Centaur” approach is crucial for navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape, and something you need to be hiring for, now.
##### **Someone (you) has to test and maintain it.**
Enterprise software requires regular testing, updates, and maintenance to prevent technical debt and keep up with the market. AI can generate code, sure. But will you be able to direct the AI to test, maintain, and update the software over time? In telecom, where regulations and technologies are constantly evolving, this ongoing maintenance is crucial. The MIT study emphasizes the importance of cognitive effort and expert judgment when working with AI. This suggests that while AI can handle much of the coding, human experts will still play a crucial role in these areas.
### **The big upside**
Those are some very big, very real challenges. But as AI capabilities continue to evolve at breakneck speed, we can expect these hurdles to become easier to overcome in the near future.
The potential rewards of AI-generated enterprise software are too significant to ignore. By streamlining features to match your organization’s specific needs, you can dramatically simplify the user experience. Plus, you’ll gain the ability to make rapid, on-demand changes to help you stay agile in a fast-moving market. But best of all: **custom AI solutions could slash costs by up to 90% compared to traditional vendors’ hefty fees for licenses, customization, upgrades, and maintenance.**
As we navigate this new frontier, the question isn’t whether AI will transform enterprise software development, but how quickly we can adapt to harness its full potential. The key will be developing a workforce of Centaurs who can effectively collaborate with AI, understanding its strengths and limitations to create truly revolutionary software solutions.
### **BSS Magic to the rescue**
So, how can you get the good stuff without getting mired in the bad? Lucky for you, I have an answer. Totogi is already working on an AI-powered solution to help operators build their own custom software. Totogi BSS Magic is our [AI-powered BSS generator](https://totogi.com/bss-magic/) that starts by modifying the BSS systems you already have, to help you begin to build your own BSS system.
At its core is what we call the (AI)PI—an AI-driven intelligent layer that harmonizes your existing BSS data. This step is critical in order to begin the climb to create a custom BSS just for you. Our vision is that business users (not technical consultants) will be able to do it unassisted. As I mentioned above—this is a tall order, but with the continual improvement of LLMs, I think it is possible. As part of our vision board, this is what we’re thinking:
- Allow business users to create entire BSS modules tailored to their specific needs, no coding required.
- Create user interfaces instantly, eliminating the need for a dedicated UX team.
- Build integrations between complex systems to support deeper insights and streamlined operations.
- Slash development time by a factor of 10, turning months of work into days.
BSS Magic will redefine the BSS landscape, leaving dinosaur vendors in the dust.
### **From vision to reality**
Like I said, it’s a vision. But let’s come back to reality for a moment. We’re not close to this vision… yet. However, we’ve continued to improve BSS Magic since our demonstrations at Mobile World Congress and TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World earlier this year. I’m happy to report we continue to make progress, and I want to share the latest capabilities telcos can use today. ( [This one’s for you, John Abraham!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/))
BSS Magic has made significant strides in three key areas:
1. Rapidly move data between different vendors’ BSS systems, reducing weeks of work to hours. We can map system-to-system (for version upgrades) or even source-to-target for swap outs.
2. Convert plain English statements of work (SOW) into actionable project plans, code snippets for consultants, and system impact summaries to accelerate project planning and execution. Our consultants love the analysis to make sure they’ve thought of the downstream effects of making a change to the BSS.
3. Create “applets” and simple applications around a BSS system to accelerate project work, bypassing costly consultants. These are things like a temporary tool, test cases, or a quick report to make sure the project resources stay focused on high-impact tasks.
These advancements significantly reduce time, cost, and complexity in BSS operations and development, and it’s just the beginning. With each new AI model release, Totogi’s Centaurs are working with the “jagged technological frontier” of AI to make BSS Magic more and more powerful each day. We’re committed to pushing the boundaries until business users can generate their own BSS.
Ready to revolutionize your BSS and take control of your telecom operations? Let’s talk about how the latest version of BSS Magic can transform your business, just like Klarna is doing for its business. Come on telco—it’s time to take back control of your BSS and shape your future in this new AI-driven world.
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 97 – The big trends in BSS with Appledore Research**
John Abraham from Appledore Research discusses how vendors and operators are applying GenAI in their business, major BSS trends, and how the cost of AI can be justified by real business outcomes.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Totogi BSS Magic unlocks the ODA potential with GenAI \| AWS Events**
BSS Magic creates an AI-enabled data structure and AI API that allows business users to generate new functionality, add fields, solve support tickets, and get insights—without expensive code changes.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDjpjD1lNqw&t=3s)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Unlock the true value of your BSS with AI**
AI is transforming telcos’ BSS data, democratizing access to deliver strategic insights, predictive analytics, operational efficiency, and more.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Innovation Beyond RFPs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/you-wont-find-innovation-in-rfp-blog/#main)
Blog
# Need innovation? You won’t find it in an RFP
July 6, 2022
Are you looking for new, innovative software for your telco? Here’s a piece of advice: don’t use an RFP to try to find it.
I sat on a panel recently at [TelecomTV’s Digital Service Provider Leaders World Forum](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/dsp-leaders-forum/) called [Capitalising on an Open Vendor Ecosystem](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/dsp-leaders-forum/capitalising-on-an-open-vendor-ecosystem-44479/) where I stated—quite bluntly (at 25:30)—that RFPs actually _prevent_ telcos from embracing innovation. Somebody jokingly asked to take my mic away afterward, which is partly how I know I’m on to something. But I’ve been advocating for this change for awhile, and even wrote a [short thread](https://x.com/TelcoDR/status/1179547832489058305) about it back in 2019, on Twitter.
### RFPs (What are they good for?)
To be fair, let me start by saying there are some situations where RFPs are actually useful. They’re great when you are trying to find a vendor that has a commodity product or service. By creating a list of requirements based on the current state of the world and forcing _N_ vendors to respond exactly the same way, you can find a vendor that meets your needs AND make sure you get the cheapest price. It’s a great way to comparison shop, if that’s what you need to do.
But stop any vendor on the street and mention that you’re putting out an RFP, and you’ll get a bunch of moaning and complaining because everyone universally agrees that RFPs SUCK. They’re often a total waste of time, and a money pit, too, especially when they are used to elicit a stalking-horse bid, or to get quotes from “one or two more vendors so we can say we got multiple bids.” (Remind me to tell you about the time I spent $1.5m on an RFP response … AND LOST.) They also encourage bad behavior from vendors because there’s incentive to claim as much functionality as possible just to make the short list—regardless of whether or not those claims are true.
And what if you’re looking for innovative, disruptive, new vendors? In this case, RFPs are a TERRIBLE way to evaluate vendors and products. New tech (like products that use the public cloud) perform poorly on RFPs that have been written assuming the state of the world (and the tech) hasn’t changed much. I read RFP after RFP where the questions assume the same old way of doing things, and the format doesn’t allow for new vendors to really highlight how they are different from incumbent vendors.
For example, in charging software RFPs, you’ll find questions about dimensioning hardware for the deployment, or how upgrades or change requests are handled—because for all of the dinosaur vendors, this is a big portion of the cost of the system and it’s a key way to evaluate them. But what about vendors like [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) (where I’m acting CEO), which is a SaaS, multi-tenant software product, that runs exclusively on the public cloud? How do you answer these questions when the business model is offered as-a-Service, where there’s no hardware to buy, and no upgrade to be done because you continuously deliver new features into a multi-tenant product? Or what about the open-RAN vendors, answering RFPs that assume an old-school RAN deployment model? These new business models and new approaches don’t do well in the old-school RFP format.
Thankfully, the world has changed. With the advent of public cloud-based SaaS software, there’s now a reason to throw away your lame, slow, boring RFPs. Instead, just give the software a try yourself. With no hardware to buy or software to install, you can sign up for a quick trial of the service, and if you don’t like it, stop using it. SaaS vendors usually offer a free trial or free tiers, allowing you to start small and see how their solution works for your organization without committing whole hog.
By using the public cloud, SaaS players have ushered in a test-drive mentality that has changed the way organizations buy software. For example, [Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/) lets you use its customer relationship management (CRM) system for free for one user forever, giving you access to most features. [Zendesk](https://www.zendesk.com/) gives you access to its customer support Zendesk Suite Professional plan for 30 days for free. In both cases, you have access to a full, in-production, live system. The work you put into setting up your instance is not lost if you decide to use the product; if you want more users or want to continue using the product, you just pay for it. On the other hand, if the product is not meeting your needs, you stop using it and stop paying for it. It’s that easy.
Modern solutions now offer free trials, free tiers, and pay-by-the-use pricing, which render the RFP obsolete. So ditch it! Instead, change your procurement mentality with these three mottos.
### 1\. Start a trial
Is there a new solution out there you think might work for you? Then ask for a trial and test it for a few weeks (usually for FREE). With this approach, if it doesn’t work, you just stop using it. No harm, no foul … and in most cases, not much money or time will be wasted, either. For example, with [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), you can be charging transactions within one day of network connection. That’s it! People are amazed it doesn’t take months and months of work and testing. And when there’s no hardware to buy or software to install, it’s super easy to figure out if it can work with your network. BOOM.
### 2\. Test the big middle
Don’t try to boil the ocean and test every single edge case you can think of, from 2G voice to network slicing. Start with the “big middle”—the main use cases that cover most of your subscribers. By starting there, you’ll figure out in a short amount of time if the solution is a potential winner. So many people start with the esoteric edge cases that cover 1% of subscribers, but if it doesn’t work for the main use case, there’s no use in testing edge cases because it probably won’t work for your organization.
### 3\. Test the boundaries
Once you know it can work for the big middle, \*then\* you should add more and more use cases to test what works, what’s easy or hard, and where the limits of the solution lie. You’ll see for yourself what’s in the product, what can be addressed with configuration (minor, non-coding changes), and what requires customization (coding change requests). Usually, this will involve talking to the vendor to get answers, but you’ll walk away from the conversation with a good idea of what it’s going to take to cover all of your requirements, both in time and money, as well as with an impression of the vendor. Since you’re hands-on with the product, you’ll have firsthand experience with it, instead of the vendor’s description of what it’s like to use the software. This is way better than trying to imagine it via a 500-page RFP response.
Here’s a great example: when the TelcoDR team was getting ready for [Mobile World Congress 2021](https://telcodr.com/insights/countdown-to-mwc-2021-blog/), we knew we needed a project management solution to help organize the planning of a 65,000 square foot (6,000 square meter) booth and all the work we needed to get done in 90 days. We didn’t put out an RFP. We just used free trials of [Asana](https://asana.com/) and [Monday.com](https://monday.com/) for a week. We ended up using Monday.com because it was easier for us to learn in a short period of time, it met our needs for the project, and it was cheaper. BOOM.
So ditch your RFPs and use the public cloud to test-drive SaaS vendors’ free trials and free tiers. I promise you, it’s a much better way to buy software in telco.
PS. Sick of your charger and want to try this new approach to buying software? [Try ours!](https://totogi.com/)
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Culture of innovation](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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It's a revenue-boosting trend for telcos to pivot to become tech companies. Before you do, here's where and how you need to raise your game…](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/)
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**Nothing’s better than the real thing: true cloud-native**\\
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Telco CTOs and CIOs, use these questions to figure out which vendors are doing cloud native right.](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/)
[![The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud**\\
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Telcos can gain competitive advantages by using the public cloud. But you have to change the three things slowing you down.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hurdles-stopping-telco-maximizing-public-cloud-blog/)
[![Video thumbnail - theCUBE INTERVIEW: Innovation at the Edge with AWS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**theCUBE Interview: Innovation at the Edge with AWS**\\
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AWS talk about the compelling 5G proposition, the rewards it can bring, and the challenges for the telecom operators who want to take full advantage of it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/innovation-at-the-edge-with-aws-video/)
[![Video thumbnail: Accelerating Automation and Innovation for Digital Service Providers](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Accelerating Automation and Innovation for Digital Service Providers**\\
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Microsoft, TM Forum and ETI Software customize the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 products to enable telco-specific application design and development and fuel new innovation and automation for network operators, internet service providers, and mobile carriers. Learn how this tailored solution for telecommunications and broadband providers delivers functionality that spans the full subscriber lifestyle….](https://telcodr.com/insights/accelerating-automation-innovation-for-digital-service-providers-video/)
[![Bet on the future](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Bet on the future: telco and technology**\\
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Instead of making technical decisions based on where technology is today, factor in the hyperscalers' plans for the future.](https://telcodr.com/insights/bet-future-telco-technology-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Public Cloud at the Edge
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/using-the-public-cloud-at-the-edge-blog/#main)
Blog
# Using the public cloud at the edge
August 17, 2021
I talk A LOT about telcos using the public cloud in IT. I think it’s an easy route to the public cloud for telcos to take their old legacy applications, right through BSS and charging, and move those applications to get a ton of TCO savings and feature velocity. But another popular approach is to use the public cloud at the edge. And I think this is a great idea, too.
All of the hyperscalers offer edge capabilities: Microsoft Azure with [Azure private MEC](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/solutions/private-multi-access-edge-compute-mec/), AWS with [Outposts](https://aws.amazon.com/outposts/), [Wavelength](https://aws.amazon.com/wavelength/) and [Local Zones](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/localzones/), and Google Cloud with [Anthos](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/anthos/anthos-for-telecom-puts-google-cloud-partners-apps-at-the-edge). We compared these offerings in a [previous blog](https://telcodr.com/insights/building-your-own-public-cloud-blog/) if you want to learn more about the differences between the services. But I want to talk about what’s going on with the public cloud and the edge. As we’ve seen over the past few months, there have been a number of high-profile announcements of telcos partnering with the hyperscalers. For example:
- [AWS announced](https://press.aboutamazon.com/2021/4/dish-and-aws-form-strategic-collaboration-to-reinvent-5g-connectivity-and-innovation) that **DISH** will be using AWS [Outposts and Local Zones](https://press.aboutamazon.com/2021/4/dish-and-aws-form-strategic-collaboration-to-reinvent-5g-connectivity-and-innovation) to build its 5G network. The first available location will be in Las Vegas, and it will begin by offering support to enterprise customers in this area. DISH is the most out there operator with its thinking on cloud. Not only is it using AWS at the edge, it’s also using AWS to host its 5G core. So it continues to be an interesting use case to benchmark and watch as it builds a new network in the US.
- **AT&T** [announced](https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_google_cloud.html) in Julythat it’s working with Google Cloud to expand its 5G and edge collaboration to better service business customers. AT&T has ALSO announced that it will be [working with Microsoft Azure](https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/att-clarifies-microsoft-cloud-spin-sees-brighter-days/2021/07/) to support 5G core traffic at the edge. So here we have a big established operator going multi-cloud with two different vendors at the edge. It will be interesting to watch which parts it uses where. As we’ve in [previous podcasts](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-4-right-size-your-public-cloud-spending/), multi-cloud is HARD. We should watch AT&T’s ability to execute on this strategy.
- **Bell Canada** [announced](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/aws-bell-canada/) that it’s using AWS Wavelength to build edge compute and storage solutions. Interestingly, Bell Canada has also entered into a [partnership with Google Cloud](https://www.googlecloudpresscorner.com/press-releases/) focused on new innovations over the next decade, “including cloud solutions for enterprise customers and consumers powered by Google edge solutions.” Like AT&T, it looks as though Bell Canada could be using two public cloud providers to build its edge infrastructure, although concrete plans of its work with Google at the edge have not been announced. Here again I’ll point out that multi-cloud is hard, so we will watch Bell Canada to see what it’s using where and its ability to reap the benefits with a two-cloud strategy.
- Finally, and most recently, [AWS announced](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/industries/verizon-and-aws-deliver-mobile-edge-computing-to-customers-in-boston-and-the-bay-area/) that it’s working with **Verizon** on three new Wavelength Zones to support edge services in Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. Through this ongoing partnership, Verizon will enable developers and businesses to build and deploy applications at the edge of Verizon’s wireless network, via AWS Wavelength. With the addition of three more cities in the U.S., AWS Wavelength is now offered in 17 cities around the world.
Clearly, there’s a lot of demand from major telcos to leverage the power of the hyperscalers at the edge. But why use the public cloud at the edge? What’s the advantage? Let’s start by looking at the alternatives if you DON’T use the public cloud.
There are two alternatives available to telcos when it comes to building their own non-public cloud edge infrastructure:
1. Go it alone and offer their own proprietary tech stack at the edge.
2. Use a private cloud provider like Oracle or IBM.
### A familiar infrastructure for enterprise customers
To start, you need to look at the edge through the eyes of the user: enterprises and consumers. For enterprises, hyperscalers offer a tech stack that they know and love, and many are already using the public cloud in other areas of their business. Their employees already know how to create apps using the public cloud, so building at the edge (using the AWS stack, for example) taps into their existing knowledge without requiring the hassle, cost, and additional hours of learning a new, proprietary approach. They can quickly build the applications they need.
While most people look at the public cloud as an INFRASTRUCTURE play, they need to look at it for what it’s towering strength is: its SERVICES. The public cloud is a plug-and-play platform that saves time and money on creating applications. AWS, for example, has more than 160 services that act like Lego building blocks for enterprise applications. This brilliant song from A Cloud Guru’s Forrest Brazeal is testimony to the breadth of services AWS offers. The other hyperscalers have a similar set of services.
The alternative approaches – using a proprietary stack or working with a fake cloud provider like Oracle – forces your enterprise customers to learn an entirely new stack, complicating the app development business and slowing time to market for new services. These customers are ALREADY picking the public cloud themselves for their internal IT. Telcos could just jump on this bandwagon. If you don’t believe me, just ask any telco’s VP of Enterprise Sales which is easier to sell: developing against the AWS/GCP/Azure tech stack, or some proprietary one? I’ll tell you right now – it’s the BFCs.
### A foundation for new consumer applications
It’s not just the enterprise that is set to be transformed by the capabilities of the telco edge. Consumer applications will also get the same makeover by bringing processing power closer to the end-user.
Consider live sports and the fan experience: By leveraging the power of 5G edge computing and partnering with a hyperscaler, a telco could identify season ticket holders, VIPs, and employees, and automatically authorize them to enter a stadium faster ( [as discussed here](https://www.verizon.com/business/solutions/5g/stadium-venue-experience/) by Verizon). No more long lines to get into events. Telcos could also transform the live viewing experience through augmented reality overlays on spectators’ devices that provide real-time statistics and player highlights for the event they’re attending. And live events are just one example – there are limitless opportunities for telcos to improve subscriber personalization and engagement.
Of course, services that support live events and other consumer uses aren’t required 24/7. A built-in benefit of the public cloud is that capacity can be scaled up and down when it’s required, so that telcos are not wasting CapEx investment on compute or storage when the service demands are intermittent. Instead, save that cash and use it on another investment area and leverage the CapEx investment the hyperscalers have done for your gain.
### Public cloud at the edge
When building the edge, the answer is clear – telcos should leverage the capabilities of the public cloud to provide a tech stack that’s easier to sell and use or to provide an improved user experience without CapEx investment. The end result is more enterprise revenue for telcos, and more innovative engagement with subscribers. How awesome would that be?
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Video thumbnail - theCUBE INTERVIEW: Innovation at the Edge with AWS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**theCUBE Interview: Innovation at the Edge with AWS**\\
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AWS talk about the compelling 5G proposition, the rewards it can bring, and the challenges for the telecom operators who want to take full advantage of it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/innovation-at-the-edge-with-aws-video/)
[![Video thumbnail - Google Cloud's Amol Phadke & Shailesh Shukla: How Telcos are Digitally Transforming & Telcos at the Edge](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Google Cloud: How Telcos are Digitally Transforming & Telcos at the Edge**\\
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Google Cloud execs discuss how telco evolved during the pandemic, the most promising solutions for telco leaders, and how Google Cloud fits into the mix.](https://telcodr.com/insights/google-cloud-how-telcos-are-digitally-transforming-at-the-edge-video/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast. Tune in.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 4 – Lift Off: Right-size your public cloud spending**\\
\\
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Find out how telcos can control public cloud spending and avoid leaving money on the table. Featuring cloud economist and snark-master Corey Quinn.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-4-right-size-your-public-cloud-spending/)
[![Think twice before building your own public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Think twice before building your own public cloud**\\
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Building a public cloud is harder than you think. Instead, look to the hyperscalers and use as much of their stuff as you possibly can.](https://telcodr.com/insights/building-your-own-public-cloud-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Double Your ARPU
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/#main)
Podcast
# Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer ❤️❤️❤️
June 1, 2021
Last week I did a kickass talk and Q&A as part of Mobile World Live Themed Week. It was all about how telcos are network people, not customer people, and how that’s holding them back. For every tech company like Netflix or Uber that’s killing it when it comes to customer care, there’s a telco making subscribers cry their way through a crappy user experience.
This has gotta stop. It’s bad for customers and bad for the bottom line. And telcos, the secret to making subscribers love you is right in front of you. Your most valuable asset, your network, could help you deliver a personalized experience that will leave them with hearts dancing in their eyes – while your business enjoys 50%+ growth in ARPU.
I believe so strongly in this vision that I’ve turned my MWL talk into a podcast episode to share it with the world. (There’s also a link to the original video version below. You should totally watch the Q&A portion because it is FREAKING HILARIOUS. I like the part where I tell MWL publisher Justin Springham that people should throw away their Amdocs shit.) Listen now to hear:
- Why striving to be better than your competitors is a lousy barometer \[4:16\];
- What tech companies are doing right when it comes to customer love \[5:27\];
- How becoming customer-centric can double your ARPU – _without_ doubling your CapEx \[6:32\]; and
- How a public cloud startup called Totogi can help \[9:11\].
Here’s a [podcast episode](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-15-totogi-the-new-ant-at-the-picnic/) we released a few months ago that introduced Totogi as “the new ant at the picnic.” Totogi is poised to help telcos leverage their network interactions to become truly customer-centric, and boost customer loyalty and revenue in the process. A few weeks from now, you’ll be able to see Totogi in action at MWC21.
Intrigued? Curious? I hope so! Listen now, and then book your flight to Barcelona so we can talk about all of this in person.
### Links and Resources
- You can find the transcript for this episode [here](https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TelcoIn20-DoubleARPU-Transcript-June2021.pdf).
- Watch the video version of my [MWL talk and Q&A](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/old_latest-stories/partner-interview-telcodr/) and definitely listen to the Q&A, it’s epically hilarious. I was in rare form that day. I’ve rewatched it 3x and keep laughing at my jokes. (Your own jokes are the funniest, as you well know!)
- Check out [my DSP Leaders World Forum talk](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/dsp-leaders-forum/technology-solution-focus-presentation-40948/) about webscale applications and Totogi
- Listen to [Telco in 20 episode 15](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-15-totogi-the-new-ant-at-the-picnic/) about Totogi – “the new ant at the picnic”
- Take a look at the [dumb Verizon ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVHTTIvYSZo) I mention at the top of this episode
- Read about [Grab’s $40B valuation](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen/2021/04/14/singapore-superapp-grab-to-go-public-with-40-billion-valuation-in-spac-deal/)
- Check out this [Twitter thread](https://x.com/lillianmli/status/1388535647187529731) from strategist Lillian Li about the secret sauce of super apps being the high frequency of user interactions per day
- Visit the [Totogi website](https://totogi.com/)
- Get ready for MWC21:
- Find out about all the [cool stuff you’ll find in CLOUD CITY](https://telcodr.com/) and book a meeting with the TelcoDR team
- Read more about the event on the [MWC Barcelona website](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/)
* * *
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The Telco in 20 podcast won a 2022 Gold Hermes Award and was recognized on Forrester’s 2021 list of the [Top 100 Channel Podcasts](https://go.forrester.com/blogs/the-100-best-channel-podcasts-of-2021/) and Feedspot’s [Top 10 Telecom Podcasts](https://podcasts.feedspot.com/telecom_podcasts/) list.
If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!
#### Podcast Credits
- Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios Royston, TelcoDR
- Executive Producer: Kristin Donelson, OneLouder Marketing
- Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
- Editor/Producer: Alisa Jenkins Wilson, Springboard Marketing
- Audio Editing: Andrew Condell
- Music: Dyami Wilson
#### Most popular podcasts
1. [Ep 108 – ☕ Wake up and smell the BSS with Ray Le Maistre from TelecomTV ☕](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-108-bss-with-telecom-tv-ray-le-maistre/)
2. [Ep 107 – 🧣Wrapping your head around Responsible AI🧣](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-107-responsible-ai/)
3. [Ep 105 – NVIDIA’s vision for AI and the RAN](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-105-nvidia-ai-ran-vision/)
4. [Ep 100 – The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-100-the-special-100th-episode/)
#### Subscribe now
- [\\
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- [\\
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YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@telcoDR)
![Telco in 20 Newsletter](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 63"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## Wanna talk public cloud?
Set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.
[Get in touch](https://telcodr.com/contact/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 863"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## More episodes from Telco in 20
[![Featured Guest - Neil McRae, Managing Director & Chief Architect, BT. Telco in 20 podcast.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 43 – Telco’s Pinball Wizard: Neil McRae**\\
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BT Chief Architect Neil McRae talks about the company's digital transformation and strategies for working with hyperscalers … and pinball, of course!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-43-telcos-pinball-wizard-neil-mcrae/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Episode 42. Amol Phadke, MD & Gm, Global Telecom Industry, Google Cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 42 – Talking Telco with Google Cloud**\\
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Amol Phadke, Google Cloud's MD & GM for the Global Telecom Industry, talks about what the hyperscaler is doing in the telco space.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-42-talking-telco-with-google-cloud/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Episode 41. Alex DeBrie, Principal, DeBrie Advisory.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 41 – Telco Religious Wars: Charging Databases**\\
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When it comes to charging, the database you use is critical. Database expert Alex DeBrie talks about the pros and cons of database options.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-41-telco-religious-wars-charging-databases/)
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## Fast Charger Deployment
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/deploying-new-totogi-charger-in-hours-blog/#main)
Blog
# Deploying a new charger used to take a year. The Totogi Charging System takes hours.
August 16, 2022
Why is it so freaking hard to deploy a charger? Historically, it’s taken anywhere from six months to more than a year. Not anymore. The [Totogi Charging System](https://totogi.com/products/charging-as-a-service/) can do it in _hours_.
We [launched Totogi a year ago at MWC ’21](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/totogi-launches-worlds-most-advanced-charging-system-and-bss/). I’m acting CEO of Totogi, and we wanted to build a charging solution that was affordable and easy to use, even for the smallest telcos operating in the most ARPU-challenged places in the world (India, island nations, small countries), all the way up to the biggest markets ( _also_ India, and the US and others). We knew the only way we could do this was to use public cloud tech; bigger, older companies had already tried all the other ways and failed to produce a solution that was both cheap AND scalable. We had to take a different approach, and thankfully, the public cloud tech was ready for us to give it a go.
We thought our biggest challenge would be proving that Totogi could scale, so we spent a couple million bucks showing that it could. We even benchmarked its game-changing performance [in this report](https://totogi.com/whitepaper/performance-benchmark-whitepaper/): the Totogi Charging System can handle one-million transactions per second, or the equivalent of the charging volume of one-billion subscribers. No other provider can match that. Here’s [Oracle’s recent benchmark paper](https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/industries/communications/cloud-scale-charging-large-scale-performance-test.pdf) and [Matrixx’s try](https://www.matrixx.com/press_release/matrixx-software-achieves-5g-performance-benchmarks-with-ibm-cloud-for-telecommunications/); other vendors haven’t provided their performance numbers. If someone wants to test us on this, we’re ready to take the Pepsi Challenge with you anytime, anyplace. Just DM me on Twitter [@TelcoDR](https://x.com/TelcoDR) or message me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/), and we’ll set it up.
But as it turns out, proving scalability hasn’t been the issue. The hardest thing has been convincing people that it’s real. When we do demos and pilots, we’re met with honest disbelief. It’s SO easy, SO cheap, SO scalable, and SUCH a massive upgrade over traditional charging systems that people can’t quite believe it’s true. They say, “it’s unbelievable.” Wait, what?
I assure you, it’s the real thing. Allow me to explain.
### The dumb old days
First, some history: Chargers from pre-Totogi (PT) times were deployed on premise. The network was running, but for the client-server charger, you had to deploy it the way software was deployed in the last century. You had to order servers, wait for them to arrive, and set them up. That took months. Then, the real work began. You had to fight with the network to get it to connect to your new charger; code up all the tariffs and plans (yes, CODING); and integrate it to a myriad of systems with a series of Change Requests (basically, expensive professional services projects). This work would take several months. Charging deployments lasting more than a year, sometimes two, was not unheard of.
If you’re a charging vendor deploying this way (which is everyone except Totogi, even if others deploy “in the cloud”), you have to do this FOR EVERY SINGLE CUSTOMER, one at a time. There are no economies of scale to take advantage of; every deployment is done customer by customer. That means each installation and upgrade is unique and singular. It requires hordes of people supporting each individual implementation; the bigger the implementation, the more people you will need. If the company produces a new whiz-bang feature that customers are excited about, the company will need to upgrade every single customer, one at a time.
This was the way we used to deliver software in the client-server days, back in the 90s—and it sucked. Sadly, it’s how telco still deploys software today, in the 2020s.
But not Totogi.
### Totogi takes hours
Why is Totogi different? Because [Totogi is more like Salesforce.com](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-totogi-new-ant-at-picnic-video/): you just request an instance on the platform. You don’t have to buy any hardware or set anything up. To use it, you just log in, connect your network, and add subscribers and your plans. The work required on your end is minimal. By using the public cloud, we have capacity, scalability, and reliability ready to go. It’s multi-tenant (like Salesforce), and even though multiple customers are sharing the same resources, their data is completely separated from each other. It allows us to offer customers a free tier, and go into the largest charging deployments in the world and slash their spend on charging by 80%.
And Totogi has been tested by the best. As part of our process to achieve AWS Partner Network (APN) status, AWS rigorously vetted the Totogi Charging System, connecting it to a core network and validating its functionality and ease of use. We passed with flying colors.
### Telcos: Time to kick Totogi’s tires
Totogi’s deployment time is fast, but that’s not all. You can easily take it for a test drive—and you should. (And skip the lame [request for proposal (RFP)](https://telcodr.com/insights/you-wont-find-innovation-in-rfp-blog/) process, which is a massive waste of time.) When something takes less than a day to set up, you can take it for a spin anytime. When you can trial something with no obligation, why not check it out for yourself?
Telecom is not used to buying things this way. Test drives, or pilots, which are defined as more than a demo, but less than a deployment, have traditionally been reserved for sales cycles that are fairly advanced to make sure the demo isn’t smoke and mirrors. Done the old way, they can be expensive and time consuming for BOTH the vendor and the telco, requiring teams of people, and taking weeks to months to complete. For example, the [private cloud charging pilot I did for Vodafone Idea](https://www.optiva.com/press-releases/vodafone-idea-goes-live-with-optiva-charging-engine-on-the-cloud) in 2019 covered 4-million subscribers in a live production environment; it took us six months to do, and at the time that seemed like a world record for speed.
To do a pilot with Totogi, all we need is access to a network connection if you’re planning to charge for network events. This is usually the hardest and most time consuming part of the set up (a few weeks, typically). Once we have access to the network we can connect to it in hours, and by the end of the day we are producing charging logs. We’ve reduced what previously took a team of people up to six months to just one person and eight hours: that’s it.
So now’s the time. [Get over to AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile?id=f4070acf-9402-4a6c-9464-0a74748972c7) and sign up! The Totogi Charging System is generally available in all 26 AWS geographical regions. It takes just a few minutes to sign up and create a test account. We’ll charge you one penny (just one cent!) and set up a trial for you. You can test anything: Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, new users, a down-market brand, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), a private enterprise network (PEN). I’m telling you: one day and BOOM, you’re up and charging.
Ready for your test drive? [Give it a try](https://totogi.com/#sign-up)!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Need innovation? You won’t find it in an RFP](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Need innovation? You won’t find it in an RFP**\\
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RFPs were great when new software installations were costly, once-per-decade efforts. Now, they’re holding you back.](https://telcodr.com/insights/you-wont-find-innovation-in-rfp-blog/)
[![Nothing’s better than the real thing](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 269"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Nothing’s better than the real thing: true cloud-native**\\
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Telco CTOs and CIOs, use these questions to figure out which vendors are doing cloud native right.](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/)
[![The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud**\\
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Telcos can gain competitive advantages by using the public cloud. But you have to change the three things slowing you down.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hurdles-stopping-telco-maximizing-public-cloud-blog/)
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## Machine Learning in Telecom
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/machine-learning-use-cases-in-telecom-blog/#main)
Blog
# We’ve just scratched the surface on machine learning in telco
February 27, 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). I’ve been tossing these terms around a lot lately, but haven’t spent much time talking about what they are and why the time is NOW for telcos to start using this technology. With all the buzz in the industry this week about how it’s so hard to come by revenue growth, it’s the single best idea I have for the industry to take back what’s ours from the internet giants. I believe telcos should use their data with AI and ML to improve experiences, reduce churn, boost customer satisfaction, and increase average revenue per user (ARPU). But in order to be successful —SPOILER ALERT!—you’re going to have to use the public cloud.
## What is machine learning?
Machine learning is what enables computer systems to learn from data, rather than being explicitly programmed. It helps computers solve problems that are too complex for an algorithm alone.
A subfield of AI, ML dates back to the 1950s, and it evolved and matured alongside advances in computing over the last 70 years. In the 1990s and 2000s, people started using it for fraud detection and spam filtering. But it was hard for ML to reach its full potential because it demands a lot of data and processing power, and running it on-premise was a beast even for organizations with business warehouses, data lakes, and analytical models. Plus, each vendor had its own data model, and pulling them together across hundreds of applications was a herculean task, and the processing and compute needs of doing analytics on-premise made it hugely expensive.
## Enter the public cloud
The advent of the public cloud changed the game. Twenty years ago, the hyperscalers pulled ML and massive computing resources together to design tools that moved their own businesses forward (think, Amazon’s retail recommendation software, and search and Ads for Google). They honed and battled tested their solutions at internet scale. That was great for their own companies, but the game was turned on its head when they made them available to all kinds of businesses, including telco, by offering them as a service on the public cloud.
ML requires three key things: tons of data, tons of computing resources, and tons of capacity. Telco definitely has the first item in spades, but the last two are best served by the public cloud. While it is possible to run ML models on premise, it’s definitely easier with public cloud resources. For example:
1. **Scalability.** Running ML models requires a lot of memory, processing power, and storage. Public cloud hyperscalers provide it all, scaling up or down on-demand to handle workloads and large data sets quickly and efficiently.
2. **Specialized hardware.** Public cloud chips, graphics processing units (GPUs), and tensor processing units (TPUs) are purpose-built for specific jobs, including ML workloads, and can speed the training of complex models.
3. **Cutting-edge tools and services.** Hyperscalers offer all kinds of ML tools and managed services for training and deploying models, as well as data prep and visualization, all built and battle-tested by the best technologists in the world.
4. **Data storage and management.** ML needs big, big data (more on that below). Public clouds offer a range of databases and storage services that can make it easier to organize, share, and access it all.
5. **Cost-efficiency.** Running ML workloads on-premise would cost a fortune in upfront hardware investments and ongoing maintenance. The public cloud’s elasticity and pay-as-you-go model not only puts ML within reach of more organizations, it also ensures less waste and more efficient use of the required infrastructure.
## Enter Totogi, bringing it all together
In general, ML algorithms work by analyzing patterns and making predictions or decisions based on those patterns. The more data the ML model has to learn from, the more accurate and robust its predictions or decisions are likely to be. Like that episode in the TV series _Silicon Valley_, a machine learning model built to determine if an item is [Not Hotdog](https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/5/14/15639784/hbo-silicon-valley-not-hotdog-app-download), it will do better once it’s seen a million hot dogs, rather than just a hundred.
Luckily, telcos are in a GREAT position here, with shit-tons of their own subscriber data. While an operator could build an ML model in the public cloud training on just its own data set, you can imagine how pulling in data sets from a DIVERSE group of telcos from around the world would make it even better, stronger, and more valuable.
This is why we’re so excited about the future at [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO. We’re building ML models for telco based on data from \*all\* our customers. No one has been able to do this before, because historically vendors have been installing software on-premise in silos, in largely inaccessible walled gardens. With Totogi’s software as a service (SaaS), multi-tenant, public cloud software, we are able to tap into an extremely large AND diverse dataset to build all sorts of ML models. So you see, we aren’t building a SaaS product \*just\* to be able to say it’s a SaaS product; there’s an actual method to our madness.
We just launched our first ML data service a few weeks ago: [Totogi Churn Prediction Service](https://totogi.com/churn-prediction-service/), which uses ML and AI to predict, in real-time, individual subscribers’ likelihood of walking out the door. The Churn Prediction Service returns a value between 0-100%, which is the probability that a subscriber is likely to churn. Using this new service gives telcos the ability to launch real-time, targeted retention campaigns to discourage subscribers from leaving. Since it’s available as an API call, and because it’s a service of the public cloud, telcos of any size can use it without buying, installing, and maintaining additional hardware and software. Call the service, get the answer, and then direct the software to take action, as appropriate. It’s super cool.
There will be more data science services we debut over the next several months. Tomorrow at MWC at the MVNO Summit, I’m going to talk about Totogi’s Auto Plan product, which not only uses Churn Prediction, but also has another ML model in development that helps identify ways to increase subscriber spend. Want to learn more? [Come to my talk](https://totogi.com/event/mvno-summit-mwc23/) tomorrow, March 1, at 4 pm CET in Hall 7, or [reach out to the Totogi team](https://totogi.com/#homepage-demo) for a demo.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Turn your data into customer love](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Turn your data into customer love**\\
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These MNOs and MVNOs are using subscriber data, AI, ML, and the public cloud to deliver personalized experiences, proactive support, targeted offers and customer love to their subscribers.](https://telcodr.com/insights/turn-your-data-into-customer-love-blog/)
[![Executive Voice: Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company talks about boosting ARPU through personalization.**\\
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Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
[![MWC 2022 keynote stage: The public cloud is now.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 768"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Keynote \\
**The Public Cloud is NOW: Watch the most exciting talk at Mobile World Congress 2022!**\\
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The public cloud is HERE, the benefits are groundbreaking, and ignoring the cloud is not an option. Find out how to turn it into a competitive advantage for your business.](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-public-cloud-is-now-keynote/)
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## Vodafone's Cloud Analytics Move
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-move-analytics-to-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# Be like Vodafone and move your analytics to the public cloud
January 25, 2021
Six hundred Hadoop servers across 11 countries, supporting 226 different revenue models. A combined total of 17PBs of data. That was Vodafone’s data analytics story back in November 2019. And it was costing them A LOT.
Our guesstimate is anywhere between $12 and $14 million per year.
At that time, Simon Harris, Vodafone’s Head of Big Data and Cloud Analytics [told an audience at Google Cloud Next](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/customers/vodafone-calls-for-digital-transformation-with-the-help-of-google-cloud) that a staggering 2,730PB of data had been transferred over its network in the past financial year. And “it’s not going to get smaller, because with 5G around the corner, it’s going to get even bigger … and bigger … and bigger.”
Vodafone’s on-premises group data platform relied on Hadoop architecture that didn’t do “bigger.” In fact, it’s questionable whether it even did “big.” The platform creaked, data was siloed or duplicated, and governance wasn’t great.
Harris has been pretty candid in this respect, admitting that pre-cloud, “our governance was probably the Hadoop console and an Excel spreadsheet. And that’s not good for 17PB of data.” That was the story in late 2019. By March this year, Vodafone will have consolidated all of its global data into a single data “ocean.” Here’s another guesstimate for you: it’ll cut its annual spend to $4 million. That’s a savings of almost 70%.
Which Google tools has Vodafone been using for its massive migration? What was it spending every year on hardware, software and data-center infrastructure? And how did it achieve those awesome cost savings?
The answer is the public cloud and the details can be found in my latest case study, [How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/), which is available to download for free today.
Moving analytics to the public cloud is one small step in the big cloud story. We’ve seen other sectors do it, even highly-regulated and traditional ones like finance.
Take the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a nonprofit authorized by the US Congress. Each day, the organization oversees up to 75 billion market events, 99% of equities trades, and 65% of options trades in the US, applying data analytics to disclose any insider trading activity. FINRA saw the benefits of shifting analytics to the public cloud by [moving to AWS to make data validation more efficient](https://www.infoworld.com/article/2256511/where-to-look-for-cost-savings-in-the-cloud.html). That’s not all: it also increased cost efficiency by a factor of two.
OK, so _some_ telcos are following Vodafone’s lead and moving analytics to the cloud. [Maxis is moving 100% of analytics on-premise workloads to GCP](https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/business/maxis-goes-all-cloud-partners-google-cloud-speed-its-data-analytics-ai-and-machine-learning) for all lines of business to improve its analytical processes and will use the project as a way to attract the best talent to its organization.
It’s worth remembering that better (public cloud-based) data analytics means better customer insight, but as Maxis and Vodafone are proving, it’s also better for your company. They’ll be the telcos who save the most $$$, know the most about their customers, grow the biggest subscriber bases, and attract the best talent.
[Read my case study](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/) to find out how Vodafone’s doing it, and why you should do the same.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Case Study \\
**How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud**\\
\\
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In November 2019, Vodafone announced they were moving their entire data analytics to Google Cloud. TelcoDR wondered: how much were they spending and how much did they save?](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
[![Case study: 1&1 vs DISH: a tale of two Open RAN networks](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Case Study \\
**1&1 vs DISH Case Study**\\
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In 2021, major announcements were made about greenfield networks being built on Open RAN technology. In this case study, we look closely at two examples.](https://telcodr.com/insights/1-and-1-vs-dish-open-ran-case-study-download/)
[![In the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud**\\
\\
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Telcos have been taking steps to move applications to the public cloud. Here are examples of telcos using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and lead in their marketplace.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Reduce Legacy Code
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/reduce-legacy-source-code-blog/#main)
Blog
# Goodbye, legacy source code
November 13, 2020
One thing people don’t talk about enough when they talk about the public cloud is how you can completely eliminate millions of lines of code. Recently, I spoke at [GSMA Thrive Americas](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-telcos-need-to-move-to-the-public-cloud-video/) where one of my ways to dramatically reduce costs by moving to the public cloud was to reduce legacy source code by 100x.
100x! How insane is that? How on earth does that happen? It happens when you **refactor software.** One big problem I see with everyone’s rush to label things “cloud-native” (🙄) is how everyone equates putting something in Kubernetes as suddenly becoming cloud-native with one simple action. Newsflash: it’s not. Let’s discuss why.
[Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/) is cloud-native. And \*I guess\* if you put an application in a Kubernetes container and run it in a cloud, public or otherwise, then yes, your application is sort of cloud-native, too. It is cheating, though. You didn’t really modify your application much to make it cloud-native. I’d bet the difference between an application like this and the same application running on bare metal is pretty minimal. Code base-wise, I bet it’s 99% the exact same code. You have to look under the hood and really understand what is going on at a technical-architecture level, at a code level, with the product to make it \*truly\* cloud native. Let’s talk about what I mean when I say cloud-native, and how it’s different than what I see most other people doing.
When I say cloud native, running on the public cloud – **I am talking about ripping out huge components of software code and replacing them with one line of code calling out to software built by the public cloud vendors**. With that simple action, what was hundreds or thousands of lines of code, just GOES AWAY. So let’s expound on that example I talked about in my [GSMA Thrive Americas](https://www.m360series.com/) talk.
True story: a few weeks ago I spoke with a software vendor with a 20-year-old product. Because it was built 20 years ago, many tools, libraries, and components that the original software team needed simply did not exist. So what happened? They wrote it themselves. (This is not uncommon.) And so over the course of 20 years of major releases, maintenance, and upgrades, the product had **grown to more than 1 million lines of source code.** To get an idea of how much code that is, check out this old-but-cool infographic, which has a good visual of how many lines of code it takes to power some well-known applications and services.
Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/millions-lines-of-code/
Now, imagine new software developers being hired into this company to support this exciting (?) but also very old 20-year-old product: they now need to get to know one-million lines of code. With each new developer working on the code, and with so many entry points, there’s ample opportunity to introduce new defects by newbie developers. Since it’s really hard to know every single line of code, developers start taking shortcuts to resolve issues as quickly as possible. You get code duplication. And so your code base starts growing, probably at least [15% with each upgrade](https://www.oreilly.com/content/why-you-need-to-know-about-code-maintainability/), and you can see what a mess this creates over time. Remember, this is just one product! For telcos with a thousand applications, a thousand codebases – this unchecked growth is a serious issue. It’s kinda like, dare I say, a PANDEMIC.
Fortunately, there’s a new way to tackle this problem. I know you’ll be shocked to hear it when I say: THE PUBLIC CLOUD.
So, back to my example. This company I’m talking about wanted to make its product available on the public cloud. It would have been super easy to dump it into a Kubernetes container, label it “cloud-native,” and declare it available on GCP and AWS. Done and dusted, one-million lines of code in K8s, running on two public clouds. Sounds great, right?
Wrong. They still had one-million lines of legacy code to maintain. Thankfully, some smart engineers looked at the software available on the public cloud and found [Firebase](https://firebase.google.com/firebase-and-gcp) from GCP. By leveraging Firebase they **eliminated 996,500 lines of code** and delivered the product in just 3,500 lines of code. That’s it. Almost a million lines of code DELETED, just like that.
This move introduced a new problem, though: what about AWS? Firebase isn’t available on AWS. Again, thankfully they did some research and found a similar solution to replace Firebase over at AWS and were able to provide the same solution for 6,000 lines of code.
Ask yourself what’s better: one-million lines of code with Kubernetes, or two different code bases – one 3,500, one 6,000 – for a total of 9,500 lines of code to support? Hopefully, you’re like me and realize removing 990,500 lines of code is a WAY BETTER IDEA. It increases the maintainability, it’s easier to learn, it offers less opportunity to introduce bugs – all around it’s a way better approach. These guys didn’t fret about vendor lock-in with GCP, or worry that they had two different codebases on two different clouds. They now support less than 1% of the original code base and that is a way better situation.
### So, how many millions of lines of code could you eliminate?
Clearly, reducing code should be a goal for your organization. How many lines of code do you think your organization and your applications are running on? But also ask yourself: how many millions of lines of code could you _eliminate_ in your organization? How much more streamlined could your products and programs be? How much could you save – in time, money, and headcount?
Code reduction is possible now because the tools are readily available: there’s been fantastic advancement in the space of business applications by the hyperscalers. BUT YOU NEED TO MOVE YOUR APPLICATIONS TO THE PUBLIC CLOUD. Telcos can use these business applications within their own applications and replace thousands/millions of lines of code with a single callout line and make their applications truly cloud native.
If telcos did this, I think they could reduce their source code by 100x. They would dramatically simplify their applications and reduce the opportunity to introduce defects with each change. It would be easier to modify and upgrade.
With simpler codebases, telcos will need less people to support it. With less people needed to manage the code bases, employees have more time to work on high impact, strategic projects that lead to higher job satisfaction and engagement. It’s a win-win.
### Refactoring is hard shit
Refactoring code is not an easy task. On the scale of difficulty when moving applications to the public cloud, it’s probably one of the most difficult moves because of all the complexity and change it introduces to an application. You’re definitely going to need a highly skilled team that knows how to do this the right way.
Replacing thousands of lines of code with hyperscaler business applications means undoing lots of work that may have taken your developers decades – and millions of dollars – to create. You would think this would be a great task suited for the original architect of the code (they know it so well!) but I will caution you on this approach. I have found that it’s practically impossible to get the original architect of a product to refactor their own code. In their mind, their creation is perfect. And asking the architect of a software solution to cut hundreds, thousands – millions! – of lines of legacy code is kind of like telling a parent their baby is ugly. It’s really hard for them to rip up and throw away their hard work. My suggestion is to create a new team that doesn’t have the emotional attachment to the code so they can objectively review it with fresh eyes and make harsh decisions to delete as much as possible.
There are some other great examples of refactoring – you could refactor databases by removing all your dependency on the legacy, expensive, on-premise databases like (AHEM) Oracle. You can be like Verizon Wireless, the second biggest wireless communications service provider in the US, and use [Google Contact Center AI](https://www.googlecloudpresscorner.com/press-releases/) to improve customer support with advanced natural language understanding, high fidelity synthetic voice to humanize the conversation, and a virtual assistant able to handle five times the number of questions in the same conversation. Or you could be like Lebara, founded in 2001 and now one of Europe’s fastest growing mobile companies. It used AWS’ machine learning tool SageMaker to detect new cases of fraud and identify further opportunities for fraud detection – [**all within just three days of adopting the solution**](https://www.purposefulgroup.com/blog/may-15th-2019)!
This is what I mean by being cloud-native. It’s all about using the software of the public cloud to refactor legacy applications with technology built by the world’s best engineers. It’s not just about using elastic compute. It’s not just about using Kubernetes. It’s about completely rethinking how you design and deliver software solutions inside a telco organization with the software of the public cloud.
It’s just sitting out there waiting for you to make the first move.
_Need help refactoring your applications?_ [_Contact me_](https://telcodr.com/contact/) _– I can help!_
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![GSMA Thrive](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Video \\
**Why Telcos Need to Move to the Public Cloud**\\
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In this 10-minute talk I delivered at GSMA Thrive North America in October, I unpack why telcos need to migrate to the public cloud – the massive savings opportunity.](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-telcos-need-to-move-to-the-public-cloud-video/)
[![Kubernetes - in the cloud?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Why do people think Kubernetes is cloud native?**\\
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After my blog on the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing, the most controversial turned out to be: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native”. So here’s an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/)
[![Nothing’s better than the real thing](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 269"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Nothing’s better than the real thing: true cloud-native**\\
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Telco CTOs and CIOs, use these questions to figure out which vendors are doing cloud native right.](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Minimizing Cloud Migration Costs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-minimize-costs-when-moving-to-the-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# The double bubble: How to minimize costs when moving to the cloud
January 11, 2021
Dear Telco CFO,
5G investments got you down? Were you promised big new revenue monetization with 5G roll outs that have yet to materialize? Are you left holding the bag on the ROIC calculations that aren’t looking too good right now?
I don’t know if I can solve all of your troubles, but I can give you four great ideas to start battling your VPs with. Here is your cheat sheet for how to save some coins and help fund the next G, which I’m sure is around the corner.
### 1\. Move all IT software applications to the public cloud – huge IT cost savings
CSPs already working on going fully public cloud will potentially reduce their IT costs by 55%, according to [Gartner](https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/6-steps-for-planning-a-cloud-strategy). Imagine being the telco that finds your competitors are saving millions of dollars, and have limitless capacity on demand, access to phenomenal resources, rapid time to market for new applications and services, and unparalleled security – and realizing that you could have been there first.
As Chris Nims from Capital One said at AWS Re:invent 2020, the public cloud “… offers nearly **infinite** computing power in real time and nearly **unlimited** storage at a cost approaching **zero**.” Start pushing your CIO/CTO to get moving on the public cloud journey.
### 2\. Reduce or eliminate all your owned data centers – 50-90% savings on data center costs
Since everything will be running in the public cloud, you can eliminate most or all of your data centers. [Capital One](https://siliconangle.com/2020/12/01/capital-one-closes-all-data-centers-to-rely-on-aws-on-demand-infrastructure-reinvent/) recently closed all of its data centers (down from 8) to move its applications to AWS. Do a quick back of the envelope calculation of the savings on real estate, electricity, hardware, maintenance, headcount and just the overall headache that goes away with the elimination of your data centers.
Want more data? Read what [Deutsche Telekom](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-azure-and-deutsche-telekom-sign-seven-year-joint-growth-agreement/) did with the reduction of 76 (!) data centers. Triple-digit million-euro savings annually. WOW.
### 3\. Reduce or eliminate all your office space – savings may vary, but could be as high as 90%
While you’re at it: kill the office.
In 2020, your organization went through a real fire drill to move everything and everyone to remote work. And guess what? Business managed to continue, teams were productive, while all of your office space was left idle (and you continue to pay rent). Don’t go back to the old way! Take this opportunity to change. Just look at [Pinterest](https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Pinterest-terminate-SF-office-lease-88-Bluxome-15525421.php), which reportedly paid $89.5m to terminate its San Francisco office lease when they figured out they no longer needed a big fancy office. Better yet: do it for the people. It’s how people want to work. According to [Slack](https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/blog/collaboration/workplace-transformation-in-the-wake-of-covid-19), only 12% of workers want to return to full-time office work, and 72% want a hybrid remote-office model moving forward.
### 4\. Experiment with OpenRAN – massive capex savings – you can’t not try to do this
[2021 is the year in which OpenRAN is](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-10-2021-forecast-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-openran/) going to take off. You know it’s a great idea when network vendors start writing blogs about how crappy it is; that’s because OpenRAN is a serious threat to their future. Pioneers like Rakuten claim operators can [reduce capex by 40%](https://www.telecoms.com/506005/rakuten-still-sailing-smoothly-on-its-disruptive-mission/) with its telco-in-a-box network. My advice to you: get out there and start experimenting! You may have setbacks along the way, but you need to start experimenting now so you can roll it out in earnest at your next earliest opportunity. Learn what the objections are to the new technology and what issues exist and start to calculate if the savings are real. Take the leap and use that money to pay for …
## The double bubble
Ah, so here’s the bad news. With all of this movement and change, you’re going to have to find some extra cash to pay for the move one way or the other. I call these costs **the double bubble.**
What is the double bubble? It’s the cost of continuing to pay for something to run in production or be used (like a data center or office space) while you transition to the new way of working.
Here are some examples:
- You’re paying data center fees and operational costs AND paying for the new public cloud services that aren’t live yet;
- You’re paying your lease payments on your office buildings AND paying for people to work from home with stipends;
- You’re paying for old school RAN AND paying to experiment with OpenRAN.
These costs are inevitable. I see too many organizations shy away from these double bubble costs because they don’t want to pay for them, can’t afford to, or it just seems wasteful. The problem with this approach is that it results in never making the transition to the new way of doing things and, therefore, never realizing the savings. You never change because you’re paralyzed in fear or penny pinching. You have to take the plunge!
With the exception of OpenRAN, I’ve personally done all of these transformations:
### 1\. Moved all IT to public cloud
At one of my former companies, a massive $15m a year was being spent on ten data centers covering 56,000 sq ft of space. With the help of [Pythian](https://www.pythian.com/), I migrated 3,500 machines to GCP in just 3-4 months, becoming more agile and reducing costs. We took IT spend from $15m to $1.5 and the project cost $650k. The project paid for itself in eight months.
### 2\. Closed data centers and moved all of IT to the public cloud
At another former company, $5m a year was being spent on five data centers. By moving to AWS and optimizing heavily, we reduced spend by 90% to $500k. The double bubble cost was ~$300k and the project paid for itself in six months. Phenomenal!
### 3\. Eliminate office space
Perhaps the biggest challenge and greatest achievement – taking 28 offices with massive overheads and reducing them to just four in only 12 months. We had a double bubble of $1m USD as we wound down the office and exited leases. The double bubble paid for itself in six months.
## Keys to our success
Yes, there was a double bubble of $2m spend, but we never would have achieved close to $20m in savings had we not embarked on these projects. The art to managing the double bubble is:
1. **Have a plan** – create project plans with set dates and hold people accountable. Have an idea of what you’re getting into and make sure people understand time is money.
2. **Move fast and break things** – perfection is the enemy of progress here. Don’t wait for the plan to be perfect, get going and get some savings and push team members to stick to their dates.
3. **Measure results**– track performance, report monthly to the organization and celebrate the savings and your progress! It builds momentum and gets everyone excited that success is imminent.
Depending on the move, you should see your double bubble costs paid back within just **6-18 months!**
The bigger the project, the bigger the savings, but also – the more things can go wrong. Your teams are going to push back: “we can’t” … “it’s too hard” … ”it won’t work.”
Your response? Yes, it is hard. But if we plan this right, it will work.
The double bubble cost is not a good reason to not do something. Create a business case, push hard, and don’t take no for an answer. It will pay for itself in time and you will be rewarded with all the savings and simplicity the new world brings.
If you need help with these projects, give us a call. We have teams that can help you with items 1 – 3. And OpenRAN? I’m sure I could find someone to provide the help you need. Just give me a call at 925-TELCO-DR.
Later, nerds!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![The double bubble is NOT double trouble](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 535"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**The double bubble: Why refactoring after migrating to the cloud is the best approach**\\
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There are two common approaches telcos use when moving workloads to the public cloud. Which one is best?](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-refactoring-after-cloud-migration-is-best-blog/)
[![Ep 10 – 2021 Forecast: cloudy with a chance of OpenRAN](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 10 – 2021 Forecast: cloudy with a chance of OpenRAN**\\
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In this special episode, we take a look at 2020’s big headlines and trends to watch in the coming year. Tune in to find out who will be in the winner’s circle at the end of 2021.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-10-2021-forecast-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-openran/)
[![In the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud**\\
\\
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Telcos have been taking steps to move applications to the public cloud. Here are examples of telcos using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and lead in their marketplace.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## AI Value in Telecom
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-application-layer-blog/#main)
Blog
# AI’s value is in the application layer
March 26, 2025
As telecom CEOs and CTOs weigh their artificial intelligence (AI) investments, a crucial question emerges: Where does AI’s real value lie—in foundation models or applications? With telecom giants like SK Telecom investing $100 million in Anthropic and the Global Telco AI Alliance forming to create industry-specific large language models (LLMs), it’s time to challenge conventional wisdom.
### **The foundation model Black Hills**
Does it feel like we’re in the middle of an AI gold rush? It should. The industry is witnessing massive investments in AI foundation models:
- [Microsoft’s](https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/cma_microsoft_openai) $13 billion stake in OpenAI
- [Amazon’s](https://www.turtlesai.com/en/pages-2481/google-and-amazon-boost-investment-in-anthropic-ov) $8 billion investment in Anthropic
- SK Telecom, Singtel, Deutsche Telekom, e&, and SoftBank forming the [Global Telco AI Alliance](https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/global-telco-ai-alliance-forms-joint-venture-to-build-telco-llms)
- [T-Mobile](https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/t-mobile-openai-100-million-ai-deal) committing $100 million to OpenAI
But here’s what many in the telecom industry haven’t fully grasped: foundation models are rapidly becoming commoditized, while the real value is accumulating elsewhere. This isn’t speculation—it’s happening right before our eyes. **Foundation models are becoming utilities, not differentiators.**
Think of foundation models like any other technology component that initially provided competitive advantage but eventually became a commodity—just like cloud computing infrastructure, which once differentiated hyperscalers but is now an expected utility. The real differentiator now lies in how you _apply_ these models to solve specific business problems.
AI is advancing so rapidly that foundation models hailed as revolutionary just a couple months ago are now becoming increasingly standardized offerings available from multiple providers. This commoditization, like most things with AI, is happening faster than anyone predicted, driven by several factors:
- **Plummeting prices:** Training and inference costs have been dropping by 10x year over year. This is a classic sign of commoditization, where competition drives down prices.
- **Ready availability:** Every week brings a new model from Anthropic, Google, Meta, OpenAI, and dozens more. AWS Bedrock alone offers access to over 100 foundational models. For an enterprise, accessing a powerful LLM is no longer an issue. Plus, there are low switching costs as applications can swap underlying models with minimal friction.
- **Similar capabilities:** The performance gap between models is disappearing. Sure, there are nuances depending on the modality you need, but the core capabilities of different LLMs are becoming increasingly similar. Most offer strong performance in tasks like code generation, mathematics, video and image comprehension and generation, audio and visual processing, and general knowledge access.
As AI foundation models become increasingly standardized and accessible, their strategic value will continue to decline. Forward-thinking telecom companies are already shifting focus to where the lasting competitive advantage will be found—in the application layer.
### **The real gold is in the application layer**
The true differentiator won’t be owning a slightly better foundation model. It’ll be offering domain-specific applications that make a huge impact on the bottom line—like increasing revenue by double-digits, providing new insights, or dramatically cutting costs.
Models can’t do that. But applications can, and do:
**Turn AI into ROI:** Applications translate AI potential into bottom-line results. While models generate text, applications generate revenue.
**Fuse domain knowledge with AI:** Your industry expertise is worthless inside a general model, but priceless inside a tailored application. This knowledge asymmetry is your competitive edge.
**Break system silos:** Applications coordinate between your business systems, creating intelligence no LLM could achieve alone. Foundation models don’t know your systems exist; applications make them work as one.
**Leverage proprietary data:** Your unique data can’t feed public models, but it can power private applications. PlanAI proves this by turning subscriber data into personalized offers that drive measurable revenue growth.
**Adapt as models commoditize:** Applications let you swap foundation models like utilities, protecting your investment as the AI landscape evolves.
This layer is where the smart money is placing its bets.
### **AI agents are just the beginning**
The value living in the application layer becomes even more evident when we look at the emergence of agentic AI. These autonomous agents won’t excel because they run on marginally better foundation models; they’ll excel through domain-specific knowledge and sophisticated application architecture.
Aaron Levie, CEO and cofounder of Box.com, [describes this emerging paradigm](https://x.com/levie/status/1882240165865025711) brilliantly:
This is exactly where the application layer creates its value—not in having a marginally better language model, but in how these applications coordinate and extract intelligence from your business data and processes.
Even Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft (which has spent the MOST money on foundation models), is now [talking about how the value will be at the app level](https://x.com/satyanadella/status/1835699037569441844). He recently noted:
The message couldn’t be clearer: **The value is not in owning the model. The value is knowing your domain and building applications that solve real problems within it.**
### **The alchemist: Totogi’s BSS Magic**
At [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), we’ve put this principle into practice. Rather than chasing after better foundation models, we’ve focused on creating applications that leverage existing models to solve real telecom problems. With [BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/products/bss-magic/), we’ve built a domain-specific ontology that allows you to build a digital twin of your telco’s processes.
Here’s how BSS Magic demonstrates the value creation at the application layer:
1. **Immediate business impact**: A major telecom provider in Singapore was struggling with an inefficient order creation process. Each order required 50+ clicks and 5-6 minutes to complete. With BSS Magic, we reduced the order creation process by 80%: from 5+ minutes to about 50 seconds. Implementation took just four weeks.
2. **Interoperability breakthroughs**: One BSS migration project (from one vendor to another) that would have taken six months with traditional methods was completed in just four days with BSS Magic. A North American Tier-1 telco wanted to switch billing systems for a small services offering. With BSS Magic, we mapped the data in mere minutes and migrated the integrations with generated AI code. The whole project took less than two weeks, saving $210,000 per year.
3. **Revenue generation**: A Tier-1 operator in EMEA with 15+ million subscribers was struggling with traditional customer value management software that delivered only 1-2% revenue uplift. We implemented PlanAI, which uses predictive and generative AI to create hyper-personalized, real-time offers for individual subscribers based on network usage patterns. The results? A 60% increase in offer acceptance, 105% increase in data usage from personalized offers, and a 10% increase in overall revenue—with 20% growth in sight. This wasn’t just tweaking a model; it was building an application that turned network data into a genuine money-making machine.
These examples aren’t about having a better LLM model—they’re about applying AI intelligently at the application layer to solve specific business problems. The underlying foundation models are interchangeable commodities; the real value comes from how we’ve applied them to telecom-specific challenges.
### **The bottom line**
The gold rush for foundation models is a distraction. The real value isn’t in owning a slightly better language model—it’s in building applications that deliver measurable business results.
While competitors sink hundreds of millions into foundation models that rapidly commoditize, telecom companies focused on application development stand to capture an additional $15-20 billion in global revenue by 2027, according to Analysys Mason. That’s not just market share—that’s market leadership.
Remember: Anyone can access a model. Few can build applications that matter.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
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* * *
### Get started
Contact [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) today to start your cloud and AI journey and achieve up to 80% lower TCO and 20% higher ARPU.
![Discover](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 73 73"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Dive deep
**Reimagine**
Check out my Telco in 20 podcast episode with Appledore Research about next generation BSS and where operators will find true business value.
[LISTEN NOW](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-109-agentic-ai-appledore/)
![Connect](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 73 73"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Engage
**Learn more**
Psst …get in touch for your super-secret free agent that we gave away at MWC25—tell them #DRSentMe.
[CONNECT](https://totogi.com/book-a-demo)
![Test Drive](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 73 73"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Explore
**The AI-driven future**
Watch all our agentic videos on our YouTube channel, including Inventory AI Agent, [Enterprise Sales Agent Flow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ccVfOQ7p94&list=PLNZgJzDxYoBoKCaspy2ucDLdlHc8KZ5Sy&index=5), and [BSS Connected Smart Mobility](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFtrcPjZFx8&list=PLNZgJzDxYoBoKCaspy2ucDLdlHc8KZ5Sy&index=4&t=5s&pp=iAQB0gcJCU8JAYcqIYzv).
[WATCH NOW](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNZgJzDxYoBoKCaspy2ucDLdlHc8KZ5Sy)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## True Cloud-Native Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/#main)
Blog
# Nothing's better than the real thing: true cloud-native
April 25, 2022
If you haven’t already watched this hilarious video I made with Ray Le Maistre over at TelecomTV, you totally should.
In it, I channel American late-night TV host Dave Letterman to share a list of the top five signs your vendor’s “cloud native” product may not be cloud native. It’s my attempt to cut through all the buzzwords and B.S. from telco vendors trying to convince their customers that they’re jiggy with all things cloud.
TELCODR FOUNDER AND CEO DANIELLE ROYSTON BELIEVES THE TERM ‘CLOUD NATIVE’ IS BANDIED ABOUT TOO FREELY AND SO HAS COME UP WITH FIVE KEY QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHEN CONFRONTED WITH A VENDOR’S CLOUD NATIVE APPLICATION.
We had a lot of fun filming it, and I hope it makes you seriously LOL! But I also wanted to go a little deeper into each item on the list to talk about why these are really great litmus tests for your vendors and good questions for telco CTOs and CIOs to ask when you need to suss out who’s really doing it right. To that end, I started with a helpful chart.
## Describe different ways to use the cloud, but with BACON
Regular readers know I love Twitter (even AFTER Elon has bought it), and that’s where I saw [this chart](https://x.com/jeffbarr/status/1505552988395298825?s=20&t=Pib-0-BLgAtobl667lGJ-A), drawn by an unknown genius and posted by Jeff Barr, the cloud evangelist for AWS (basically, he’s like me, but WAY MORE IMPORTANT).
The graphic explains the difference between on-premise, infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS) using… DELICIOUS BACON. It’s a great analogy to explain the different uses of the cloud.
**At the top, we start with the whole hog: on-premise software.**
On premise is the world that telco is used to—and is the completely do-it-yourself option. You buy (or build) and manage everything—the hardware, software, and operations of the application—yourself. That means installations, customizations, integrations, upgrades, security updates, hardware failures … everything. AKA, the HARD WAY to do things. Brutal.
**The next level is IaaS, the “raw bacon” option.**
Here, you don’t have to manage the hardware, like with on-premise, but you still need to manage everything else. Someone else is managing and paying for the hardware refreshes, but you still have to do a lot of work that _isn’t_ the primary focus of your business. Slightly better than on-premise, but not by much.
**PaaS is your cooked bacon.**
There’s a development environment and orchestration environment for the software, so it’s easier than IaaS, but you’re still doing some work. You’re abstracting some of the management of the software, but you’re still having to manage the system upgrades, customizations, and integrations. Again, a step in the right direction, but you still need to do some technical work to manage the system instead of focusing on what matters: your business.
**Last on the list is where I think telco needs to be: SaaS.**
Someone else does the hard work; you just enjoy it. There is a loss of control of upgrades and management of the applications, but on the upside, they’re someone else’s problem. These activities are now included in the cost of software. Analysys Mason recently released a [report](https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/analysys-mason-cloud-can-lower-carrier-it-costs-by-25/2022/04/) on SaaS software being able to reduce OpEx costs for telco by 25 percent; IMHO, I think it’s more.
## How can you tell if your vendor’s “cloud native” application is truly cloud native?
Now, let’s get to the fun part: the Top 5 List. Even though I was a little tongue in cheek with my list, there are some easy questions you can use to evaluate your vendor’s claim that its application is “cloud native.” I put that in quotes because the term is everywhere, yet there are definitely differences in how companies are approaching the cloud. So, I put together this little list to help you telco execs out.
### Number 5: Private cloud = on-premise
If your vendor says “private cloud is the same as public cloud,” it may not be cloud native. You know what it definitely is, though?
Lipstick on its on-prem pig! ( [Well played, Alpesh Desai](https://x.com/data_guru/status/893261132869255169).)
Private cloud is NOT the same as public cloud. With private cloud, the computing infrastructure and services are bought, maintained, and deployed over a private network by you. To be honest, it’s closer to on-prem than cloud, except that it’s MORE EXPENSIVE than on-prem. It’s also more complex to operate.
With public cloud, it’s at least IaaS, and at best, SaaS. You hand over some control and responsibility in exchange for lower costs, no maintenance, infinite scalability, and high reliability.
**Watch out for ambiguous jargon.** If your vendor says its solution “runs on all the clouds,” or that it’s “cloud agnostic,” or if the team won’t specify whether it’s public or private cloud, it may not cloud-native. Your vendor may have done something to make its old on-prem solution run on the cloud, but if it doesn’t use native components, then it’s #fakecloud. You want the real thing.
Questions to ask your vendor:
1. Which public cloud does the solution run on?
2. Is the software application the same in on-prem as in your “cloud” solution?
3. What’s the difference in cost between on-prem and the cloud solution?
Telltale signs of real, cloud-native solutions:
1. Your vendor can specify the public clouds its solution runs on (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and how it has modified the application to be cloud native.
2. There’s documented evidence the vendor has made specific investments to refactor its legacy applications to be cloud-native (press release, for example).
### Number 4: Kubernetes
If what makes your vendor’s solution “cloud native” is Kubernetes, it may not be cloud native! Kubernetes is a cloud-native container system. Just because Kubernetes is cloud-native, and your vendor’s app uses Kubernetes, it thinks it can now say its app is cloud native.
While I suppose that’s _technically_ true, it’s probably the number-one approach vendors are taking to move their application to the cloud. It’s a little bit of a cheat, though, and really just “lift and shift.” My friend [Forrest Brazeal](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/) calls that approach a ticking time bomb. And I agree.
Don’t get me wrong: Kubernetes is a great tool, and sometimes it is the right approach. Make sure you (or your vendor) are using it the right way for the right reasons. It can accelerate getting to the cloud quickly, and help you realize some quick cloud benefits without taking on the full risk and expense of rebuilding. I advise companies to use it as a first step in a more complete move to the cloud; it begins the shift of capital expenditure (CapEx) of an on-prem solution to the operational expenditure (OpEx) of the public cloud. That can be useful in the first moves to the public cloud.
Questions to ask your vendor:
1. What are the sizes of the containers you use?
2. How does the solution scale?
Telltale signs of real cloud-native solutions:
1. Architecture documents should show if and how Kubernetes factors in
2. Solution can scale elastically without human intervention or pre-determined provisioning (scale up and down)
### Number 3: Databases
If it uses an expensive, third-party database—that starts with an O!—instead of a cloud database, it may not be cloud native. You-know-who is going to be a suuuuuuper grumpy cat when I say: cloud databases are better and cheaper! Sorry-not-sorry, Larry.
Most of the apps in telco were built before the cloud. Most of them are designed to use great-but-expensive relational, SQL-based, third-party databases: SQL server, Oracle, Postgres, etc.
For those vendors that have made the investment to refactor their legacy apps for public cloud, most have ported or changed their product to use a cloud-native database from the public cloud vendor they’re running on. For example, Azure has [Cosmos](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/cosmos-db/). Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has [Spanner](https://cloud.google.com/spanner). AWS has [DynamoDB](https://aws.amazon.com/dynamodb/). Cloud databases are more robust and scalable, have built-in elasticity and failover, AND they’re cheaper.
What’s so great about public cloud databases is that there are different types for different workloads: single table, relational, graph, or even dumb storage. Each type has pros and cons depending on the problem you’re solving. If your vendor has started to use different databases for different types of problems, it might be doing it right.
It just doesn’t make any sense to run non-cloud databases in the public cloud. Licensing costs to use them in the public cloud are high, and options are limited. Just ask GCP about running an Oracle database in its cloud—it won’t let you, due to an [Oracle-Google licensing limitation](https://bluexp.netapp.com/blog/gcp-cvo-blg-oracle-on-google-cloud-challenges-and-solutions) related to the Compute Engine hypervisor.
Questions to ask your vendor:
1. Which databases do you use in your cloud-native solution?
2. If you haven’t factored out your Oracle/SQL Server, why not?
3. Do you have plans to use a public cloud database?
4. How will my cloud database costs compare to on-prem?
Telltale signs of real cloud-native solutions:
1. Roadmaps that include plans to move to cloud databases
2. Vendor offers different database types for different use cases: single table, relational, graph, storage
### Number 2: Serverless
If you ask your vendor if its solution is serverless and it sticks its head in the sand, it may not be cloud native. Don’t be an ostrich!
I know I said I was going to clarify the buzzwords, and here I am bringing a new one to you. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t important.
“Serverless” apps aren’t really serverless; what makes them serverless is that they don’t need pre-configured, pre-reserved compute instances. That means the software itself knows what it needs and decides what compute to use. No manual intervention required! Serverless computing allows you to keep costs low because you’re not reserving preconfigured instances and capacity, so your app can run as lean as possible until it’s necessary to scale up. These apps are truly dynamic, and as a result, oftentimes cheaper to run.
Not every system can or should be serverless, but it can be more cost effective and faster. Here’s a true story: For our charging system at [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) (where I’m acting CEO), we first built the system using Kubernetes, and then switched to serverless because it was faster (K8s was operationally expensive, and speed matters a lot in charging).
Your vendor should definitely know what this is, but most won’t. It’s a tough question for a telco to ask a vendor because it’s a hard thing for them to fake.
Questions to ask your vendor:
1. Do you preconfigure instances and capacity for the system?
2. How does the solution scale?
3. How quickly could you double the capacity of the system without advanced notice?
Telltale signs of real cloud-native solutions:
1. Product roadmaps should include serverless apps: [AWS Lambda](https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/), [Azure Functions](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/functions/), and [Google Cloud Functions](https://cloud.google.com/functions).
2. In the production environment, you won’t see anything pre-reserved or preconfigured.
### … and Number 1: The Price
If you ask your vendor if its cloud solution is 80 percent cheaper than the on-prem version and their face looks like this, it may not be cloud native!
If your vendor is succeeding at numbers two through five in this list, the price _should be significantly lower than its on-prem version._ If your vendor isn’t doing it right, it’s going to HATE answering this question! Over at [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), we’re doing 2-5, so a low, low price is easy for us to deliver.
Questions to ask your vendor:
1. How much does it cost on-premise vs. public cloud?
2. Why isn’t it cheaper than on-prem?
3. Can I pay as I grow?
Telltale signs of real cloud-native solutions:
1. Surprisingly lower costs: pay by the use / transaction / API call
That’s the list! We’re hearing vendors say a lot of things these days to describe how they’re “in the cloud.” Everyone wants to check that box so they can be in the cloud club—without really doing the work or having the expertise to bring you the benefits. Don’t believe the hype! Carefully evaluate the solutions you’re picking as you make your move to the cloud. I will channel my inner mom voice and say: make good choices, kids, and if you need help evaluating any vendor’s solution, give me a holler—I’m here to help you out!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Kubernetes - in the cloud?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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After my blog on the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing, the most controversial turned out to be: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native”. So here’s an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/)
[![Public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The software of the public cloud**\\
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Many think the public cloud is just a way to outsource a data center. But its true power can be found in the software and services it offers.](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-software-of-the-public-cloud-blog/)
[![Video thumbnail: TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps**\\
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TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps Watch D.R. on TelecomTV explain her top five signs that your vendor’s “cloud-native” product may not indeed be cloud native..! More from TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telecom Software Investment Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/im-buying-telecom-software-blog/#main)
Blog
# I'm buying. How I'm investing in the future of telco.
January 16, 2023
I [made news](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/old_latest-stories/telcodr-makes-play-for-ericsson-cloud-assets/) in the new year [when I said](https://www.fierce-network.com/apps-services/telcodr-could-use-1b-war-chest-buy-ericsson-cloud-assets) I would bid on the Ericsson subscale assets that [the company announced](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/ericsson/ericsson-takes-76m-hit-on-cloud-services-unit/) it was looking to decommission. A lot of people reached out and asked questions about it, so I thought I’d spend some time breaking it down.
First, let’s talk about what a subscale asset is. Subscale assets are older, underperforming products that don’t produce enough revenue to warrant the investment needed to make them great again. For example, perhaps a product has too much technical debt and the future revenue possibilities don’t exceed the investment required to get them up to par. Another way an asset would be considered subscale is if supporting and maintaining the product is unprofitable.
It’s a great sign that Ericsson is making the tough, but necessary, decision to deprioritize these assets so it can focus on its core business. As they say, one man’s trash is another person’s treasure, and I think I can make those products profitable. But the deeper reason I want to buy them is because they likely represent all that is core to my mission: telecommunications products that need to be rewritten and refactored for the public cloud. And that’s what the Telco Transformation Fund is all about.
### What’s the Telco Transformation Fund?
The telecom industry is going through a transformation driven by public cloud adoption. You know I talk about this all the time. What you may not know is that I’m also spurring it on, in part with the $1 billion Telco Transformation Fund. The fund’s goal is to support the strategic acquisition, development, and cloudification of software products for the telco market.
The industry needs to refactor its legacy software, and by that I mean completely rebuild it for the public cloud. The only way to get all the cost savings, innovation, and agility that the public cloud delivers is by building software with public cloud components—from the ground up.
Traditional vendors are saying they’re going cloud-native, but I’m not so sure. Refactoring a legacy application is really hard. It’s time-consuming. It’s expensive. And it should result in an 80% lower price point. I’m just not seeing the investment, timelines, roadmaps—or cost savings—from the dinosaurs. So, I don’t think they’re doing it right (and in some cases, at all). But public-cloud-native software is the future of telco, which is why my team is committed to doing it well.
I don’t believe in [lift-and-shift](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/) or in [throwing old code into Kubernetes](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/) and calling it a day. I talked about the right way to refactor [in my recent podcast with Hesham Fahmy of TELUS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/): simplify, change databases, and remove, reduce, or replace large swaths of legacy source code. No #fakecloud, #fakeSaaS here!
### **We’re buying**
That’s the mission, and we are actively looking for acquisition candidates. We’re focused on makers of enterprise software for telcos and communication service providers (CSPs). Companies may be any size, in any state (old, new, in-between), with any revenue, in any location. [Find our acquisition criteria here.](https://telcodr.com/invest/#Acquisition-Criteria)
The transition period after an acquisition is no cake walk. Integrations are big transformations that are difficult on many levels. I’ve been through a lot of them in various roles, and I have a plan that helps make them successful, time after time.
- The first step is doing an inventory to determine the state of customers, products, and people.
- Then create your plan. What’s your target profitability level? Given the state of things, this is when the executive team makes decisions about where to invest, what to keep steady-state, and what to deprioritize.
- After that’s done, compare the plan to the current team, make offers for people to stay in their current roles or take on new ones, and in some cases, let some people go.
### Acquisition season is OPEN
2023 is going to be an interesting time for the Telco Transformation Fund (and for anyone looking to [hire tech talent](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/)). Valuations and expectations are falling. Capital is constrained. We are going to see a slower IPO market. Those companies that are already cash constrained, or chasing growth without care for profitability, are going to give themselves a hard look in the mirror. If you’re a telco software company looking for a buyer, PLEASE REMEMBER ME and the Telco Transformation Fund.
The end goal—the final destination—is the public cloud. Our investment strategy is to take diamonds in the rough and refactor them to run natively on AWS. We’re looking for candidates. Know any products looking for a new home? Let me know. Like I said, sometimes one company’s trash is another’s treasure. It doesn’t matter the revenue level, state of cloud movement, or where it’s located. We’re buying. We expect this year will be a highly acquisitive one, and we’re so excited.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 podcast. Featured guest: Forrest Brazeal, Senior Manager, A Cloud Guru](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 3 – Lift Off: Telcos moving to the public cloud – beware of lift and shift**\\
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Using a lift and shift strategy for public cloud migration demands clear vision around what’s waiting on the other side. Cloud architect Forrest Brazeal explains what you need to know and why.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/)
[![Kubernetes - in the cloud?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Why do people think Kubernetes is cloud native?**\\
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After my blog on the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing, the most controversial turned out to be: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native”. So here’s an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/)
[![Executive Voice: Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS on becoming a cloud-native tech-co**\\
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TELUS is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. CIO Hesham Fahmy talks about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey and lessons it learned that other telcos should know.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/)
[![Culture of innovation](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**So, you want to be a tech-co?**\\
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It's a revenue-boosting trend for telcos to pivot to become tech companies. Before you do, here's where and how you need to raise your game…](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/)
[![Video thumbnail: TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Video \\
**TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps**\\
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TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps Watch D.R. on TelecomTV explain her top five signs that your vendor’s “cloud-native” product may not indeed be cloud native..! More from TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/)
[![Customizations suck](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Customizations suck**\\
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A few months ago I wrote an article for Light Reading called, Why do telco software companies have such lame valuation multiples? I made a few key points that are worth checking out.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-software-customizations-suck-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Starlink and Telcos
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/starlink-telco-partnerships-blog/#main)
Blog
# The Wolf of MWC
March 11, 2025
Last week at MWC25, I passed by SpaceX’s Starlink stand. It wasn’t on the show floor inside the Fira; instead, it was in the space outside—between Halls 4 and 5. I thought to myself, “Wow, if that isn’t a metaphor for disruption, I don’t know what is.” A wolf in sheep’s clothing, right in the middle of MWC.
When the world’s richest man starts to horn in on your industry, you may want to sit up and pay attention. Yet telcos worldwide are rushing to sign partnerships with Elon Musk’s [Starlink](https://www.starlink.com/) without fully considering the long-term implications. Are these win-win deals, or are we inviting the proverbial fox to guard the henhouse? We’ve seen this movie before, and it rarely ends well for incumbents.
### **What’s the deal with Starlink?**
Starlink is SpaceX’s ambitious low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet constellation. With [thousands of satellites already in orbit](https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/02/22/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-22-starlink-satellites-on-falcon-9-rocket-from-california-4/) (and launching more regularly), Starlink can deliver connectivity virtually anywhere on the planet.
Initially dismissed by experts as too weak to compete with traditional broadband, Starlink has defied expectations with impressive performance improvements. Recent data shows latency dropping below 50 milliseconds (ms) in Western Europe and significant speed boosts in multiple countries. Look at the chart below (Figure 1). It shows download speeds jumping dramatically quarter over quarter. This is the real deal, and improving at a pace that should terrify telcos still operating on five-year upgrade cycles.
Figure 1 1
Telcos’ partnerships with Starlink look straightforward on the surface: Operators get to leverage Starlink’s direct-to-cell technology to enhance their service offerings, subscribers get extended coverage and service options (especially in areas where traditional infrastructure is impractical or damaged), and Starlink looks like a hero giving away free cell service every time there’s a natural disaster. Meanwhile, it quietly gains familiarity on its use, access to your customer base, and regulatory permissions. It’s brilliant.
Beyond that, Elon Musk appears to have a much bigger vision: creating a seamless global communications network that [will eventually link Earth with Mars](https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-pitches-nasa-on-marslink-a-version-of-starlink-for-the-red-planet). While telcos are STILL arguing about whether they should use the public cloud, Musk is building a system that could eventually dominate the entire connectivity ecosystem.
Is Musk executing a classic ‘thin edge of the wedge’ strategy? Like AWS beginning as simple cloud storage before becoming enterprise infrastructure, or smartphones starting as niche devices before redefining computing, Starlink is making its initial moves appear unthreatening while building toward a much more ambitious vision. This could be a case of telcos playing checkers, while Elon plays 4D chess. And history shows Elon usually wins.
### **Why telcos are signing up**
Starlink’s strategy isn’t to compete with operators directly (yet). Instead, it’s positioning itself as a complementary infrastructure provider. From telcos’ perspective, the appeal is obvious. Working with Starlink, they get:
- **Enhanced coverage:** Instant service expansion into remote, previously unprofitable areas
- **Disaster resilience:** Backup connectivity when terrestrial infrastructure fails during emergencies
- **Cost efficiency:** Avoiding massive infrastructure investments in challenging terrain
These benefits solve pressing business challenges, which explains the rush to sign deals. But telcos are relying on short-term thinking that masks a concerning long-term trajectory. This is EXACTLY how disruption works: the new player starts as your “partner,” then gradually eats your lunch. Just ask the music industry how their “partnership” with iTunes worked out.
You could also take a look at T-Mobile’s deal with Starlink to provide satellite-based text messaging. [The operator’s Super Bowl 2025 ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLw6ZovMpLI) invited “anyone, on any wireless carrier” to try its Starlink texting service for free. The marketing stunt generated massive engagement— [12.6 times more than the median Super Bowl ad](https://www.edo.com/resources/measuring-the-outcomes-that-matter-on-advertisings-biggest-night#:~:text=The%20night%27s%20biggest%20advertising%20winner%20was%20T%2DMobile%27s,with%20viewers%20by%20offering%20clear%20practical%20value.)—giving T-Mobile access to well-qualified potential customers from competitors. Great move, right?
Maybe. While T-Mobile gets immediate benefits, it’s also helping Starlink establish a direct relationship with consumers. The current implementation uses just 2×5 MHz in T-Mobile’s PCS band, which severely limits what the service can deliver. But that’s exactly the point—Starlink doesn’t need to match 5G performance immediately to establish its beachhead. The technical performance will improve over time, just as the business relationship will expand beyond basic texting. Yes, there are significant technical hurdles before satellites can match 5G performance, but the initial wedge is already in place. Starlink is playing the long game, and it’s improving its technology at a pace terrestrial networks can’t match.
### **Win-win, or Trojan horse?**
The question operators need to be asking themselves is whether a Starlink partnership undermines their core strategic position. If you limit Starlink to just emergencies, you’re probably okay. If you start to rely on it for broader service delivery, you’re potentially signing your own disruption warrant.
Here are the big risks:
##### **1\. Surrendering territorial control**
Telcos are effectively giving Starlink control over the “last-mile” infrastructure in rural areas, which undermines one of their key strategic assets. Rural coverage—historically very expensive to provide because of its inherent low density—gave operators complete end-to-end customer relationships, network control, strategic presence, and political capital through universal service provision. If Starlink starts to handle rural coverage, telcos become dependent on Starlink for service delivery, creating a situation that’s extremely difficult and expensive to reverse.
##### **2\. Creating dependency**
As telcos integrate more deeply with Starlink, they may become increasingly dependent on SpaceX infrastructure, opening the door to Starlink’s ability to:
- Renegotiate terms from a position of strength
- Prioritize its own direct customers over telco partners
- Dictate technical standards and integration requirements
What makes this dependency particularly dangerous is that it represents a one-way door. Once telcos begin outsourcing their core infrastructure, it becomes exponentially harder to reverse course, especially as industry economics shift and competitors move in the same direction. The telecommunications industry has historically been vertically integrated for good reason—control of infrastructure means control of your strategic destiny.
##### **3\. Enabling market disruption**
Starlink’s direct-to-cell technology allows unmodified smartphones to connect directly to satellites, bypassing traditional cell towers. This arrangement poses an existential threat to the infrastructure-dependent business models of traditional telcos, which risk becoming “dumb pipes” while Starlink controls the more valuable space infrastructure. As satellite technology improves, there’s nothing stopping Starlink from expanding from rural to suburban areas, eating progressively into telcos’ core territories.
### **Don’t get blindsided**
Musk is building a comprehensive telecommunications infrastructure that already spans continents and may eventually span planets. Meanwhile, telcos are focused on country-scale operations and quarterly results.
What makes these partnerships particularly dangerous is that Musk has both the funding to execute his vision and a vested interest in doing so. Unlike cloud providers (which weren’t trying to build networks but rather horizontal enterprise software), Musk appears to be targeting the telecommunications space directly.
It’s fair for telcos to wonder if they should partner with a different satellite provider. While that would theoretically reduce dependency on Musk’s empire, it’s not a great solution. Starlink has thousands of satellites in orbit, while the closest competitors have only a fraction of that number.
Table 1 2 – _Starlink’s dominant position in the LEO satellite market makes finding alternate partners a joke._
And Elon has a unique advantage—Starlink’s alignment with SpaceX’s rocket business and Mars ambitions means he can deploy satellites at a fraction of what it costs his competitors. Every Falcon 9 launch can carry dozens of Starlink satellites as essentially a vertically integrated operation, while competitors have to pay full price for their launch services. It’s a cost structure advantage that makes the constellation-size gap nearly impossible to close. The other guys simply can’t deliver comparable coverage or performance. Plus, choosing another provider doesn’t solve the fundamental risk—it merely exchanges one set of compromises for another.
Some operators are trying different approaches. [Vodafone has formed a joint venture with AST](https://www.yahoo.com/news/vodafone-takes-musk-starlink-satellite-112354011.html) (one of the “other guys”) to create a satellite mobile service across Europe, positioning itself to compete with Starlink rather than depend on it. Whether this strategy succeeds remains to be seen, but at least it’s taking control of its destiny rather than handing it to Musk.
### **Take the long view**
The whole situation is eerily reminiscent of how cable companies initially ignored rural markets, allowing satellite TV providers like DirecTV to establish a strong foothold. The difference now is that telcos aren’t just leaving a market gap—they’re actively helping Starlink establish its position by providing spectrum access and network integration.
This follows a broader pattern that extends beyond telecom. When an industry begins modularizing what was once vertically integrated, power typically flows to the layer with the strongest aggregation effects. If Starlink becomes the dominant space-based infrastructure layer, telcos risk becoming merely service providers on someone else’s platform—a position with ever-diminishing leverage and margins.
I’m not saying telcos shouldn’t partner with satellite providers. But after decades watching operators get outmaneuvered by nimble, tech-savvy players, this situation is triggering my spidey sense. Go into these partnerships with eyes WIDE open and a clear Plan B.
Remember, the Trojan Horse looked like a gift too.
1 [Starlink Shines in Europe as Constellation Investments Boost Performance](https://www.ookla.com/articles/starlink-europe-q1-2024)
2 [Will LEO Satellite Direct-to-Cell Networks make Terrestrial Networks Obsolete?](https://techneconomyblog.com/2025/01/20/will-leo-satellite-direct-to-cellular-networks-make-terrestrial-networks-obsolete/)
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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### Get started
Contact [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) today to start your cloud and AI journey and achieve up to 80% lower TCO and 20% higher ARPU.
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### Dive deep
**Reimagine**
Read this Appledore Research white paper about how GenAI is poised to upend the telecommunications industry.
[LEARN MORE](https://totogi.com/resources/whitepapers/genai-for-business-support-systems-appledore-research/)
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### Engage
**Learn more**
Set up a meeting with the Totogi team to find out how we can help you transform your telco.
[CONNECT](https://totogi.com/book-a-demo)
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### Explore
**The AI-driven future**
Listen to Danielle Rios, acting CEO of Totogi, define her vision for the AI-first telco in her MWC25 Gen AI Summit talk.
[WATCH NOW](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lDpzaJjIx4)
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## TelcoDR: Transforming Telecom
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/about-us/#main)
About us
# I’m psyched you’re here
Telco is at an evolutionary inflection point and the only way forward is with the adoption of the public cloud and AI. We’re catalyzing this transformation with $1 billion in capital to make it a mainstream reality.
![DR on stage at MWC 21 in Barcelona with TelcoDR written behind.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 547"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## I’m Danielle Rios, but you can call me by my initials, DR.
I’m Danielle Rios, Founder and CEO of TelcoDR and the acting CEO of Totogi. I have 30 years of enterprise software experience – the last 15+ as a CEO specializing in turnarounds.
As telco’s leading public cloud evangelist, I have raised $1 billion to fundamentally transform telco software, propelling the industry to new heights with the power of the public cloud. I’ve been asked to speak on some of the biggest stages in the industry and shared my thoughts in numerous publications. I live in Austin, TX, and hold a B.S. in computer science from Stanford University.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 752"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## Who we are
Telco is on the precipice of a monumental shift – a transformational evolution to public cloud and AI adoption – and at TelcoDR we’re catalyzing this change. Founded and led by telco’s leading public cloud evangelist, Danielle Rios (DR), TelcoDR has raised $1B in capital to acquire assets, build cloud-native software and provide the support the industry needs to make the leap.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 552 264"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### What we do
The public cloud is an unstoppable force coming to our industry. Telco cannot afford to miss out. But the software we use in telco is out of date, built on last century’s technology. At TelcoDR, our fundamental belief is that the software must be refactored and rewritten, so that telco can take advantage of the awesome benefits of public cloud.
Who’s going to rewrite that software? We are!
To make this happen, we’ve raised $1B for a Telco Transformation Fund to:
#### Build
We build the software the industry needs, on the public cloud, for the public cloud. Meet Totogi.
[Build](https://telcodr.com/build/)
#### Advise
We educate the industry and support telcos who move to the public cloud so that they can achieve their business goals.
[Advise](https://telcodr.com/advise/)
#### Invest
We acquire telco enterprise software companies to pivot their products to the public cloud – and invest in those who are already building right there on the public cloud. Meet Skyvera.
[Invest](https://telcodr.com/invest/)
I’m better in person! Shoot me a DM on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TelcoDR) or feel free to shoot me a note [here](https://telcodr.com/contact/).
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 863"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## I’ve shared my vision in leading publications, such as:
![Capacity](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![El País](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 127"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Fast Company](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Fierce Telecom](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 276 84"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Forbes](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Light Reading](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Mobile Europe](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 284 86"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Mobile News](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 91"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Mobile World Live](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 266 80"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![RCR Wireless News](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![telecoms.com](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 91"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![TelecomTV](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![total telecom](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 166 116"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Silverlinings](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 148 37"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Vanilla +](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## Get to know the real me.
My voice, my insight: what’s up with telco and the public cloud?
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
Are you ready for the next 20 years of radical change in telco?
Listen and subscribe to my podcast, Telco in 20, for discussions and interviews with key players, and what you need to do to stay ahead.
[Check out the podcast](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
Couldn’t make it to the show? Never mind!
Catch my keynotes, panel discussions, interviews, and more on our YouTube channel.
[Check out YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TelcoDR/playlists)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
Want to learn what I really think about telco and the public cloud?
Get in-depth insights and advice, and deep analysis of what’s happening in the telco and public cloud spaces – delivered with my trademark frank honesty.
[Check out the blog](https://telcodr.com/insights/)
### Curated news and insights, straight to your inbox.
Every two weeks, I’ll help you sort through the noise, giving you my unfiltered take on what’s really happening in the telecom industry when it comes to the public cloud.
## Open roles
We’re always hiring, see our jobs on [Skyvera](https://skyvera.com/) and [Totogi](https://telcodr.com/about-us/#).
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## Customer Love Strategies
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/turn-your-data-into-customer-love-blog/#main)
Blog
# Turn your data into customer love
February 14, 2023
For years, mobile network operators (MNOs) have complained about internet companies using MNOs’ infrastructure investment to their advantage. In two weeks, officials from more than 180 countries will gather at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to discuss “ [fair share](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-30/eu-mulls-ways-to-charge-data-heavy-steamers-for-telecom-upgrades)” and how to make internet companies contribute to network infrastructure investment. While this may be a way for telcos to recoup their CapEx, it may upset the insatiable thirst for data usage that internet companies have created in the first place. Telcos need products and services that drive usage of the network up, but they also want a piece of the action everyone else seems to be getting. My argument: do it by beating the internet companies at their own game—with **CUSTOMER LOVE**.
It’s no secret that internet companies have used customer data to improve the customer experience and show their customers how much they value them. By using _personalization, proactive support,_ and _targeted marketing,_ companies like Amazon, Apple, and Shopify have been rewarded with customer loyalty and more revenue. For example:
- These companies analyze customer data and provide _personalized_ experiences for their customers. This might include tailored recommendations, customized content, or personalized promotions and discounts;
- Through _proactive support_, internet companies use customer data to anticipate and address issues before they become a problem; and
- With _targeted marketing_, they analyze customer behavior and preferences to identify the products or services that are most relevant to their audience and tailor their marketing accordingly.
There’s no reason telcos can’t use the same tactics that have made the internet companies so successful—and they can do it better. Telcos are sitting on a gold mine of data as they collect vast amounts of subscriber information on a daily basis. But most telcos still store the majority of their data on premise, making it difficult to use because it’s spread out and siloed, trapped behind vendors’ walled gardens (BOO!). Even if a telco does have access to it, it often requires significant investment in hardware, software, and human resources to manage and maintain. Data stored on-premise is also limited in scalability, requiring organizations to invest in additional hardware or software as their needs (and data) grow.
But with the public cloud, almost all of these problems go away. Public cloud data management and analytical services can provide organizations with greater capability, flexibility, and scalability. By using the public cloud, organizations can focus on their core business and applications, while leaving the management of underlying infrastructure to the cloud provider. Yipee!
MNOs and MVNOs can use customer data to show their subscribers CUSTOMER LOVE by providing personalized experiences, proactive support, and targeted marketing to deliver an overall improved user experience just like the internet companies do. By leveraging customer data in these ways, telcos can deepen their relationships with subscribers and build greater loyalty over time. Here are some real examples of MNOs and MVNOs (and Totogi!) that are using the public cloud with subscriber data to create excellent customer experiences.
## Personalization: tailoring plans to the individual
[MobileX](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/) is a new, US-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on the Verizon network. Led by [Peter Adderton](https://x.com/peter_adderton), who started Boost Mobile in Australia, MobileX is now in beta. Peter was a recent guest [on my Telco in 20 podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/), where he explained how MobileX is building trust with its subscribers. Here’s how it works: MobileX has a “try before you buy” option where subscribers can use it for 10 days for free while it learns their patterns around minutes, messaging, and data. It then combines network usage data with AI and ML technology on the public cloud to analyze patterns and create a plan for each subscriber based on their unique usage, even going as far as to recommend another competitor’s plan if they can get a better deal elsewhere.
By offering a truly personalized, right-sized, and innovative approach to plan pricing that is designed to help customers save money, this kind of transparency and goodwill builds consumer trust from the get-go. Over time, subscribers’ data will continue to inform what other value-added offerings they’re likely to want. Those offerings might be telco-related, or they might go beyond that to payment, content, and other services offered in a super app. Customer satisfaction goes up and ARPU goes up. Sounds like a win-win, am I right?
## Proactive support: anticipating problems before your customers do
One of my favorite telco cloud projects is the one with Vodafone and Google Cloud. It all started back in October 2019, when Vodafone rebuilt its data ocean on Google Cloud and eliminated 600 on-premise Hadoop servers. “Neuron,” which is what Vodafone called this big data analytics platform, provides real-time business insights, from customer service to network planning and optimization, for operations in 11 countries.
In May 2021, Vodafone [created the Nucleus platform](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vodafone-and-google-cloud-to-develop-industry-first-global-data-platform-301281936.html), which is a single source of truth for the whole organization. Nucleus can process _dozens of terabytes of data every day_;something it never could have done on-premise. What’s unique about Nucleus is that it aggregates data from a number of different sources across different countries within Vodafone’s deployed models.
Finally, in May 2022 Vodafone announced a [pan-European cloud-native network performance platform](https://www.vodafone.com/news/technology/vodafone-cardinality-io-google-cloud-smarter-pan-european-network-performance-platform). Drawing on eight-billion network data sources and analyzing them with AI, it created a single source of business insight for Europe, replacing more than 100 network apps. This project gives Vodafone insights into network data, such as traffic patterns, so the company can add capacity, respond to major incidents, manage energy efficiently, and restore services after severe weather. Vodafone cites a nearly 70% fall in network and IT incidents this year as a result of the project. In this example, over the course of two and a half years, Vodafone has gone from data on-premise in 600 Hadoop servers in 11 countries to a single source of business insight for Europe and reduced the majority of incidents. That’s real business impact that is improving the customer experience.
## Targeted Marketing
Finally, my company Totogi is working with MVNOs and MNOs to harness data and personalize the subscriber experience by using the public cloud—in our case, with AWS. Our goal is to help all MNOs and MVNOs do it for themselves with our product [Auto Plan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3GQGMoDd40), which uses data to predict the next best offer for customers, stopping churn and growing revenue for operators. It’s targeted marketing and personalization all wrapped up in one.
Totogi Auto Plan does exactly what the name implies: it uses AI and ML to automatically create plans and offers. It helps telcos show customers love by combining their data with advanced predictive technology to serve up personalized offers to individual subscribers. Here’s how it works: Totogi generates self-serve campaigns you can offer to subscribers based on how they use your network. Click a button to deploy, sending every person in your audience a plan created just for them via email or SMS. As people accept the offers, they train Totogi’s machine-learning model on what works with which type of subscriber. Subscribers get offers that fit their needs and a better experience, which increases their loyalty and lifetime value. Everybody wins.
Telcos don’t need to fight Big Tech to pay their fair share; instead turn the tables and use your vast quantities of subscriber data to offer a differentiated customer experience. Improve your relationship with your subscribers by personalizing product and service offers, identifying issues proactively, optimizing network performance, and improving customer support. By showing your subscribers some CUSTOMER LOVE, you’ll build your subscriber intelligence, and pretty soon the big guys will be coming to you for their fair share, too.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Vodafone is putting on a public cloud clinic](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 541"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Vodafone is putting on a public cloud clinic**\\
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Vodafone has been rebuilding its business intelligence infrastructure piece by piece, replacing outdated tech with the latest and greatest.](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-clinic-blog/)
[![Executive Voice: Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company talks about boosting ARPU through personalization.**\\
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Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
[![Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer ❤️❤️❤️**\\
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Switching from being network-centric to customer-centric is not only necessary, but also the best thing you’ll ever do for your bottom line.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Cloud AI Chips Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-ai-chips-blog/#main)
Blog
# For Cloud AI, it’s all about the chips
May 23, 2023
If you haven’t yet realized that artificial intelligence (AI) is the future of pretty much everything, you’ve been living under a rock. As a telco executive, you know the competitive advantage AI can bring to your business, from improved network performance to enhanced customer experiences. But creating a plan to deliver AI to your organization is probably keeping you up at night. Hopefully, you’ve already dismissed the idea of building a multi-thousand Nvidia GPU cluster to create your own Large Language Model (LLM), and instead have headed for the obvious choice: using the public cloud.
AI in the cloud, or “Cloud AI,” is ready to make your networks smarter, your processes more efficient, and your customer experiences personalized—at a price you can afford. AI workloads, especially the training and deployment of large-scale models, require immense computational power and specialized hardware. Of course, the scalability of the public cloud is perfect for this. But in this blog, I want to talk to you about the _custom silicon chips_ that are the real secret sauce of Cloud AI. They offer unmatched speed, cost, and innovation benefits to telecom operators that can’t be replicated on-prem.
### The need for speed
To start, AI needs speed. Telcos need to process huge amounts of data in real time, whether it’s voice calls, video streams, or network data. You need to train complex models that can learn from data and make predictions. You need to do all this without delays or errors.
The chips of the public cloud are designed to accelerate AI inference and training by orders of magnitude compared to traditional CPUs and GPUs. They can handle billions of operations per second with high accuracy and low latency. Up until now, Nvidia has been king of the hill when it comes to AI-optimized chips, but a battle is heating up among the major tech players. AWS, Google, and others are the new kids in town, and they’re bringing some serious muscle.
For example, as part of a huge release of AI tools, [AWS recently announced](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/machine-learning/announcing-new-tools-for-building-with-generative-ai-on-aws/) the general availability of two custom chips that improve performance and reduce costs for high-performance, low-cost inference tasks, helping to put Cloud AI within reach of more companies. Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) [Trn1n instances](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-ec2-trn1-instances-for-high-performance-model-training-are-now-available/) powered by AWS Trainium are specially designed for AI training tasks. EC2 Inf2 instances powered by AWS Inferentia2 are designed to speed up AI runtimes and offer 20% higher performance compared to other EC2 instances. Google has also been busy, [revealing an AI supercomputer called TPU v4](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/05/google-reveals-its-newest-ai-supercomputer-claims-it-beats-nvidia-.html), and says it’s 1.2x-1.7x faster than Nvidia and uses 1.3x-1.9x less power than the Nvidia A100. And rumors are flying about Microsoft teaming with legacy chipmaker AMD as both partners aim to develop their own [AI chips, codenamed “Athena](https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/5/23712242/microsoft-amd-ai-processor-chip-nvidia-gpu-athena-mi300),” in an effort to reduce costs and reliance on Nvidia.
Whichever cloud you pick, you should be using these specialized AI chips to make your AI applications fly.
### Cheaper chips
It’s no surprise that AI workloads cost a ton of money. This is due to the substantial computational resources, energy consumption, and specialized hardware required for processing complex algorithms and large amounts of data. Additionally, large data set storage and infrastructure expenses contribute to the overall cost.
Using public cloud custom AI chips for your AI workloads can save money by accelerating AI processing with greater efficiency and lower energy consumption. These chips optimize resource utilization, scale according to workload needs, and reduce the infrastructure and maintenance expenses associated with on-prem setups. This allows organizations to harness advanced AI capabilities while minimizing costs.
For example, [AWS Inferentia chips](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/inf2/) can deliver up to 45% lower cost per inference than GPU-based instances, and Google claims TPU chips can deliver up to 80% lower cost per training than GPU-based instances. Azure is still playing catch-up in this area—currently, its NPU chips deliver up to 50% lower cost per inference over CPU-based instances. With ChatGPT costing Microsoft $0.36 per query, this is going to be a big focus for it to aggressively reduce costs as it [steals search market share from Google](https://www.semianalysis.com/p/the-inference-cost-of-search-disruption).
The good news is that all of us cloud lovers will be the winners, allowing regular people like you and me to save big money and optimize our budgets.
### Ride the wave of innovation
Finally, AI needs rapid innovation. You need to explore new possibilities and solutions for your business problems and opportunities. You need to experiment with different models and algorithms that can fit your data and goals. You need to do all of this without spending too much time or effort and, thankfully, the public cloud delivers on this axis as well.
The public cloud chips integrate with various tools and platforms that the public cloud providers offer to help you build and manage your AI projects. These tools and platforms are easy to use, flexible, and powerful.
For example, AWS offers [Amazon SageMaker](https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/), a fully managed service that enables you to build, train, and deploy machine learning models using AWS Inferentia. You can use SageMaker to create models from scratch or use pre-built ones from AWS Marketplace. You can also use SageMaker to monitor and optimize your models with features like AutoML, Debugger, and Experiments.
Azure offers [Azure Machine Learning](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/machine-learning), which allows you to create, deploy, and manage machine learning models. You can use it to access data from various sources, apply transformations and algorithms, and publish your models as web services or APIs.
Google Cloud offers [Vertex AI](https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai), a unified platform that provides end-to-end services for building and managing AI projects using Google TPUs. You can use AI Platform to access data from Google Cloud Storage or BigQuery, train models using TensorFlow or PyTorch, and deploy models on Google Kubernetes Engine or Cloud Functions.
By using these tools and platforms, you can accelerate your AI development cycle and stay ahead of your competition.
### A smarter, more efficient future
The future of our industry is more than just 6G. It’s about optimized networks, real-time fraud detection, more efficient processes, and superior customer experiences—and ultimately [telcos owning the consumer relationship](https://telcodr.com/insights/turn-your-data-into-customer-love-blog/). With your petabytes of data, the power of the public cloud, and AI specialized chips, it could be YOU pioneering a new way forward. It’s time to go all-in on Cloud AI. It’s not just a nice-to-have. It’s a game changer. The future is calling you, telco. Will you answer?
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![AI Language Learning Model](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The BIG problem with generative AI**\\
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Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is game changing for the telco industry. But can telcos fire it up “as-is”?](https://telcodr.com/insights/conversational-ai-in-telecom-blog/)
[![Executive Voice: Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS on becoming a cloud-native tech-co**\\
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TELUS is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. CIO Hesham Fahmy talks about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey and lessons it learned that other telcos should know.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/)
[![Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization**\\
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MVNO’s can delight customers and grow ARPU by using carrier-grade, public cloud-native SaaS software (like Totogi!) to gain real-time insights and deliver superior subscriber experiences.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-61-supercharge-your-mvno-with-personalization/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Customizations Hurt Telco Software
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-software-customizations-suck-blog/#main)
Blog
# Customizations suck
February 23, 2021
A few months ago I wrote an article for Light Reading called, [_Why do telco software companies have such lame valuation multiples?_](https://www.lightreading.com/ossbss/why-do-telco-software-companies-have-such-lame-valuation-multiples/a/d-id/763331) I made a few key points:
- Telco software companies are typically valued at 2 – 3x revenue;
- They are valued that way because they typically have a large professional services component of revenue; and
- In order to increase telco software company valuations, they’re going to have to switch to PRODUCT revenue and away from PROFESSIONAL SERVICES revenue.
Yeah, I said it. Ditch your professional services revenue. But if I were talking to a room full of telco software CEOs, I bet most of them would say, “I can’t, it’s our industry, and we HAVE to let customers customize the product. They demand it.”
That may be true: customers do demand changes to be made, and to be made as quickly as possible. But I’m going to argue that it’s bad for BOTH SIDES, and especially for CUSTOMERS, and everyone needs to just stop it.
And so, a bit of background … telco software companies’ professional services revenue comes from three primary areas of activities: _delivering implementations, delivering change requests, and upgrading customers_. For _implementations and upgrade services_, as long as telco software companies continue to install their software on premise (and that includes installing in a #fakecloud private cloud), telco software companies will have these types of revenue, making this revenue difficult to kill.
But let’s talk about the other big component – and it’s really, really big in telco – which is _change request_ or “CR” revenue. This is the revenue from customers asking vendors to change their version of the installed software. It might be to add a feature just for them. Or to change the workflow to follow their process exactly as they have it set up. Regardless of the reason, 99% of the time it requires software developers to understand the modification, code it up, test it, and put it into production. And this is where we run into trouble.
See, if Elon Musk can build a re-landable rocket, chances are whatever change request a customer can think of, a developer can code. I mean, it’s software. You can pretty much make it do anything, given time and resources. But here’s the thing. Just because you CAN modify software to do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD modify the software. And this is where I have a very strong point of view.
Let me tell you about the dirty little secret of customizations that vendors don’t tell you. Every time a customer makes the decision to customize a product installation, they are digging their own grave. It’s a fantastic way to trap a customer forever – and better yet, they _asked_ for it! (No wonder Amdocs gives away its software for free and charges for PS.) You’re trapped because you can’t move to anything else without a massive effort, and because you paid handsomely for it, you want to take it with you on every upgrade from here on out.
But here’s another great reason not to do customizations: they just make the installation you have worse. The product is slower. More expensive to operate. You risk falling behind on the roadmap because you can’t upgrade as frequently. It’s harder to test. More vulnerable to bugs and issues. Not to mention now the vendor is maintaining this special code for you. Is it in version control? Or did some skunkworks side team deliver it for you, undocumented where only one guy named Bob knows where it is in your millions of lines of software code?
Maybe telcos like being so slow. They’re famous for it, after all. Maybe they like to spend money for the heck of it? Customizations will put you at least two years behind the market. It will take six months to launch a variation on your offerings, two months to implement a new offering, or 24 months to accommodate the next technology wave in your marketplace (um, can you say public cloud?). With each customization you make it exponentially more expensive to maintain. It’s a complete mess.
Just to drive this point home, time for a true story. I once had a customer that had installed more than 100 different customizations into its installed version of my product. Over 10 years, more and more crud had been added to the product like Spackle or Polyfilla patching a hole. If the product’s speed was 1x, the weight of all the customizations was loading it up “like a sidecar” (as Jon Fagan from CSG recently said on [episode 13 of the Telco in 20 podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-13-the-software-series-csg/)) and dragging it down so it was 5x slower than it would have been had the product been left alone. FIVE TIMES! In charging, where speed matters, that’s a death sentence. My message to the customer: start stripping it out and get your installation back to where it was meant to be: blazing fast.
So my message to telco execs:
- STOP CUSTOMIZING.
- Select vendors that provide flexible frameworks, so that non-technical people can use business logic to implement ideas in minutes, not months.
- Stay as close as possible to the product roadmap and reduce the upgrade complexity so you can receive new innovative features as quickly as your vendor can deliver them.
- Stay lean and mean – this will create operational speed you’ve never seen in telco.
Fortunately, there’s something coming to telco that’s going to fix all of this. There’s a revolution afoot in the form of the public cloud and SaaS applications. Multi-tenant systems that are centrally managed and provided as a service are just around the corner. There are new software providers coming that are going to drive all of these inefficiencies and costs out of the telecom industry and replace them with a speed of delivery heretofore unheard of. BUT you’re going to have to give up your crazy customizations. Question is: will you be able to do it?
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Steve McDonald, Chief Operating & Technology Officer, giffgaff.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 68 – giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS**\\
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In 2020, award-winning MVNO giffgaff went all-in on the public cloud. Chief Operating and Technology Officer Steve McDonald shares the inside story on its courageous move.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Jon Fagan, Senior Principal Cloud Architect, CSG.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 13 – The Software Series: CSG**\\
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Jon Fagan, Senior Principal Cloud Architect at CSG, talks about what the billion-dollar company is doing with the public cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-13-the-software-series-csg/)
[![Time to go to the public cloud! The essential steps for cloud success.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Whitepaper \\
**Time to go to the public cloud!**\\
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In this paper, I talk about the power of the public cloud for telcos and lay out the four clear steps you need to take to trigger your transformation. As you’ll discover, it’s not about transition…](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telcos Embrace Public Cloud
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# 15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud
February 4, 2021
I’m the world’s expert when it comes to moving to the public cloud. I’ve been talking with hundreds of telco execs and the flywheel is starting to turn. Telcos have been starting small, taking steps, and moving applications to the public cloud. But the other day someone on Twitter asked me, “What proof do you have that this is ACTUALLY happening?”
So I pulled together around 15 examples (and growing everyday) of telcos that are using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and be a leader in their marketplace.
### The telcos that are all in – and moving all their IT workloads to the public cloud
[Deutsche Telekom used AWS and Azure](https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/transformation-project-560756) to reduce its data centers around the globe from 89 to 13, increase compute and storage capacity by around 25%, and save an annual three-digit-million euro sum. It involved a total of 5,200 migration projects with around 23,600 servers.
The Philippines’ [Globe Telecom](https://aws.amazon.com/tr/blogs/modernizing-with-aws/how-globe-telecom-is-modernizing/) also opted for AWS when it moved its IT environment to the public cloud. It cut costs by 30%, increased app performance by 15x, and reduced provisioning from three months to two days!
### The telcos that are moving analytics to the public cloud
Vodafone presented at Google Cloud Next in November 2019 and told the world it was moving [its entire analytics platform to GCP.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAitKERcDPU) The project involved 600 Hadoop servers across 11 countries, supporting 226 different revenue models, and a combined 17PBs of data. My guess is that migrating to public cloud helped Vodafone realize between $12 and $14 million in savings per year. [Read my case study on how Vodafone achieved such big savings](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/).
Moving analytics to the public cloud isn’t ONLY about saving money. Italian telco [Wind Tre](https://cloud.google.com/customers/wind-tre) used Google Cloud’s Big Query and real-time analytics functionality to reduce churn and offer its customers more personalized service.
It’s also not ONLY about cost savings, customer churn and customer service. [Maxis](https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/business/maxis-goes-all-cloud-partners-google-cloud-speed-its-data-analytics-ai-and-machine-learning), another Google Cloud Platform customer, is moving 100% of analytics on-premise workloads to GCP, for all lines of business. And add to this that it is using this exciting project as a way to attract the best talent to the organization. It’s working with Google on a career development program to build deep technical knowledge and in-house expertise.
### Move charging to the public cloud
[Truphone](https://inform.tmforum.org/casestudy/ocs-on-public-cloud-transforms-truphones-business-inside-and-out) moved its real-time charging to GCP. It reduced the number of tests from more than 5,000 (which were all done manually – brutal) to less than 200 (mostly automated). It pretty much eliminated capex and reduced TCO by approximately 60% by using a public cloud database that’s 10x cheaper and faster than Oracle.
I know of a start-up that’s set to revolutionize this space. It’s building the fastest, most scalable charger in the world that’s 10x faster and cheaper than what’s out there in the market, and doing it by not using a relational database and making it available on the public cloud. Coming soon to a telco near you … 😘
### The telcos that are moving customer problem management to the public cloud
For telcos, when it comes to customer problem management, the buck stops at the contact center. This is particularly true of the past 12 months (and probably next): who visits retail nowadays, even if we are allowed to leave the house?
[Verizon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lefrjaUEOk&feature=youtu.be) used GCP’s AI-powered Contact Center apps to improve NPS. It was able to boost its intent detection accuracy by 15% with bots that answered 5x more issues than humans.
[Vodafone](https://www.microsoft.com/en/customers/story/838350-vodafone-telecom-azure-cognitive-services) (yep, them again!) used Azure Cognitive and Bot services to handle 30-million conversations per month in 15 languages and markets, providing a 12% reduction in call center operational costs.
Over in Brazil, Telefónica created an AI bot called Aura that can now realistically handle more than 15 million calls per month and has been accessed more than 93 million times.
Who said robots taking over the world was such a bad thing?
### The telcos that are building edge applications with the public cloud
5G means edge computing and virtualization. And a great way to get edge computing is via the public cloud.
[AWS’s Wavelength](https://aws.amazon.com/wavelength/) launch means it’s already winning – and the telco adopters are too. [SK Telecom](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/edge/aws-wavelength-finally-gives-telco-edge-an-international-flavour-40376/) is using it to reduce latency by 60% (down to 1ms) and taking the lead on innovations in robot delivery, autonomous driving, cloud gaming and smart healthcare – just imagine this at scale!
Verizon’s already been rolling out [Wavelength-based edge computing services](https://siliconangle.com/2020/12/28/aws-brings-wavelength-zones-denver-seattle-via-verizons-5g-network/), and at [AWS re:Invent](https://telcodr.com/insights/bhags-aws-reinvent-keynote-2020-recap-blog/), AWS CEO Andy Jassy announced that Japanese telco KDDI would be launching a Wavelength-based service in Tokyo.
### The telcos that are detecting fraud with the public cloud
Revenue fraud is a persistent issue in telco. Enter everyone’s favorite telco-neighborhood fraud-fighter: machine learning (ML). [Lebara](https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/become-a-machine-learning-developer-with-aws-services-may-2019/144560048) used AWS SageMaker to detect new instances of revenue fraud. Within days it learned how to use SageMaker and, with limited knowledge in ML, found 200+ more instances of revenue share fraud compared to its old tools. That’s revenue it wouldn’t have had otherwise. How much undetected fraud do you have in your network? Whatever you think there is, there is more there than you think.
### The telcos that will reduce headcount with the public cloud
People are one of your biggest costs, after network spend. What happens when you move to the public cloud? You can reduce your headcount. This remains a major fear about going all-in on running native on the public cloud.
BUT you can be a leader who takes this challenge and turns it into a great opportunity. Re-skill your team members so they’re equipped with high value skills wherever they move to next. Workers who gain experience with the public cloud typically see increases of 20-30% in their compensation. Be a hero and help them get those increases!
Look at what [Three UK](https://www.lightreading.com/network-automation/three-uk-to-cut-two-thirds-of-tech-jobs-in-digital-makeover) is doing: it’ll eliminate 67% of IT jobs and cut 33% of IT costs by moving to the public cloud with Microsoft Azure. That’s great savings for the company and if it does it right, a great opportunity for workers to enhance their skills for their next position.
### The telcos that are driving more revenue with the public cloud
Finally, you can use the public cloud to build scalable new offerings. [Vodafone Italy](https://aws.amazon.com/tr/solutions/case-studies/vodafone-italy/) did just that by using five different AWS services with PII data to scale its subscriber top-up services securely and elastically. It lowered capex by 30% and increased customer satisfaction by enabling several thousand top-ups without login requests from subscribers every day, up from just one thousand before.
Did I miss any cool cloud stories in telco? Shoot me a DM or message on LinkedIn and let me know! I think these moves are just the start. The telcos that aren’t moving to the public cloud – and instead cling to their servers insisting the cloud isn’t secure, fight cloud vendor lock-in, or decide to build their own clouds – will be proven wrong in 2021. Don’t be that telco – ride the wave all the way to the public cloud! 🌊 🏄🏻♀️ ⛅️
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
## More from TelcoDR
[![Case study: 1&1 vs DISH: a tale of two Open RAN networks](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**1&1 vs DISH Case Study**\\
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In 2021, major announcements were made about greenfield networks being built on Open RAN technology. In this case study, we look closely at two examples.](https://telcodr.com/insights/1-and-1-vs-dish-open-ran-case-study-download/)
[![How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud**\\
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In November 2019, Vodafone announced they were moving their entire data analytics to Google Cloud. TelcoDR wondered: how much were they spending and how much did they save?](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Nanda Kumar, Executive Director of Cloud Engineering, Verizon.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 31 – Verizon’s public cloud journey**\\
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Nanda Kumar, executive director of cloud engineering at Verizon, has helped pilot the company’s successful digital transformation. He tells us about the journey, which started back in 2016.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-31-verizons-public-cloud-journey/)
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## Subscriber Experience Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/?filter-topic[]=subscriber-experience#main)
# More Insights
Browse our treasure trove of podcasts, case studies and blogs to your heart’s content.
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**Ep 94 – Are you ready for Singtel?**\\
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Singtel, a leading MNO in AsiaPac, has a reputation for innovation. Anna Yip, CEO of business development and deputy CEO for Singapore, shares insights into the telco’s efforts to build new revenue, customer satisfaction, and subscriber loyalty.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-94-singtel/)
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**How to transform your customer support with AI**\\
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12 March 2024 - \\
Customer support is the first place to look when adding GenAI to your org. We set out to boost performance in this area, and today we handle 56% of queries with no human intervention. Here’s how we did it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/customer-support-ai-blog/)
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**Ep 84 – MobileX’s AI-driven approach**\\
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6 February 2024 - \\
MVNO MobileX offers an AI-based tool that analyzes each subscriber’s usage and creates personalized plans for them. CEO Peter Adderton shares details about the company's plans for 2024, its deal with Walmart, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-84-ai-driven-approach/)
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**MVNOs, it’s time to Moneyball with AI**\\
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Embracing AI, the public cloud, and Totogi's SaaS solutions can help MVNOs compete with big league MNOs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvnos-moneyball-ai-blog/)
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**Ep 77 – Why do subscribers churn: network coverage or price?**\\
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Ninety percent of consumers are on mobile phone plans that aren’t a good fit. Stetson Doggett, founder of BestPhonePlans.net, lifts the curtain on why they’re overpaying, what prompts them to switch providers, and where they can look for better options.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-77-why-subscribers-churn-network-coverage-price/)
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**Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile on building a killer MVNO.**\\
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An interview with Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile, an MVNO built entirely on the public cloud. They discuss Ahmed's background and vision for US Mobile, the company's unique features, the benefits of building on the public cloud, and its underrated attribute.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-60-the-american-dream-building-a-killer-mvno/)
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**Turn your data into customer love**\\
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14 February 2023 - \\
These MNOs and MVNOs are using subscriber data, AI, ML, and the public cloud to deliver personalized experiences, proactive support, targeted offers and customer love to their subscribers.](https://telcodr.com/insights/turn-your-data-into-customer-love-blog/)
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**Ep 59 – Get ready for MWC 2023!**\\
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Mobile World Congress is a must-attend event for telco industry leaders. Here’s the latest on what to expect at this year’s event, which starts on February 27.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-59-get-ready-for-mwc-2023/)
View more
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## Totogi: New Telco Challenger
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-totogi-new-ant-at-picnic-video/#main)
ON-DEMAND VIDEO \| BLOG
# Part 7: Totogi is the \*New\* Ant at the Picnic
Select to open video modal![Video thumbnail - newspaper with Bloomberg headline, "Salesforce.com: An Ant At The Picnic"](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 519"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Cinderella, David vs. Goliath, Miracle on Ice. Who doesn’t love a great underdog story? Everyone loves to hear about the time the small guy took on the top dog and came out ahead. Which is why I love great business stories about how innovative, brave start-ups had the courage to stand up, go against the status quo, and upset the big incumbent in the end.
Well, there’s a great one out there that maybe you don’t know. The story of Siebel Systems and Salesforce. In the late 1990s, Oracle-exec Tom Siebel founded his own firm – Siebel Systems – which would go on to become [the fastest-growing tech firm](https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Siebel-Systems-is-nations-fastest-growing-tech-3272086.php) in the US. By the year 2000, it was definitely the top dog. It had 45% market share for its full stack, on-premise CRM package, which was installed at some of the world’s largest companies. Its stock had risen from an IPO price of $2 USD in 1996 to an incredible $120 USD by November 2000.
But then this little tiny challenger called Salesforce came along. Back in 2000, Marc Benioff had a great idea – there should be just one CRM. Companies didn’t need their own CRM, installed on premise. His idea was to build the world’s first webscale enterprise application in CRM, with NO software to install.
Marc’s idea was that customers would pay just to use it, accessing the software through the internet. And NOTHING would be installed on premise. The one catch was that customers would have to give up control of the application stack and let Salesforce manage their valuable customer data for them. Back in 2000, this was a radical new idea. At the time, everyone else was still shipping DVD-ROMs of software (remember those days?!?) and buying servers on which to install them. Salesforce would have none of that. Instead, customers would access it via a website, set it up and start using it easily, and receive value immediately. Even better: it would be cheap as hell. People didn’t know it at the time, but Salesforce was about to invent SaaS software.
Even though the public cloud hyperscalers hadn’t been invented yet, the idea of running enterprise software on someone else’s computers, where you didn’t control every element of the stack, was an insane idea. So you can imagine the objections everyone had: it wasn’t secure enough, concerns about data privacy, what would happen to their customizations and integrations to other systems, and what if the internet went down and they couldn’t access their data?
As I was researching the Siebel vs. Salesforce story, I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD because the list of objections is the same list I get from telco execs on why they can’t use the public cloud. It may be 21 years later, but the objections to the public cloud are the same.
But a new underdog is in town, and it’s coming to the telco industry. I know a startup that has the best product for telco I’ve ever seen, and I know a thing or two about its area. This team is in stealth mode and is not ready to be launched just yet, but I begged them to let me give you just a little taste of what it’s working on because I think it’s the most exciting thing going. What I love is that it’s everything I’ve been banging my drum about for the last several years, and I’m excited to share a couple of small details.
The startup is called [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) and it is building a webscale public cloud charging engine that can handle 100% of the world’s charging volume on one platform. It will be built just like Salesforce: fully SaaS with nothing to install. Instead of talking to you about infrastructure, datacenters, servers, databases supported, Red Hat, Kubernetes, BLAH BLAH BLAH … Totogi’s main focus is on **three huge business value drivers**:
1. **Automatic plan design**: The system is not just a regular old boring charger that implements tariffs and rates usage. Instead, the Totogi team has invested in ML and AI to build a system that understands your business goals, knows your tariffs, plans, subscribers, and network data, and can scan competitors’ plans in your marketplace to automatically recommend and implement optimized tariff designs. It promises it can reduce churn by up to 20%, attract up to 25% more subscribers from competitors, and boost ARPU growth by up to 15%. Um, yes please.
2. **A super app**: Today, telcos’ mobile apps are pre-installed on just about every home screen of every mobile phone in the world, but instead of being super awesome, they are super sucky. (When was the last time you logged in to your telco’s app? My point EXACTLY.) The Totogi team has designed a whole new approach to the telco mobile app – by building a Super App. The Super App is a mobile app framework where you, the carrier, will select the biz dev deals you want to offer to your subscribers, which Totogi has pre-negotiated for you, and configure the mobile app of your dreams. The catch: the additional revenue you get from your rev share deals will be more than your monthly revenue subscriber. This is an absolutely brilliant idea.
3. **The cheapest charger on the planet:** Just like Salesforce was to Siebel, this system will be way cheaper. Why? Because you don’t have all that infrastructure to deal with – it’s all built in and provided as a service. Totogi believes it will be 80% cheaper compared to the TCO of your #fakecloud, on-premise solutions. Welcome to the world of SaaS!
I can’t wait to hear more about Totogi in a few months’ time. It will debut its products at [MWC](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/) and it is already scheduling private viewing opportunities for interested customers.
In the meantime, you can hear a little more about why I think Totogi is destined for success during my KILLER talk at TelecomTV’s annual DSP Leaders World Forum, taking place March 8 – 12.
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts about it. Send me a message on Twitter or LinkedIn!
dr
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Video thumbnail: DR on the Salesforce vs. Siebel story.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Part 1: Siebel vs. Salesforce**\\
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Who doesn’t love a great business story?! The battle for the CRM market waged between Siebel and Salesforce was epic. And the objections Salesforce overcame will sound totally familiar to you telco execs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-part-1-siebel-vs-salesforce-video/)
[![Video thumbnail: Part 2: The Nails in Siebel's Coffin](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Part 2: The Nails in Siebel’s Coffin**\\
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There were fundamental flaws in Siebel’s strategy. Learn why Salesforce was destined to win and Siebel was destined to lose – and how this applies to telcos’ journey to the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-part-2-the-nails-in-siebels-coffin-video/)
[![Video thumbnail: Part 3: Introducing Totogi!](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Part 3: Introducing Totogi!**\\
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Watch this for an EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK at a soon-to-launch market disruptor 🤔 : the first and only webscale charging engine that can handle 100% of the world’s charging volume on ONE PLATFORM.](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-part-3-introducing-totogi-video/)
[![Video thumbnail - Part 4: Totogi's Automatic Plan Design](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Part 4: Totogi’s Automatic Plan Design**\\
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Spoiler alert! With Totogi’s Automatic Plan Design, you can reduce churn by up to 20%, attract up to 25% more subscribers, and boost ARPU growth by up to 15%.](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-part-4-totogi-automatic-plan-ai-design-video/)
[![Video thumbnail - Part 5: Totogi's Super App](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Part 5: Totogi’s Super App**\\
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Do more with your mobile app – make it a SUPER APP! Totogi built one for you and connected it to charging, so you can easily double your current monthly ARPU and deliver a 5 star subscriber experience, while building loyalty and engagement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-part-5-totogi-super-app-video/)
[![Video thumbnail - Part 6: Totogi is Super Cheap!](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Part 6: Totogi is Super Cheap!**\\
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Ready for the icing on the cake? Totogi will save you up to 80% on your current TCO of your #fakecloud, on premise charging solution. Charge ahead with the fastest, most scalable charger on the market!](https://telcodr.com/insights/dsp-part-6-totogi-super-cheap-video/)
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## BSS Data Transformation
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/#main)
Blog
# Unlock the true value of your BSS with AI
June 4, 2024
When we think about Business Support Systems (BSS), the first things that come to mind are managing customer orders, handling support requests, and keeping a user-friendly interface. While these tasks are crucial, they barely scratch the surface on the true business value of the system. The real treasure trove of a BSS is its data—a vast, untapped potential just waiting to be unleashed.
Traditionally, BSS data has been locked away by proprietary software vendors, inaccessible without costly professional services, or trapped across systems that are impossible to cross-reference to generate the insights you need. But this is changing. Generative AI (GenAI) is emerging as a game-changer for telecoms, helping the industry unlock the information hidden in our BSS data. Imagine having an AI-enabled business support system that can analyze your data, identify trends and anomalies, and even suggest actions to optimize your business. It would be like having a super-powered data scientist at your command.
[](https://inform.tmforum.org/webinars-and-podcasts/podcasts/quick-talk-podcast-did-someone-say-its-all-about-openness)
> So, what could you achieve if you could truly harness your BSS data? The potential is HUGE. You could gain strategic insights into market trends, your competitive position, and areas for business improvement. You could achieve operational excellence by optimizing processes, eliminating inefficiencies, and enhancing the quality of service. Personalization would allow you to create targeted offerings that resonate with customer segments, increasing revenue and satisfaction. And with predictive power, you could forecast churn, identify upsell opportunities, and proactively address potential issues. The positive financial impact of all of this is substantial, with achievements like these within reach:
>
> - 75% reduction in support costs by autonomously resolving cases
> - 10% reduction in operational costs through streamlined processes
> - 15% increase in ARPU from hyper-personalized offerings
> - 20% decrease in churn by engaging at-risk customers proactively through data-driven insights
### **TM Forum’s ODA: A great first step, but not the whole enchilada**
TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) sets out with noble intentions: to standardize APIs and enhance interoperability across BSS systems. It’s a crucial step forward for the industry, promoting openness and collaboration. However, in the real world, ODA faces significant challenges that can limit its effectiveness.
During our process of certifying [Totogi’s BSS against 44 TM Forum Open APIs](https://www.tmforum.org/conformance-certification/open-api-conformance/#table), we ran into some challenges with the approach of the ODA:
- **Complexity overload**: Implementing the ODA is no small feat. The architecture is intricate, with many moving parts. Few organizations have the in-house expertise to manage this complexity. Can telcos really handle this level of complexity on their own?
- **Data discrepancies:** ODA aims to standardize APIs, but it doesn’t fully tackle the challenge of harmonizing data structures across different BSS systems. Each system has its own data model, creating a patchwork of data fields with similar intentions but potentially different semantic meanings.
- **The multi-vendor maze**: Most telecom operators don’t use a single BSS from one vendor. They juggle multiple systems—some standalone, others parts of larger suites. Take Vodafone, for instance: [in 2020, it reportedly had 180 BSS applications in each of its 24 markets](https://inform.tmforum.org/webinars-and-podcasts/podcasts/quick-talk-podcast-did-someone-say-its-all-about-openness) around the world. Swapping out a component in this tangled web remains a daunting task, even with ODA.
- **Adoption hurdles:** The industry-wide adoption of ODA is still a work in progress. What happens when a vendor in your ecosystem hasn’t fully embraced TM Forum’s approach? Until it becomes a widespread standard, the benefits of ODA will be limited.
While ODA is a vital move towards openness and interoperability, it’s not a silver bullet on its own. Telecoms need a more flexible, AI-driven approach to truly tap into the insights hidden in their BSS data. Totogi has a different approach to solving this problem: harmonize the data structures with AI. By empowering business users—and not having to rely on the tech department and change requests (CRs) for everything—we can create a smarter, more agile industry—beyond what ODA can achieve on its own.
### **From vision to reality: the (AI)PI**
How can we make this vision a reality? The answer lies in Totogi’s concept of an “(AI)PI”—an AI-driven API intelligent layer that sits atop your BSS data, understanding its structure and unlocking its full potential. At its core it is an AI-enabled data structure that can talk to your existing BSS, gathering insights, answering questions, and generating new functionality. This (AI)PI doesn’t just expose data; it empowers business users to gain the insights they need to drive measurable business results. It can write code, generate screens, integrate systems, and even migrate data to new systems, thanks to GenAI.
### **BSS Magic enters the chat**
[Totogi’s BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/bss-magic/) is democratizing access to BSS data and making it a true engine for growth. But the impact goes beyond just technical possibility—it’s about transformational efficiency. Imagine reducing your investment in CRs by 10x, and achieving the same result 10x faster. This is the promise of AI-powered BSS democratization. Eliminate the spend on costly professional services and complex integrations, and replace it with a model that gives business users the same output without having to wait on the IT team. It’s about empowering business users with the ability to ask natural language questions and get answers, without intermediaries. It’s about speed and agility in an industry that desperately needs it.
[Nik Willetts, CEO of TMForum was right last year: the industry is in a code red situation](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/top-three/tm-forum-boss-issues-code-red-alert-for-industry/). We need to be able to deliver on the ROI of building new networks, otherwise there’s no sense in building 6G networks. It’s time for telcos to capitalize on the insights waiting in BSS data for new revenue streams and higher profit. Let’s build an industry that’s truly smart, driven by data and powered by AI.
### **Experience the future of BSS at DTW24**
If you’re excited about this potential, come see it in action at [TM Forum’s DTW24-Ignite](https://dtw.tmforum.org/) in Copenhagen from June 18 – 20. Totogi will be demoing [BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/bss-magic/) in the AWS space, showcasing how to unlock the true value of your BSS data. Want to meet up and explore the possibilities? DM me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/) or X [@TelcoDR](https://x.com/TelcoDR) and let’s connect. Together, we can revolutionize the industry.
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 86 – Reinventing BSS**
Last week I opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS). We captured the talk on video, and I’ve turned it into this podcast.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-86-reinventing-bss/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**MWC24: Danielle Rios Royston Talk – Unveiling the AI-First Future of BSS**
DR opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS).
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Pb_G-Bb4g&t=29s)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**The perfect BSS**
The BSS landscape in telecom is a mess. But change is coming. Totogi is ready to break the mold by bringing together AI and the public cloud to save the day.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-bss-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telco Cloud Challenges
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/hurdles-stopping-telco-maximizing-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud
March 15, 2022
Last year I went to Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telco industry’s most important event, with a clear message for telecom leaders: The public cloud is coming, and it will change everything.
A couple weeks ago, I went back to Barcelona to beat the public cloud drum. But you know what I saw? It’s not “on the way” anymore. It’s already here.
### The public cloud has arrived
Don’t believe me? Just look around. The signs are everywhere. This was the first year MWC had a cloud theme: CloudNet. Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS) delivered a keynote on the main stage. But there are other, more concrete examples:
- Vodafone’s strategic partnership with Google to move all analytic workloads to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) (see my [case study on how much Vodafone saved](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/) by the move);
- AT&T [selling off its Network Cloud business to Microsoft](https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_microsoft_azure.html), which will refactor it to run natively on Azure;
- And DISH’s move to go all-in on the public cloud in a partnership with AWS (see [my case study on how much it’ll save](https://telcodr.com/insights/1-and-1-vs-dish-open-ran-case-study-download/) compared to 1&1’s private cloud deal with Rakuten).
### The public cloud creates a competitive advantage
Even though the industry is changing right before our eyes, I still hear from telco execs about all the reasons they CAN’T START their move to the public cloud, instead of all the great things they CAN DO with the public cloud.
Someone who was initially resistant to using the public cloud is banking’s JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon. He initially thought the public cloud was just about outsourcing; but a few years ago he admitted he was wrong. He now sees that the public cloud accelerates innovation for his company, and that using it creates a competitive advantage for him. In early 2022, I was reading the transcript from [his Q4 2021 earnings call](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/01/15/jpmorgan-chase-jpm-q4-2021-earnings-call-transcrip/), when an analyst challenged his use of AWS. His response crystallized just how much his understanding of the public cloud has changed: “If we can spend $2 billion more and get to the cloud tomorrow, I would do that in a second.”
$2 billion dollars—and he wouldn’t hesitate if it would speed his move to the cloud. Just think about that for a second. This is an almost half-a-trillion-dollar company in a highly regulated industry with all the data sensitivity and privacy concerns that telco has—and he is all in. I loved his answer to that question so much, it became the cornerstone of my talk at MWC.
### Telcos can become the future of digital consumers—IF they seize the public cloud opportunity
You can gain competitive advantage by using the public cloud, too. But you have to change the three things that slow you down.
1. Your systems are outdated, built on a tech stack from the 90s.
2. Your data is messy, with different data models in different databases spread across your organization.
3. Your employees don’t know how to use the public cloud.
To start to use the cloud as a competitive advantage, you need to modernize your systems, cleanse your data, and hire cloud talent.
### Modernize your systems—for the speed
Inside a telco, there are thousands of legacy applications, running on premises, loaded with tons of technical debt. It’s a heavily customized, heavily integrated, rat’s nest of CRAP. While modernizing legacy systems will give you the opportunity to save lots of money, that’s not the main reason you move these workloads to the public cloud. You do it to gain market _speed_.
Telcos today struggle to get new ideas to market. New ideas take five times as long as they should to roll out because the legacy systems you have in place hamstring you. To be nimble and responsive in your market you need:
- **cloud-based systems** that allow you to use all the greatness of the public cloud—the compute, scale, and software—seamlessly;
- systems that give you the power to add a new database or artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to a legacy system **quickly**;
- systems that are **flexible**, allowing you to integrate with whatever you want and customize it **easily**; and
- systems that are **open**, so you can change them without needing expensive customizations or consultants.
Your current systems can’t do any of that.
But I have good news for you! New, modern systems, built with cloud-first principles that are fast, flexible, open, and easy to use are coming to telco, and you need to go buy them. (Like my company, [Totogi](https://totogi.com/). Full disclosure: I’m the acting CEO.)
### Cleanse your data
The second thing you need to do is clean your data. One of the most valuable assets inside a telco is the petabytes of data you have about how subscribers use the network. But it’s hard to extract the signal from the noise to get insights that can drive revenue growth.
To make the decisions that matter, you’re going to need to clean up your data. Do it by moving your data to cloud databases and using the [world’s best data tools](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4009286/magic-quadrant-for-cloud-database-management-systems) to drive a more personalized experience for your customers. I’m talking about [machine learning, AI, and analytics](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3981253/magic-quadrant-for-cloud-ai-developer-services).
You need to extract personalized insights in seconds, not days, and put them into action the moment you need to influence customer behavior. That would be amazing, right? You can’t do it today because your data is a mess. So, clean it up.
### Acquire cloud talent
Next up: people. To start using the public cloud, you don’t need to turn your telco into a software company. But you do need to start hiring and help your people learn how to design applications using cloud-first principles. To do that, you need to modernize your human resources (HR) programs to attract top talent.
Cloud skills are the most in-demand type of technical expertise in the job market today, and you’re competing for talent against the world’s best tech companies (and their really competitive compensation packages). You need leaders who can set (and hit) aggressive goals for moving the organization to the cloud. And you need software developers who can build applications in hours that are auto-scaling, self-healing, and that deliver the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and use the right cloud service for the job.
As an ex-HR professional, let me tell you: moving to the public cloud is going to take a strong HR strategy and partner. If you’re going to change the platform your IT group is based on, you need to realize that this isn’t just a technology decision you’re making: you are changing the culture of your technical organization. So, do the work to put a strong strategy together to hire and motivate the troops, get them trained, create a plan, and deploy the initiative. This will not be done overnight, so get started now.
### This sounds hard. Why are we doing it again?
Once you do these three things—modernize your systems, cleanse your data, and hire cloud talent—you’ll be set to unlock a competitive advantage and leverage your biggest asset: your network. Instead of being only about creating marketing offers around the use of the network, you’ll be able to _technically_ leverage your network. Turn network events into moments of excitement for your customers and use your technical advantage to obtain a **higher net promoter score (NPS).**
Global tech leaders like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple have NPS scores that are through the roof. They understand that without customer love, you can’t expand your average revenue per user (ARPU). They don’t have the leverage to force their customers to use their next-generation like telco does.
The tech companies put customer love at the center of their business models. They focus relentlessly on their customers. They provide great experience after great experience, and their revenue continues to grow and grow. That’s how you support a growing, demanding customer ARPU. For example:
- Amazon started with books and now it sells you everything—including data centers.
- UberEats exists only if Uber RideShare is awesome.
- Apple’s customer experience is world class, so people line up to buy its products.
All of these companies can expand because their experiences are great. But telco, I’m sad to say: You aren’t even close. You have to get that NPS up—like double—so you can [expand ARPU](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/).
If telcos use the next 10 years to adopt the public cloud, change their culture, and fix their NPS, they will be the future of the digital consumer. The telcos that make this transition have the most exciting decade in front of them. It is doable—when you embrace the public cloud AND change your culture to focus on customer love. But you have to give up the security blanket of the network.
Ready to get started? [We can help.](https://telcodr.com/contact/)
This is a MASSIVE opportunity, but you have to commit to take advantage. The best day to start your move to the public cloud was yesterday. The second-best day to start is today!
The public cloud is now! It’s time to get going. Let’s do it!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud**\\
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In November 2019, Vodafone announced they were moving their entire data analytics to Google Cloud. TelcoDR wondered: how much were they spending and how much did they save?](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
[![Case study: 1&1 vs DISH: a tale of two Open RAN networks](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**1&1 vs DISH Case Study**\\
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In 2021, major announcements were made about greenfield networks being built on Open RAN technology. In this case study, we look closely at two examples.](https://telcodr.com/insights/1-and-1-vs-dish-open-ran-case-study-download/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Kamal Ahluwalia, President, Eightfold.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 40 – New ways to build your future-ready workforce**\\
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Telcos need to hire a gazillion people with cloud skills. How can CSPs cultivate the talented teams they need? Good news – there are new workforce management strategies and AI tools that can help.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Cloud Migration Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/?filter-topic[]=cloud-migration#main)
# More Insights
Browse our treasure trove of podcasts, case studies and blogs to your heart’s content.
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**Ep 118 – Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)**\\
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23 June 2025 - \\
Mallik Rao from Telefónica Germany explains how the operator became the first brownfield operator to migrate its 5G core to AWS—a breakthrough the entire telco industry has been waiting for.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
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**Ep 116 – You CAN run the network on AWS’ public cloud (Ishwar Parulkar)**\\
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AWS's Ishwar Parulkar explains how telcos can now run critical network workloads on public cloud infrastructure, bridging the gap between traditional telco requirements and cloud-native solutions.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/)
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**Ep 93 – The NETWORK will be the reason telcos move to the public cloud**\\
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11 June 2024 - \\
Transformation leader Juha Korhonen explores signs that telecoms are ready to think about moving network workloads, why some aren't realizing cloud savings, and the need for BSS and OSS to converge.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-93-telcos-move-network-public-cloud/)
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**Ep 92 – The state of cloud in telco, with Iain Morris from Light Reading**\\
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28 May 2024 - \\
Following telcos' adoption of the public cloud is critical to understanding the future of the telecom industry. Iain Morris from Light Reading gives his take on where telcos are in their public cloud journey, how AI factors in, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-92-public-cloud-telco-iain-morris-light-reading/)
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**Telco’s shift to the public cloud gets real**\\
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21 May 2024 - \\
O2 Telefónica Germany is ditching private cloud and going all-in on the public cloud for its network—a major signal that the future of telco is in the public cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/o2-telefonica-telco-public-cloud-blog/)
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**The public cloud is PERFECT for Africa**\\
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The public cloud is taking off in Africa—and it’s a perfect match for the continent's telcos.](https://telcodr.com/insights/public-cloud-in-africa-blog/)
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**Ep 79 – Weaving through the public cloud with Ribbon**\\
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14 November 2023 - \\
Established software vendors face a balancing act between maintaining existing solutions and adopting new tech. Ribbon CEO Bruce McClelland talks about juggling customer needs with innovation and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-79-the-public-cloud-with-ribbon/)
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**Ep 78 – Visionary telcos use the public cloud**\\
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31 October 2023 - \\
Andrew Walker from Accenture explains why the move to the public cloud can be challenging for telcos and what they can do about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-78-visionary-telcos-public-cloud/)
View more
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## HR Transformation Framework
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/#main)
Blog
# The HR transformation framework I swear by (Go get 'em – part 1)
October 1, 2020
I’m so excited you’ve found my blog! As you know by now, I’m launching a podcast (“ [Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/)”), and one of my first guests is my friend, SVP of Human Resources and leadership guru, Jim Abolt.
I met Jim when I was at Trilogy back in 2000, where he implemented a radical and effective approach to HR. Most people think of HR as lame, as the place to go to find out exactly how much vacation time you have accrued. But believe it or not, there is such a thing as “Strategic HR” – these are the leaders who work with executives to help them successfully transform their business (which is really hard work!), and that’s exactly what Jim does.
When I became CEO of Optiva (then Redknee), I was embarking on a plan to resurrect the organization and I needed help to make sure I was successful. So I called Jim and he shared his **framework for change** with me.
Now if you’re reading this, you must be a telco executive who’s thinking about a very big change – transforming your organization to one that has the public cloud front and center. So I’m going to share Jim’s framework, which helped me lay out the case for change, the ways we were going to motivate everyone, and how we were going to get it done.
Deciding to make a big change is the first step. Now what? Creating the plan is just the start of the transformation you’re leading. But if you work through this framework step-by-step, you’ll be on your way to realizing your vision.
**The steps are simple:**
1. Communicate the Vision
2. Create the Desire
3. Model the Way
4. Change the Work
5. Make it Stick
#### **STEP ONE: Communicate the Vision**
Or…Everyone understands where we’re going and why.
Communicating the vision is simply being able to succinctly describe a future state of the organization, why it’s imperative that we change, and why that future state is a place we all want to get to as quickly as possible.
To prepare, you need to practice your message over and over saying it the same way every time. You are going to repeat it, a lot, because you need to say it until the very last person in your organization can repeat it back to you (Jim calls this “mind-numbing repetition”). Be sure to ask yourself how effective you are in communicating your vision – and be honest in your assessment. Based on meeting attendance data, are you reaching 100% of your audience? If not, how can you close the gap? Are there other means of communication you should be considering for your message? For example, should you be writing a brief email each week to the whole organization to update them on what’s occurring and remind them where you’re heading?
The biggest mistake I see leaders make with STEP ONE is underestimating the amount (and consistency) of communication that needs to occur for people to “get it.” Whatever you’re doing, you can always do more. If you’re not good at explaining change and inspiring people to get on board, your ability to actually make that change happen will always be limited. Inspiration doesn’t come from detailed project plans; it comes from simply stated, yet profound, ideas that appeal to people’s emotions. Becoming great at explaining your ideas in ways that people embrace will be an invaluable addition to your leadership repertoire.
#### **STEP TWO: Create the Desire**
Or…Everyone wants to get there as much as you do.
If your organization is like most others, support for change can be spotty. Some embrace it, while others resist. Nevertheless, you need to work tirelessly to get people on board, or get them off the ship (yes, I said it – people who are not onboard with your direction need to LEAVE). You should take the time to encourage and support people who are trying to come along on the journey, but don’t waste time on laggards. Just show them the door.
A big part of getting people on board with your idea is to clearly describe what’s in it for them. Why is this future state you’re trying to achieve worth it for them? A big motivator I’ve used for moving to the cloud is how much more valuable a CV or resume becomes with public cloud experience. Perhaps mundane and monotonous tasks will be eliminated – “the boring work” – to free up time to work on more exciting, strategic projects. People will need a really good reason to rip up all their hard work on the “old way of doing things” to go through the pain of implementing a new idea – so get them excited and create the desire to slog through your Big Idea.
My favorite definition of leadership is: the ability to get people to WANT to do something the leader believes needs to be done. STEP TWO is about putting that definition into practice. It’s about _inspiring commitment_ rather than _demanding compliance_. Unfortunately, because this is the most nebulous step in the change process, lots of leaders ignore it. That’s a big mistake. Inspired performance beats perfunctory effort any day.
Want to find out more about actually making this sh\*t happen? Then [read part two](https://telcodr.com/insights/go-get-em-hr-framework-part-two-blog/) on this topic.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Troy O’Brien, Cloud Evangelist & Global AWS Practice Leader, DXC Technologies.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 536"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 7 – The HR Series: Telcos, get ready for workforce transformation**\\
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The HR Series, Part 1: If telecoms are going to survive the inevitable move to the public cloud, they need to start focusing on people – retraining, hiring, and yes, letting some workers go.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
[![Culture of innovation](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**So, you want to be a tech-co?**\\
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It's a revenue-boosting trend for telcos to pivot to become tech companies. Before you do, here's where and how you need to raise your game…](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/)
[![Nothing’s better than the real thing](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 269"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Nothing’s better than the real thing: true cloud-native**\\
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Telco CTOs and CIOs, use these questions to figure out which vendors are doing cloud native right.](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/)
[![The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The 3 hurdles keeping telco from maximizing the public cloud**\\
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Telcos can gain competitive advantages by using the public cloud. But you have to change the three things slowing you down.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hurdles-stopping-telco-maximizing-public-cloud-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Building Your Own Cloud
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/building-your-own-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# Think twice before building your own public cloud
November 30, 2020
The other day I was talking with a telco exec in South America who told me he was planning to build his own public cloud. After my double take I asked him, “Why on earth would you do this?”
His answer: because he lived in a country where the government didn’t allow him to take data out of the country, and none of the hyperscalers had yet built a data center in his country, he was left with no other choice but to build his own public cloud.
These two reasons (data sovereignty and there’s no hyperscaler in my country) are some of the most common reasons telcos cite when they conclude they must build their own public clouds.
Let’s talk about why I think this is a really bad idea.
### Are you sure your data can’t leave?
Many telcos believe that data sovereignty is a real thing for them, and it’s one of the first objections CxOs use as a reason why they can’t use the public cloud. I think telcos should absolutely be aware of the data privacy and location laws in the areas where they do business, but too many telcos incorrectly err on the side of caution, thinking that restrictions exist where in actuality there are none.
For example, in the last week I’ve talked to **three** different telcos, in **three** different countries, in **three** different continents (Bolivia, Serbia, Zimbabwe), who have used this objection with me – and upon further research I have discovered **all three don’t have all the information**. They are correct that there are restrictions; however, in each case there was a way to work around the restriction and use the public cloud.
Protecting data and abiding by the law are real things, and data sovereignty is certainly a contentious issue. CxOs are often told incorrectly by their staff that strict rules govern data sovereignty, and CxOs believe them. If this is what you believe, I suggest you spend some time actually researching the regulations; you might be surprised.
[Check out this quick run-down](https://www.permission.io/blog/what-is-data-sovereignty-everything-you-need-to-know) of the whats and wheres of data sovereignty. The [Cloud Security Alliance Consensus Assessments Initiative’s site](https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/research/working-groups/consensus-assessments/#_overview) also has a ton of resources including a questionnaire of things that a cloud customer (i.e YOU) or auditor should consider asking of their cloud provider. In my experience, very very few countries have completely blocked out your ability to use a BFC, even when it’s not in your country. My advice: if you can use a hyperscaler, you should.
### No Hyperscaler For Miles and Miles
But for the sake of this blog, let’s pretend that you are unfortunately in one of the few countries that can’t move their data out of the country and there’s no hyperscaler data center located in your country. Before you decide to pull the trigger on building your own public cloud, let’s hold the phone.
Data centers are incredibly expensive to build. If you want evidence of just how freaking expensive data centers are to build, look no further than Amazon. The company recently announced that it’s rolling out a new data center in Hyderabad, India. According to [this blog by Jeff Barr](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/in-the-works-aws-region-in-hyderabad-india/), Amazon’s Chief Evangelist, it’ll open in mid-2022 with three Availability Zones. This will be Amazon’s second region in India, its eleventh region in Asia, and will bring its global total to 29 to date. You can check out [all of Amazon’s locations here](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/). [Google](https://cloud.google.com/about/locations) and [Microsoft Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/explore/global-infrastructure/geographies/#geographies) are busy too: [Google has 21](https://time.com/5814276/google-data-centers-water/#:~:text=in%20the%20booming%20cloud%2Dcomputing,%2410%20billion%20across%20the%20U.S.) and Azure reportedly has [more than 100](https://build5nines.com/how-big-is-the-microsoft-azure-cloud/#:~:text=The%20Microsoft%20Cloud%20is%20made,Cloud%20serves%20over%20140%20countries.).
Though you may already manage sophisticated data centers, don’t underestimate how difficult they are to run when you open your data centers to your enterprise customers.
Barr talks about ‘regions’ and his use of Amazon lingo is actually pretty apt. Most people probably imagine a data center as a building with a load of servers – albeit on a pretty industrial scale. For a more accurate picture read [Corey Quinn’s blog](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/why-aws-announces-regions-in-advance/), which goes into more detail on what a ‘region’ is. In short, building a data center involves:
- Multiple buildings
- Redundant power lines between buildings
- Fiber between buildings, the internet backbone, and your proprietary networks
- Tens of thousands of servers and other hardware
- Deploying services into the data center
- Hiring and deploying staff
### ONE BILLION DOLLARS
The bill for Hyderabad is [a whopping $2.8 billion](https://x.com/KTRTRS/status/1324592966212612096).
> Happy to announce the largest FDI in the history of Telangana! After a series of meetings, AWS has finalized investment of ₹20,761 Cr ($ 2.77 Bn) to set up multiple data centers in Telangana
>
> The [@AWSCloud](https://x.com/awscloud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) Hyd Region is expected to be launched by mid 2022 [#HappeningHyderabad](https://x.com/hashtag/HappeningHyderabad?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/XuGxFfSFsS](https://x.com/KTRBRS/status/1324592966212612096)
>
> — KTR (@KTRBRS) [November 6, 2020](https://x.com/KTRBRS/status/1324592966212612096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
AWS doesn’t build out data centers unless it builds out three availability zones, which works out to be about $900 million dollars per zone or per public cloud. Ouch. If anyone’s perfected and optimized the process of building a data center, it’s AWS. So, for the purposes of this blog, let’s assume it costs $900 million to build a data center with one availability zone designed to serve one billion workloads. Even if you just do the equivalent of one availability zone, you’re looking at close to $1B of capex spend to get this thing off the ground, and we haven’t even had to do a hardware refresh yet.
### When all else fails…
But what if you really really can’t use the public cloud? Well in that case, I still have ideas for you.
If you are hell bent on building your own public cloud, then I recommend to try to use as much software from the public cloud providers as possible. Managed services are available such as [AWS Outpost](https://aws.amazon.com/outposts/), which offers:
- The same AWS infrastructure, AWS services, APIs, and tools to any data center, co-location space, or on-premises facility
- Access to the full range of AWS services available in the region to build, manage, and scale your on-premises applications using AWS services and tools
- Some local datasets can’t be easily migrated to the cloud for processing due to cost, size, bandwidth, or timing constraints. Outposts allow you to process data locally, while keeping your data lakes and ML training in a region. With Outposts, you can setup a consistent hybrid cloud architecture to process data on premises and easily move data to the cloud for long-term archival. Control over where your workloads run and where your data resides, while using local operational tooling for things like monitoring and stability
or [GCP Anthos](https://cloud.google.com/anthos), which enables you to:
- Run Kubernetes clusters anywhere, in both cloud and on-premises environments
- Define, automate, and enforce policies across environments to meet your security and compliance requirements
- Integrate security into each stage of the application lifecycle while offering a comprehensive portfolio of security controls across all of these deployment models
- Unburden ops and development teams by empowering them to manage and secure traffic between services while monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving application performance
Google Cloud Platform has even gone a step further for analytics with the recently announced [BigQuery Omni from GCP](https://www.googlecloudpresscorner.com/press-releases/) which allows you to use their analytic engines and databases while keeping your datastores in place – whether in the public cloud or on premise.
By using as much public cloud software as you can, you can reduce your own investment and realize efficiencies in your business operations and workflows. This will put you in a prime position to move to the public cloud later and capitalize on the hyperscalers’ ever-expanding footprints when either they open a data center in your country OR your country adjusts your data regulations and you can move it out of the country. If you set up your own public cloud in a way that leverages the public cloud software, you’ll be able to quickly pivot to using the BFCs if and when the time comes – use a BFC to its maximum advantage.
### There’s always a tweet
[](https://x.com/roopa_shree/status/30816659086245888?s=21)
So before you pull the trigger on almost $1B spend to build your own public cloud, spend some time reading up on Verizon’s foray into the public cloud: they tried to do this by first acquiring a bunch of data centers and then bailed and sold off the whole business.
In 2011, Verizon thought it was a great idea to spend $1.4 billion to acquire [data center provider Terremark](https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/deals/verizon-completes-acquisition-of-terremark). A decade on, it realized it couldn’t compete with the might of the hyperscalers and [dumped the business on Equinix](https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/01/equinix-completes-3-6-billion-deal-to-buy-29-data-centers-from-verizon/) ( [similar to a move made by Century Link](https://fortune.com/2016/11/04/centurylink-data-center/) in 2016) and completely exited the business of building its own cloud. Verizon had clearly spent enough money to do it, so why didn’t it work?
One word: software. Telcos believe public cloud is all about the hardware infrastructure as the key to building a successful cloud business. While that is partly true, they are missing the BIGGER piece of the puzzle of what you need to really attract people to your cloud: KILLER SOFTWARE. The BFCs have invested BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars perfecting the SOFTWARE of the public cloud. All of that software – along with the talent required to build it – does not exist in telcos. Not in a real, scalable, commercially-available-to-the-larger-public sort of way. Telcos could try to remake themselves into a software shop, but remember the BFCs have a 30-year head start on them: they started in software and added hardware later, not the other way around. That’s quite a lead.
Remind me again why you think it’s a good idea to build your own public cloud?
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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## More from TelcoDR
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graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## AI and Climate Paradox
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/#main)
Blog
# The green paradox of AI
April 22, 2025
Remember 2021? Back in those pre-AI days, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure had all established ambitious (but different) climate commitments. For Earth Day 2025, we wondered:
**As they wage a trillion-dollar war for AI dominance, have their environmental promises become the first casualties on the battlefield? 🧐**
The stakes couldn’t be higher. According to [a new report from the International Energy Agency](https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai), artificial intelligence (AI) will trigger a seismic shift in our energy landscape: data center electricity consumption will _more than double_ by 2030, with AI-optimized facilities alone projected to quadruple their power demands. For context, that’s roughly equivalent to adding Japan’s entire electricity consumption to the global grid in just five years.
OpenAI’s [Sam Altman last year shared a distressing truth](https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/19/24044070/sam-altman-says-the-future-of-ai-depends-on-breakthroughs-in-clean-energy) that the industry has been reluctant to acknowledge: “We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology… There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough. We need \[nuclear\] fusion or we need, like, radically cheaper solar plus storage or something at massive scale.” Translation: current renewable technologies simply cannot support the AI revolution without radical innovation.
This predicament creates the ultimate corporate dilemma for the Big Three hyperscalers: continue their meteoric AI expansion and risk shattering their climate commitments, or throttle back on AI and watch competitors race ahead. We compared their pre-GenAI sustainability goals to the most recent reports, analyzing not just what they’re saying, but how their changing language, shifting timelines, and evolving metrics reveal what they truly prioritize when forced to choose.
### **Google: the carbon-free pioneer caught in its own success trap**
Having already achieved carbon-neutrality in 2007, and matching its energy use with 100% renewable energy in 2017, [Google went big in 2020](https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/our-third-decade-climate-action-realizing-carbon-free-future/) with what energy analysts consider the industry’s most scientifically rigorous climate commitment: achieving both net-zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2030 and implementing true 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE). Unlike its competitors’ approaches, Google’s 24/7 CFE standard rejects the accounting sleight-of-hand of carbon credits, instead striving to use carbon-free sources to power all of its facilities in every region, every hour of every day. That means no reliance on offsets or renewable energy certificates (RECs)—a distinction that matters profoundly for real-world climate impact.
The painful irony is that, while pioneering this gold-standard approach, Google’s [emissions have mushroomed by a staggering 48% since 2019](https://www.ecowatch.com/google-ai-energy-demand-carbon-emissions.html), with a 13% surge in 2023 alone. The company’s [remarkable achievement of 64% CFE](https://climateinsider.com/2024/07/04/googles-2024-environmental-report-key-insights-and-opportunities/) now stands in stark contrast to its emissions trajectory. Perhaps most telling is the linguistic retreat in its [latest sustainability report](https://sustainability.google/reports/google-2024-environmental-report/), where confident declarations have given way to hedged language about how emissions reduction “may be challenging” due to AI compute demands—corporate-speak for “we’ve hit a wall.”
### **Microsoft: the moonshot that’s losing altitude**
[Microsoft’s 2020 carbon negative pledge](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/01/16/microsoft-will-be-carbon-negative-by-2030/) represented the corporate climate equivalent of Kennedy’s moonshot—not just zeroing out emissions, but actively removing more carbon than they emit by 2030. This pledge, coupled with commitments to 100% renewable energy by 2025, wasn’t just ambitious—it fundamentally redefined what corporate environmental leadership could look like in the 2020s.
Yet by the company’s own admission, that moon is now receding from view. With [emissions climbing 29.1% since 2020](https://cdn-dynmedia-1.microsoft.com/is/content/microsoftcorp/microsoft/msc/documents/presentations/CSR/Microsoft-2024-Environmental-Sustainability-Report.pdf#page=10)—almost entirely from AI infrastructure expansion—Microsoft faces a philosophical crisis that transcends mere numbers. Its contracted [34 gigawatts of renewable energy across 24 countries](https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/how-ais-rise-changed-microsofts-sustainability-strategy) represents genuine progress, but increasingly appears insufficient against AI’s exponential energy curve. The company now confronts an existential question: can you claim environmental leadership while simultaneously driving an AI revolution that undermines your climate goals? Chief Sustainability Officer [Melanie Nakagawa’s candid admission](https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/02/13/progress-on-the-road-to-2030/) that “the moon has gotten further away” offers a glimpse into the cognitive dissonance inside the organization.
### **Amazon: The tortoise strategy in a hare’s race?**
In an unexpected plot twist, Amazon—long criticized for its environmental reticence—may have inadvertently given itself a leg up. By [setting comparatively modest goals in 2019](https://www.aboutamazon.com/planet/climate-pledge), (net-zero carbon by 2040, decades later than Google), Amazon created a timeline potentially better aligned with technological reality. Its [achievement of 100% renewable energy matching](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/sustainability/amazon-renewable-energy-goal) seven years ahead of schedule suggests its less ambitious approach might yield more attainable outcomes.However, we have to call out that some critical context is missing. Unlike Microsoft and Google, Amazon hasn’t released a 2024 sustainability report, leaving us with only 2023 data to analyze. While the company reported a 3% year-over-year carbon footprint reduction in [its 2023 sustainability report](https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/), its absolute emissions remain [nearly 20 million metric tons above 2019 levels](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/5-years-into-amazons-climate-pledge-workers-challenge-its-progress/). More concerning for its true climate impact is Amazon’s reliance on “matching” renewables rather than true 24/7 carbon-free energy—a methodology that allows it to continue powering operations with fossil fuels while purchasing enough clean energy elsewhere to balance the accounting. This fundamental difference in measurement approach makes it hard to compare with Google and Microsoft and raises questions about the substance behind the statistics.
### **Three ways to answer the green paradox of AI**
Our analysis paints a clear picture: the meteoric rise of AI has collided with hyperscalers’ climate commitments. But the situation isn’t hopeless—there are pathways forward for tech giants that are serious about reconciling their AI ambitions with environmental responsibility.
##### **1\. Get nuclear in the mix**
Solar and wind alone won’t power the AI revolution. [Hyperscalers need to aggressively invest in next-generation nuclear technologies](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-and-nuclear-energy-blog/), particularly small modular reactors (SMRs), for carbon-free power. While these aren’t immediate solutions—most won’t be operational until the late 2020s or 2030s—they represent the only realistic path to providing the massive amounts of reliable power that AI requires.
[The Big Three have already begun moving in this direction](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/business/energy-environment/amazon-google-microsoft-nuclear-energy.html), but need to accelerate these efforts and be transparent about the timeline. For telcos considering cloud partners, a clear nuclear strategy should be a key differentiator in assessing which hyperscaler can help you meet your climate targets.
##### **2\. Keep developing AI-specific efficiency standards and hardware**
Rather than treating AI as just another workload, hyperscalers need to fundamentally rethink how they develop, train, and deploy the models—with energy efficiency as a core requirement.
This means investing in specialized AI chips that dramatically reduce energy consumption, implementing rigorous energy budgets for model training, and establishing industry-wide efficiency benchmarks. It also means being willing to accept tradeoffs between model capability and sustainability when necessary.
Microsoft, Google, and AWS all have chip development programs, but they need to be willing to prioritize efficiency over raw performance to make meaningful progress on their climate commitments.
##### **3\. Deploy AI selectively and strategically**
Not every task requires the most power-hungry large language models (LLMs). Hyperscalers need frameworks to match AI capabilities to actual needs, deploying smaller, specialized models whenever possible. This means building portfolios of models at different energy/capability levels and educating customers about environmental impacts and potentially charging premium prices for the most energy-intensive AI applications to reflect their true environmental cost.
This selective approach creates space for continued innovation in high-value domains while constraining overall energy demand. For telecom companies, this strategy offers opportunities to partner with hyperscalers on energy-efficient, domain-specific AI solutions tailored to telecommunications challenges.
The hyperscalers that successfully implement these three strategies will be best positioned to maintain credibility on their climate commitments while still leading in the AI revolution.
### **The bottom line**
I believe hyperscalers can be pioneers in both AI and climate action—but reconciling the two requires more than press releases and hand-waving. It demands fundamentally rethinking of how we develop and deploy these powerful technologies in a carbon-constrained world. Embracing this challenge head-on will not only protect Big Tech’s climate credibility but also build more sustainable foundations for the AI-powered future. After all, money may make the world go ‘round, but if AI’s insatiable energy demands continue unchecked, we might not have a planet left to spin. 🌎
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [We’re helping a customer leave CloudSense. Here’s why that’s a GREAT idea.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloudsense-and-bss-magic-blog/)
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## Kubernetes and Cloud Native
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/#main)
Blog
# Why do people think Kubernetes is cloud native?
May 24, 2022
After I published my blog about [the top five ways to tell the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing](https://telcodr.com/insights/true-cloud-native-blog/), the most controversial item turned out to be number four: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native.” So I decided to dedicate an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.
### First, a little history
Back in the days before the cloud, software applications were tied to the hardware servers they were running on. The public cloud came along, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) started to offer what would later become juggernaut services for the company: storage and compute.
It was storage and compute, but in AWS’s cloud. As adoption accelerated, more and more services became available and technologists worked to swap non-cloud objects for more and more cloud infrastructure. Everyone was working to replace physical, machine-based systems.
During this transition, some folks at Google saw the possibilities that cloud architecture offered and had an idea on how to break totally free from hardware dependencies with… containers. [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io/) (K8s) was born (yes, [Google is the father of K8s](https://cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-kubernetes)), bringing the world a new layer of abstraction from physical servers.
Rather than keeping K8s as a proprietary product, Google decided to open source it, and the [Cloud Native Computing Foundation](https://www.cncf.io/) (CNCF) was formed. Its objective was to support people building things specifically for the cloud so that technologists across industries and around the world could harness all the new possibilities and help push things forward. Still today, the CNCF’s mission is to “make cloud-native computing ubiquitous.”This tweet thread from [David Aronchick](https://x.com/aronchick/status/1520496190558597121) explains how he was “in the room where it happened,” and how we have come to call Kubernetes cloud native. Basically, we call it cloud-native because everyone agreed it was an early way to get things into the cloud, overseen by a foundation with “cloud native” in the name, and developed by a group that saw the opportunities of cloud-native architectures and understood that Kubernetes offered a way to get there. The rest is history.
### K8s: What is it good for?
Back to the present and Kubernetes. Don’t get me wrong: using K8s to get things up and into the public cloud is a great first move. But read this handy [Cloud Architecture Maturity Scale](https://x.com/NIDeveloper/status/1518286637926690827), which puts Kubernetes at level two in its zero-to-five ranking. It isn’t the worst, but it’s not always the best, either. Like my friend Forrest Brazeal explains in his [“The lift-and-shift shot clock” blog](https://www.pluralsight.com/resources/blog/cloud/the-lift-and-shift-shot-clock-cloud-migration) (and also [on my podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/)), Kubernetes can be a great first step to the public cloud, because it can get you there quickly. As soon as you are there, though, you have to start thinking about how to optimize software for the public cloud and sometimes that means moving OUT of K8s.
In telco, I see too many companies use K8s as their final destination instead of as a stepping stone. Sometimes it is the right solution. It’s important to understand the technical and operational tradeoffs of your decision for the particular situation and optimize appropriately.
### So, what is “cloud native?”
You may be wondering, “If Kubernetes doesn’t qualify as cloud native, then what does?” The term itself is hard to define because technology changes quickly and different people apply the term differently (like to their old on-prem solutions!). So I’m going to tell you what I think it means, as of today.
Cloud-native technologies are:
- Built for the public cloud and run on a public cloud from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud
- Dramatically cheaper than their old, on-premise equivalents
- Infinitely scalable both up and down without human intervention
- Resilient and self-healing
- Using specific databases that are purpose-built for different analytical or storage use cases
- Lightweight, using well-defined APIs, and priced by the usage
- Dynamic, leveraging serverless technology when appropriate
For telcos running legacy software, achieving a cloud-native tech stack means that you’ll probably be re-architecting most things for the public cloud (or buying software that is public cloud native off the shelf). Kubernetes can help you make the initial leap. But you’re not going to get the massive benefits of the public cloud unless you bite the bullet and start to understand the use cases where K8s is the right choice, and when it’s not needed and complicates your operations. Figure that out, and you’ll be on your way to cloud nirvana.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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## TelcoDR Terms of Use
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/terms-of-use/#main)
## Terms of use
Last Modified: October 6, 2020
**Acceptance of the Terms of Use**
These terms of use are entered into by and between you and TelcoDR Inc (“ **TelcoDR**,” “ **we**,” or “ **us**”). The following terms and conditions, together with any documents they expressly incorporate by reference (“ **Terms of Use**”), govern your access to and use of TelcoDR.com (the “ **Website**”).
Please read the Terms of Use carefully before you start to use the Website. **By using the Website, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy, found at [https://telcodr.com/privacy-policy/](https://telcodr.com/privacy-policy/), incorporated herein by reference.** If you do not want to agree to these Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, you must not access or use the Website.
This Website is offered and available to users who are 16 years of age or older.
**Changes to the Terms of Use**
We may revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them, and apply to all access to and use of the Website thereafter.
Your continued use of the Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to the changes. You are expected to check this page so you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you.
**Accessing the Website and Account Security**
We reserve the right to withdraw or amend this Website, and any service or material we provide on the Website, in our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the Website, or the entire Website, to users, including registered users.
You are responsible for both:
- Making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Website.
- Ensuring that all persons who access the Website through your internet connection are aware of these Terms of Use and comply with them.
To access the Website or some of the resources it offers, you may be asked to provide certain registration details or other information. It is a condition of your use of the Website that all the information you provide on the Website is correct, current, and complete. You agree that all information you provide to register with this Website or otherwise, including, but not limited to, through the use of any interactive features on the Website, is governed by our Privacy Policy, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy.
If you choose, or are provided with, a user name, password, or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with access to this Website or portions of it using your user name, password, or other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your user name or password or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.
We have the right to disable any user name, password, or other identifier, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time in our sole discretion for any or no reason, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms of Use.
**Intellectual Property Rights**
The Website and its entire contents, features, and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by TelcoDR, its licensors, or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.
These Terms of Use permit you to use the Website for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on our Website, except as follows:
- Your computer may temporarily store copies of such materials in RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials.
- You may store files that are automatically cached by your Web browser for display enhancement purposes.
- If we provide desktop, mobile, other applications or content for download, you may download a single copy to your computer or mobile device solely for your own personal, non-commercial use, provided you agree to be bound by our end user license agreement for such applications or content.
You must not:
- Modify copies of any materials from this site.
- Delete or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices from copies of materials from this site.
You must not access or use for any commercial purposes any part of the Website or any services or materials available through the Website.
If you print, copy, modify, download, or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the Website in breach of the Terms of Use, your right to use the Website will stop immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right, title, or interest in or to the Website or any content on the Website is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by TelcoDR. Any use of the Website not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws.
**Trademarks**
The TelcoDR name, “Telco in 20” and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks of TelcoDR or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of TelcoDR. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans on this Website are the trademarks of their respective owners.
**Prohibited Uses**
You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree not to use the Website:
- In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local, or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
- For the purpose of exploiting, harming, or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information, or otherwise.
- To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail,” “chain letter,” “spam,” or any other similar solicitation.
- To impersonate or attempt to impersonate TelcoDR, a TelcoDR employee, another user, or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using email addresses associated with any of the foregoing).
- To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Website, or which, as determined by us, may harm TelcoDR or users of the Website, or expose them to liability.
Additionally, you agree not to:
- Use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the Website, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Website.
- Use any robot, spider, or other automatic device, process, or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Website.
- Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Website, or for any other purpose not expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, without our prior written consent.
- Use any device, software, or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Website.
- Introduce any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs, or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful.
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to the Website.
- Attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.
- Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website.
**Reliance on Information Posted**
The information presented on or through the Website is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.
This Website may include content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users, bloggers, and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators, and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by TelcoDR, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TelcoDR. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.
**Changes to the Website**
We may update the content on this Website from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Any of the material on the Website may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.
**Information About You and Your Visits to the Website**
All information we collect on this Website is subject to our [Privacy Policy](https://telcodr.com/privacy-policy/). By using the Website, you consent to all actions taken by us with respect to your information in compliance with the Privacy Policy.
**Links from the Website**
If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. This includes links contained in advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.
**Disclaimer of Warranties**
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER TELCODR NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH TELCODR MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER TELCODR NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH TELCODR REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, TELCODR HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
**Limitation on Liability**
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL TELCODR, ITS AFFILIATES, OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
**Indemnification**
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TelcoDR, its affiliates, licensors, and service providers, and its and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, successors, and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms of Use or your use of the Website, including, but not limited to, any use of the Website’s content, services, and products other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, or your use of any information obtained from the Website.
**Governing Law and Jurisdiction**
All matters relating to the Website and these Terms of Use, and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Texas without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of Texas or any other jurisdiction).
Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Website shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the State of Texas, in each case located in the City of Austin and County of Travis, although we retain the right to bring any suit, action, or proceeding against you for breach of these Terms of Use in your country of residence or any other relevant country. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
**Waiver and Severability**
No waiver by TelcoDR of any term or condition set out in these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of TelcoDR to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.
**Entire Agreement**
The Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and TelcoDR regarding the Website and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Website.
**Your Comments and Concerns**
This website is operated by TelcoDR Inc.
All feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications relating to the Website should be directed to: [info@telcodr.com](mailto:info@telcodr.com).
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## TelcoDR Privacy Policy
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/privacy-policy/#main)
# Privacy Policy
_Last modified: September 15, 2020_
**Introduction**
TelcoDR Inc, a Delaware corporation, ( **“TelcoDR”**) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.
This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website [www.TelcoDR.com](https://telcodr.com/) (our “ **Website**”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.
This policy applies to information we collect:
- On this Website.
- In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and TelcoDR.
It does not apply to information collected by:
- Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by TelcoDR or any third party; or
- Any third party, including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website.
Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website. By accessing or using this Website, you agree to this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time (see Changes to Our Privacy Policy). Your continued use of this Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.
**Children Under the Age of 16**
Our Website is not intended for children under 16 years of age. No one under age 16 may provide any information to or on the Website. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are under 16, do not use or provide any information on this Website or through any of its features, register on the Website, make any purchases through the Website, use any of the interactive or public comment features of this Website, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 16 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 16, please contact us at [privacy@telcodr.com](mailto:privacy@telcodr.com).
**Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It**
We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including information:
- By which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, and any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline (“ **personal information**”);
- That is about you but individually does not identify you, such as employment history, past projects; and/or
- About your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Website, and usage details.
We collect this information:
- Directly from you when you provide it to us.
- Automatically as you navigate through the site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies.
_Information You Provide to Us_
The information we collect on or through our Website may include:
- Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our Website, subscribing to our service, posting material, or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you report a problem with our Website.
- Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us.
- Your responses to surveys that we might ask you to complete for research purposes.
- Your search queries on the Website.
_Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies_
As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:
- Details of your visits to our Website, including traffic data, location data, logs, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Website.
- Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type.
The information we collect automatically may include personal information, or we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:
- Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
- Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests.
- Speed up your searches.
- Recognize you when you return to our Website.
The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website.
_Google Analytics_: We also use a tool called “Google Analytics” to collect information about use of this site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit the Website, what pages they visit when they do so, and what other sites they used prior to coming to ours. We use the information we get from Google Analytics to improve the Website. Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit this site, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. Although Google Analytics places a permanent cookie on your browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit the Website, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this site is restricted by the [**Google Analytics Terms of Use**](https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/) and the [**Google Privacy Policy**](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US). You can prevent Google Analytics from recognizing you on return visits to this site by disabling cookies on your browser.
_Do Not Track_: California law requires us to disclose to you how we respond to web browser Do Not Track (DNT) signals. Because there currently is no industry or legal standard for recognizing or complying with DNT signals, we do not respond to them at this time. We await the result of work by the privacy community and industry to determine when such a response is appropriate and what form it should take.
**How We Use Your Information**
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:
- To present our Website and its contents to you.
- To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us.
- To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
- To provide you with notices about your account, including expiration and renewal notices.
- To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
- To notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide though it.
- To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Website.
- In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
- For any other purpose with your consent.
We may also use your information to contact you about goods and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, contact us at [privacy@telcodr.com](mailto:privacy@telcodr.com). For more information, see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.
**Disclosure of Your Information**
We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.
We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:
- To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business.
- To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of TelcoDR’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by TelcoDR. about our Website users is among the assets transferred.
- To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
- For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
- With your consent.
We may also disclose your personal information:
- To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.
- To enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements, including for billing and collection purposes.
- If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of TelcoDR, our customers, or others.
**Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information**
We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:
- **Tracking Technologies and Advertising.** You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
- **Promotional Offers from TelcoDR.** If you do not wish to have your email address/contact information used by TelcoDR to promote our own or third parties’ products or services, you can opt-out by sending us an email stating your request to [privacy@telcodr.com](mailto:privacy@telcodr.com). If we have sent you a promotional email, you may unsubscribe by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of the email.
**Accessing and Correcting Your Information**
You can review and change your information by sending us an email at [privacy@telcodr.com](mailto:privacy@telcodr.com) to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.
**Data Security**
We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Website like message boards. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the Website.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.
**Changes to Our Privacy Policy**
It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you through a notice on the Website home page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.
**Contact Information**
To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us at [privacy@telcodr.com](mailto:privacy@telcodr.com).
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## Cloud Cost Optimization
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/cloud-optimization/#main)
## Cost optimization made easy
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Please selectAaland IslandsAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBoliviaBonaire, Saint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D'IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic Republic of the CongoDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard and Mc Donald IslandsHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJersey (Channel Islands)JordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorth KoreaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestinePanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRepublic of KosovoReunionRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoa (Independent)San MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint MaartenSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth KoreaSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSt. HelenaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan Mayen IslandsSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkmenistanTurks & Caicos IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluTurkeyUSA Minor Outlying IslandsUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited States of AmericaUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican City State (Holy See)VenezuelaVietnamVirgin Islands (British)Virgin Islands (U.S.)Wallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe
How much do you spend on AWS annually?\*
Please select the applicable spend volume.Under $10MBetween $10 to $30MBetween $30M to $50MBetween $50M to $100MMore than $100M
[iframe](about:blank)
### **Using Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform?**
TelcoDR’s advisory team can help you reduce cloud costs and keep them low through continuous optimization. Contact us today to start optimizing your cloud spending.
[Contact Us](https://telcodr.com/contact/)
## Related resources
[![Telco in 20 podcast. Featured Guest - Rahul Subramaniam, Founder & CEO of Cloudfix](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 71 – Save bookoo bucks with CloudFix**\\
\\
\\
CloudFix can help telcos capture fast, automatic, and ongoing savings of 15 – 20% on their AWS spend, and now telcos can get a special discount on CloudFix from TelcoDR.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-71-save-bookoo-bucks-with-cloudfix/)
[![TelcoDR can help you save big bucks on your AWS Spend](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**TelcoDR can help you save big bucks on your AWS Spend**\\
\\
\\
There’s a super cool SaaS platform that can quickly find MILLIONS of dollars in savings and go get them for you AUTOMATICALLY.](https://telcodr.com/insights/save-big-bucks-on-your-aws-spend-blog/)
[![Press Release](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Press Release \\
**TelcoDR and CloudFix Join Forces to Revolutionize Telcos’ AWS Spend with Exclusive Partnership Agreement**\\
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Automated solution can help telcos save an average of 15% on their AWS costs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-cost-savings-telco-press-release/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telco Cloud Transformation
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/advise/#main)
Advise
# Advise
The public cloud is here for telco. Learn why to move, how to move and how to make it awesome!
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 547"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
PODCAST \| VIDEO
## Ep 72 – Mats Granryd talks Open Gateway
GSMA Director General Mats Granryd sits down to talk about how Open Gateway could spark a massive shift in the telco industry and what needs to happen for it to succeed.
[Listen](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
[![DIsh and 1&1](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**DISH & AWS vs. 1&1 & Rakuten: two different approaches to new networks**\\
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We now have two companies developing blueprints for cloud native networks. We dig deeper to see what’s below the surface.](https://telcodr.com/insights/dish-with-aws-vs-11-with-rakuten-blog/)
[![In the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**15 examples of how telcos are moving to the public cloud**\\
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Telcos have been taking steps to move applications to the public cloud. Here are examples of telcos using the public cloud to cut costs, grow revenue, and lead in their marketplace.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-telcos-are-moving-to-the-public-cloud-blog/)
[![DISH network APIs](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Coding with connectivity: Using the new DISH network APIs**\\
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DISH Wireless has a new open network API platform that anyone can use to add connectivity to anything with unfettered access.](https://telcodr.com/insights/coding-with-connectivity-using-the-new-dish-network-apis-blog/)
[![Cloud City stage](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Keynote \\
**The Paradox of the Public Cloud – Danielle Rios Royston’s Keynote at Mobile World Congress 2021**\\
\\
\\
In this keynote, I delve deep into the huge benefits of the public cloud for telcos. The bottom line: the public cloud is HERE, the benefits are ground-breaking, and ignoring it would be a HUGE mistake.](https://telcodr.com/insights/keynote-paradox-public-cloud-mobile-world-congress-2021/)
* * *
## Executive voices
[![Executive Voice: Juha Korhonen, Yaqoot](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Juha Korhonen, the transformation leader, on the successful launch of Yaqoot.**\\
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\\
Juha was instrumental in Zain Group’s launch of Yaqoot, a digital mobile operator in the Middle East. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a bonafide, digital-transformation success story.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-18-digital-telco-meet-yaqoot/)
[![Executive Voices - Marc Rouanne](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Marc Rouanne, EVP & Chief Network Office, DISH Wireless on rolling out a new, greenfield, 5G network.**\\
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\\
DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its partnership with AWS, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-44-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
[![Executive Voice: Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company talks about boosting ARPU through personalization.**\\
\\
\\
Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
[![Executive Voice: Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Hesham Fahmy, CIO, TELUS on becoming a cloud-native tech-co**\\
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TELUS is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. CIO Hesham Fahmy talks about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey and lessons it learned that other telcos should know.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/)
[![Executive Voice: Peter Adderton, CEO of MobileX](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Peter Adderton, CEO of MobileX on a new MVNO approach.**\\
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MobileX is using AI and subscriber usage insights to design personalized plans with transparent pricing. CEO Peter Adderton explains what it’s up to and why.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/)
[![Ahmed Khattak | Executive Voice](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile on building a killer MVNO.**\\
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\\
An interview with Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile, an MVNO built entirely on the public cloud. They discuss Ahmed's background and vision for US Mobile, the company's unique features, the benefits of building on the public cloud, and its underrated attribute.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-60-the-american-dream-building-a-killer-mvno/)
* * *
## Strategic move to the cloud
[![Telco in 20 podcast. Episode 48. Featured guest - Teena Piccione, Global Transformation & Operations Executive, Google](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 48 – Tips for a successful cloud transformation**\\
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Research shows that the majority of big transformation projects fail. Teena Piccione, a change management expert at Google, explains why and offers tips for keeping your public cloud transformation on track](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-48-tips-for-a-successful-cloud-transformation/)
[![Cloud City stage](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Keynote \\
**The Paradox of the Public Cloud – Danielle Rios Royston’s Keynote at Mobile World Congress 2021**\\
\\
\\
In this keynote, I delve deep into the huge benefits of the public cloud for telcos. The bottom line: the public cloud is HERE, the benefits are ground-breaking, and ignoring it would be a HUGE mistake.](https://telcodr.com/insights/keynote-paradox-public-cloud-mobile-world-congress-2021/)
[![Time to go to the public cloud! The essential steps for cloud success.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Whitepaper \\
**Time to go to the public cloud!**\\
\\
\\
In this paper, I talk about the power of the public cloud for telcos and lay out the four clear steps you need to take to trigger your transformation. As you’ll discover, it’s not about transition…](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/)
[![Culture of innovation](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**So, you want to be a tech-co?**\\
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\\
It's a revenue-boosting trend for telcos to pivot to become tech companies. Before you do, here's where and how you need to raise your game…](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/)
[![Latency with the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Let’s take a look at latency**\\
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Using latency as a reason to not move to the public cloud? I look at how hyperscalers transmit data (from core to PoP) and how fast they're doing it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/look-at-latency-blog/)
[![Go get 'em.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**The HR transformation framework I swear by**\\
\\
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Follow this framework for moving to the public cloud to have the best shot at driving a successful transformation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/)
* * *
## Executing on the vision
[![Telco in 20 podcast - Featured Guest: Nathan Bell, Partner, Digital Practice, Kearney](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 52 – Born to run (in the cloud) with Nathan Bell**\\
\\
\\
A few years ago, former M1 Chief Digital Officer Nathan Bell helped the MNO go all-in on the public cloud, making it the most cloud-forward telco in the world at the time. He shares the details of M1's transformation journey.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-52-born-to-run-in-the-cloud-with-nathan-bell/)
[![Telco in 20 podcast - Featured Guest: Shawn Hakl, VP of 5G Strategy, Microsoft.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Podcast \\
**Ep 51 – Catching up with Azure and AT&T**\\
\\
\\
In 2021, AT&T sold its network cloud to Microsoft Azure. For this episode, Shawn Hakl, Microsoft VP of 5G strategy, shares the latest on how the hyperscaler-telco collaboration is going.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-51-catching-up-with-azure-and-att/)
[![How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Case Study \\
**How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud**\\
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\\
In November 2019, Vodafone announced they were moving their entire data analytics to Google Cloud. TelcoDR wondered: how much were they spending and how much did they save?](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
[![Amazon broke with Oracle](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**How Amazon weaned itself off Oracle databases**\\
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Amazon's consumer business shut down 100% of its Oracle databases. Here’s how they did it so you can do it too.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-amazon-weaned-itself-off-oracle-databases-blog/)
[![Kubernetes - in the cloud?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Why do people think Kubernetes is cloud native?**\\
\\
\\
After my blog on the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing, the most controversial turned out to be: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native”. So here’s an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/)
[![AI Language Learning Model](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**The BIG problem with generative AI**\\
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Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is game changing for the telco industry. But can telcos fire it up “as-is”?](https://telcodr.com/insights/conversational-ai-in-telecom-blog/)
[View more insights](https://telcodr.com/insights/)
## Let’s talk
Want to chat? Have questions? Want to know more?
We’d love to hear from you.
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Totogi SaaS Solutions
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/build/#main)
Build
# Meet Totogi!
TelcoDR made a strategic $100M investment into SaaS startup Totogi, the company that’s building software exclusively for telcos in the public cloud.
[Visit Totogi](https://totogi.com/)
Select to open video modal![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 736 399"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## What is Totogi?
Totogi is the smart, fast, open, public cloud SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company that’s developing new technology-driven monetization strategies for telcos.
[Learn more about Totogi](https://totogi.com/company/about/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 553 309"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## The future of charging is here
Totogi’s flagship product, Charging-as-a-Service, is a multi-tenant, 100% SaaS, charging platform with AI and ML capabilities that helps you speed up your time-to-market, grow your revenue and get you that customer love.
[Learn more at Totogi.com ](https://totogi.com/products/charging-as-a-service/)
![Customer love](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 594"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telecom Insights Newsletter
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter/#main)
### Curated news and insights, straight to your inbox.
Every two weeks, I’ll help you sort through the noise, giving you my unfiltered take on what’s really happening in the telecom industry when it comes to public cloud – sharing insights every CSP C-level needs to know. You’ll find essays, frank conversation, practical tips for leaders, and links to articles that help you keep up with all the happenings in telco and public cloud.
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Contact TelcoDR
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/contact/#main)
## Let’s talk!
We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
**Media requests:** Please contact media@telcodr.com.
**For podcast and speaking opportunities:** Please leave your details [here](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/#Podcast-Guest-Form).
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telco Software Investments
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/invest/#main)
Invest
# I’ve raised $1B to transform the software of the telco industry
The public cloud is coming to telco! I acquire and invest in telco enterprise software companies to pivot the products for the public cloud.
[Get in touch](https://telcodr.com/invest/#Confidential-conversation)
[View acquisition criteria](https://telcodr.com/invest/#Acquisition-Criteria)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 752"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## Latest news
[![Skyvera to Acquire American Virtual Cloud Technology Assets](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 170"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Press Release \\
**Skyvera to Acquire American Virtual Cloud Technology Assets**](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-american-virtual-cloud-technology-assets-press-release/)
[![Skyvera to Acquire Telecom Products Software Business From STL](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 170"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Press Release \\
**Skyvera to Acquire Telecom Products Software Business From STL**](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-telecom-products-software-business-from-stl-press-release/)
[![TelcoDR announces Telco Transformation Fund](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 170"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
\\
Press Release \\
**TelcoDR announces Telco Transformation Fund**](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcodr-announces-telco-transformation-fund-press-release/)
## Join our growing portfolio of telco software products
## Strategic focus on telco, and telco only
No distractions. No other verticals. We know what we want to do. The telco enterprise software we acquire and invest in are integral to our public cloud vision.
[Find out more on Skyvera.com](https://skyvera.com/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 683 1024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## A strategic buyer
We buy and hold forever. Your company will join a strategic group of telco enterprise software companies. We build deep customer relationships and continue investment in the products to pivot them to the public cloud.
[Join our growing portfolio](https://skyvera.com/product-library/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 533"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## A smooth and successful transition
It’s quick and easy to work with our team of seasoned M&A experts. Our efficient due diligence and rapid close process provides an excellent acquisition experience for your team.
[Contact us today](https://telcodr.com/invest/#Confidential-conversation)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 533"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
## Acquisition Criteria
1
### Telecommunications focus
We select companies that work primarily in the telecommunications vertical.
2
### B2B enterprise software
We focus on enterprise software companies whose ideal customers are Communications Service Providers (MNO, MVNx).
3
### Broad geographic reach
We’re a global organization and can acquire businesses in any location.
4
### No revenue requirements
No company or asset is too large or too small.
We consider products and companies with revenue as low as $1m annually recurring revenue, to 10-figure total revenue. We love a great growth story and we’ll move quickly in urgent situations.
5
### All product life cycles
Your intellectual property is valuable! And we understand when products experience technical debt and are on the decline.
As long as your product has telco customer revenue associated with it, we’re buying.
6
### Transactions of all types
We’re open to deals of all kinds – from full acquisitions to divestitures, carve outs, and even bankruptcy situations.
Our broad risk tolerance helps us to navigate complex business environments.
## Our Growing Portfolio
![CloudSense](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 112"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 86"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![NewNet Mobile Communications](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![PeerApp](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![ResponseTek](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Service Gateway](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![STL - divested assets](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 82 45"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![Vasona Networks](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)![VoltDelta](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 180 76"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
[Meet the companies](https://skyvera.com/product-library/)
## Request a confidential conversation with a member of our M&A team today.
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## Telco in 20 Podcast Archive
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#main)
## Every Telco in 20 podcast ever
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
###### [Ep 118 – Telefónica Germany moves the network to the public cloud (Mallik Rao)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
24 June 2025 – Mallik Rao from Telefónica Germany explains how the operator became the first brownfield operator to migrate its 5G core to AWS—a breakthrough the entire telco industry has been waiting for.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/)
###### [Ep 117 – Vodafone’s New Rules with Open APIs, Cloud-Native, and AI (Lester Thomas)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/)
10 June 2025 – Dr. Lester Thomas explains how Vodafone is leveraging TM Forum standards and building a modular, AI-ready technology foundation.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 116 – You CAN run the network on AWS’ public cloud (Ishwar Parulkar)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/)
27 May 2025 – AWS’s Ishwar Parulkar explains how telcos can now run critical network workloads on public cloud infrastructure, bridging the gap between traditional telco requirements and cloud-native solutions.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/)
###### [Ep 115 – Telstra is Disrupting the Status Quo (Mark Sanders)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/)
13 May 2025 – Telstra’s Mark Sanders talks about their innovative approach to composable architecture using TM Forum’s ODA, organizing telco knowledge into an ontology to drive autonomous networks and AI.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/)
###### [Ep 114 – What’s Up with Totogi: The Ontology of BSS Magic](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/)
29 April 2025 – BSS Magic creates a telco specific Palantir platform that builds a digital twin enabling AI to reason across your systems.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/)
###### [Ep 113 – AI’s Power Problem](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-113-ai-energy-needs/)
15 April 2025 – AI’s escalating energy needs, nuclear power as a potential solution, and whether telcos can profit from edge AI as data centers face growing power demands.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-113-ai-energy-needs/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/)
###### [Ep 112 – AI agents are transforming telco, with Microsoft](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/)
01 April 2025 – Agentic AI is transforming telecom, enabling experimentation without disrupting core infrastructure and reimagining existing workflows.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-111-building-an-ai-first-telco/)
###### [Ep 111 – Building an AI-first telco](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-111-building-an-ai-first-telco/)
17 March 2025 – AI can help operators overcome the legacy tech debt in their BSS systems and propel their organizations toward an AI-first future.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-111-building-an-ai-first-telco/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-110-hyperscaler-capex-is-going-nuclear/)
###### [Ep 110 – Hyperscaler CapEx is going nuclear](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-110-hyperscaler-capex-is-going-nuclear/)
03 March 2025 – Charles Fitzgerald from Platformonomics discusses the hyperscalers massive 2024 CapEx investments, the role AI is playing in spending, and the hurdles facing telcos that hope to sell AI workload capacity at the edge.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-110-hyperscaler-capex-is-going-nuclear/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-109-agentic-ai-appledore/)
###### [Ep 109 – The power of agentic AI with Appledore Research](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-109-agentic-ai-appledore/)
17 February 2025 – As telcos race to embrace AI, Appledore Research’s John Abraham weighs in on agentic AI, the next generation of BSS, and where operators will find true business value.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-109-agentic-ai-appledore/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-108-bss-with-telecom-tv-ray-le-maistre/)
###### [Ep 108 – ☕Wake up and smell the BSS with Ray Le Maistre from TelecomTV ☕](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-108-bss-with-telecom-tv-ray-le-maistre/)
04 February 2025 – TelecomTV’s Ray LeMaitre talks about telco leaders’ thoughts around the evolution of BSS solutions and how operators are approaching AI adoption.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-108-bss-with-telecom-tv-ray-le-maistre/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-107-responsible-ai/)
###### [Ep 107 – 🧣Wrapping your head around Responsible AI🧣](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-107-responsible-ai/)
20 January 2025 – McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink shares how telcos can encourage employees to innovate with powerful AI tools while helping them use the technology responsibly.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-107-responsible-ai/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-106-alianza-rescues-metaswitch/)
###### [Ep 106 – Alianza rescues Metaswitch](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-106-alianza-rescues-metaswitch/)
07 January 2025 – Fresh off acquiring Metaswitch from Microsoft, Alianza founder and CEO Brian Beutler shares his plans to modernize the legacy soft-switch giant while giving telcos the stability and flexibility they need for their journey to the public cloud.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-106-alianza-rescues-metaswitch/)
* * *
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0) \| [Top](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#all-podcasts)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-105-nvidia-ai-ran-vision/)
###### [Ep 105 – NVIDIA’s vision for AI and the RAN](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-105-nvidia-ai-ran-vision/)
10 December 2024 – AI is poised to help telcos turn underutilized network capacity into a new revenue stream. NVIDIA’s Chris Penrose shares how AI-RAN is helping operators unlock this potential and transform their business.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-105-nvidia-ai-ran-vision/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-104-official-aws-podcast/)
###### [Ep 104 – Get ready for re:Invent with AWS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-104-official-aws-podcast/)
26 November 2024 – AWS and TelcoDR explore how Totogi partnered with Zain Sudan to restore mobile services to 20 million subscribers using AWS’ powerful cloud infrastructure.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-104-official-aws-podcast/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-103-how-to-build-an-ai-first-organization/)
###### [Ep 103 – How to build an AI-first organization](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-103-how-to-build-an-ai-first-organization/)
12 November 2024 – Most companies are getting AI transformation backwards. Here’s a practical framework for using AI to achieve breakthrough business results.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-103-how-to-build-an-ai-first-organization/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-102-ways-to-maximize-hyperscaler-discounts/)
###### [Ep 102 – 3 ways to maximize hyperscaler discounts](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-102-ways-to-maximize-hyperscaler-discounts/)
29 October 2024 – Telcos leave millions on the table by not using the right strategies and tools to maximize hyperscaler discount programs. CloudFix CEO Brandon Pizzacalla shares the secrets to capturing untapped savings from AWS’ EDP.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-102-ways-to-maximize-hyperscaler-discounts/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-101-anthropics-big-plans-for-telco/)
###### [Ep 101 – Anthropic’s BIG PLANS for telco](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-101-anthropics-big-plans-for-telco/)
15 October 2024 – Anthropic’s Neerav Kingsland shares the latest on what’s happening with AI in telco, and explains why it’s critical for operators to prepare for the future today.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-101-anthropics-big-plans-for-telco/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-100-the-special-100th-episode/)
###### [Ep 100 – The SPECIAL 100th episode of Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-100-the-special-100th-episode/)
1 October 2024 – In this milestone episode, we take a look at telecom’s journey to the public cloud over the past four years and recap the game-changing moves that have pushed the industry forward.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-100-the-special-100th-episode/)
###### [Ep 99 – Will TM Forum’s idea of interoperability really work?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-99-tm-forum-interoperability-bss/)
17 September 2024 – TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and Open APIs hold promise for bringing vendor interoperability to telco BSS systems. Industry analyst and consultant Caroline Chappell discusses adoption obstacles, data layer harmonization, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-99-tm-forum-interoperability-bss/)
###### [Ep 98 – Safaricom: On the hunt for revenue](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-98-safaricom-telco-ai-revenue/)
3 September 2024 – Safaricom, the company behind Africa’s mobile payment system M-PESA, is applying AI to create personalized offers, build a super app, and boost network efficiency. Its innovative approach could be the blueprint for telcos everywhere.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-98-safaricom-telco-ai-revenue/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/)
###### [Ep 97 – The big trends in BSS with Appledore Research](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/)
20 August 2024 – John Abraham from Appledore Research discusses how vendors and operators are applying GenAI in their business, major BSS trends, and how the cost of AI can be justified by real business outcomes.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-96-telco-data-ai-telus/)
###### [Ep 96 – How TELUS turned its data swamp into an AI oasis](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-96-telco-data-ai-telus/)
6 August 2024 – Canadian telco TELUS is using AI to drive efficiency and innovation across its business. Chief Insights Officer Jaime Tatis shares key learnings and success stories from the company’s transformation journey.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-96-telco-data-ai-telus/)
###### [Ep 95 – African telcos: forge a new path!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-95-africa-telco-ai-public-cloud/)
9 July 2024 – Ali Talks Tech podcast host Ali Hussein Kassim and I explore how African telcos can capitalize on using the public cloud with older networks, how AI is poised to drive real change on the continent, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-95-africa-telco-ai-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 94 – Are you ready for Singtel?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-94-singtel/)
25 June 2024 – Singtel, a leading MNO in AsiaPac, has a reputation for innovation. Anna Yip, CEO of business development and deputy CEO for Singapore, shares insights into the telco’s efforts to build new revenue, customer satisfaction, and subscriber loyalty.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-94-singtel/)
###### [Ep 93 – The NETWORK will be the reason telcos move to the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-93-telcos-move-network-public-cloud/)
11 June 2024 – Transformation leader Juha Korhonen explores signs that telecoms are ready to think about moving network workloads, why some aren’t realizing cloud savings, and the need for BSS and OSS to converge.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-93-telcos-move-network-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 92 – The state of cloud in telco with Iain Morris from Light Reading](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-92-public-cloud-telco-iain-morris-light-reading/)
28 May 2024 – Following telcos’ adoption of the public cloud is critical to understanding the future of the telecom industry. Iain Morris from Light Reading gives his take on where telcos are in their public cloud journey, how AI factors in, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-92-public-cloud-telco-iain-morris-light-reading/)
###### [Ep 91 – Exploring AIOps with Microsoft Azure](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-91-ai-aiops-microsoft-azure/)
14 May 2024 – Microsoft Azure is helping telcos manage their data for AI workloads and prepare for an AI revolution.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-91-ai-aiops-microsoft-azure/)
###### [Ep 90 – Ali Talks Tech with Totogi and Zain on Sudan’s telecom crisis](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-90-sudan-telecom-crisis-totogi-zain-ali-talks-tech/)
30 April 2024 – Ali Hussein Kassim, host of Ali Talks Tech, Abdalla Hamid, Director of IT at Zain Sudan, and I discuss the details of Totogi’s work to restore critical mobile services in Sudan after they were knocked out due to the ongoing civil war.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-90-sudan-telecom-crisis-totogi-zain-ali-talks-tech/)
###### [Ep 89 – What’s up with Totogi: The public cloud is perfect for Africa](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-89-totogi-public-cloud-africa/)
16 April 2024 – The hyperscalers are spending billions in Africa, setting the stage for the public cloud to revolutionize the continent’s telcos. With regulations easing and affordable SaaS solutions growing, African telecoms are poised for an era of growth and success.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-89-totogi-public-cloud-africa/)
###### [Ep 88 – Cloud CAPEX: Not for the faint of wallet](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-88-public-cloud-capex-hyperscalers/)
2 April 2024 – Following the hyperscalers’ CAPEX spending is a great way to get a sense of their strategic plans and priorities. Charles Fitzgerald from Platformonomics offers insights into the Big 3’s 2023 investments.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-88-public-cloud-capex-hyperscalers/)
###### [Ep 87 – Scaling telcos’ cloud mountain with Alianza](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-87-scaling-telcos-cloud-alianza/)
19 March 2024 – Alianza moved UCaaS to AWS, offering a SaaS solution that leverages the scalability and resilience of the public cloud.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-87-scaling-telcos-cloud-alianza/)
###### [Ep 86 – Reinventing BSS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-86-reinventing-bss/)
5 March 2024 – Last week I opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS). We captured the talk on video, and I’ve turned it into this podcast.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-86-reinventing-bss/)
###### [Ep 85 – What’s up with Totogi: 2degrees, a modern telco](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-85-wuwt-2degrees-a-modern-telco/)
20 February 2024 – New Zealand MNO 2degrees is tapping Totogi’s multi-tenant charger to streamline MVNO onboarding and support, and to capture additional revenue.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-85-wuwt-2degrees-a-modern-telco/)
###### [Ep 84 – MobileX’s AI-driven approach](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-84-ai-driven-approach/)
6 February 2024 – MVNO MobileX offers an AI-based tool that analyzes each subscriber’s usage and creates personalized plans for them. CEO Peter Adderton shares details about the company’s plans for 2024, its deal with Walmart, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-84-ai-driven-approach/)
###### [Ep 83 – Monetizing Network APIs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-83-monetizing-network-apis/)
23 January 2024 – It’s been a year since the launch of the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative. McKinsey & Company Partner Ferry Grijpink talks about the API economy and what operators need to do to monetize network APIs to their full advantage.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-83-monetizing-network-apis/)
###### [Ep 82 – Beam me up, BT 🖖](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-82-beam-me-up-bt/)
9 January 2024 – BT Group started its public cloud journey in 2019, putting it in a strong position to tap the strategic capabilities of AI. Chief Architect, Digital, Josie Smith talks about BT Group’s mission to simplify thousands of apps, unleash AI, and reskill its workforce for digital transformation.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-82-beam-me-up-bt/)
* * *
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0) \| [Top](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#all-podcasts)
###### [Ep 81 – Best of 2023: The cloud-first mindset, with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep81-best-of-2023-mobi-mvno/)
12 December 2023 – Our top episode from 2023: my interview with Mobi CEO Justen Burdette about the Hawaiian MVNO’s work to implement its own public-cloud-native, mobile core.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-79-the-public-cloud-with-ribbon/)
###### [Ep 80 – What’s up with Totogi? How Totogi is bringing AI to charging](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-80-wuwt-bringing-ai-to-charging/)
28 November 2023 – Totogi is using the public cloud, AI, and data-driven algorithms to help the industry adopt dynamic, personalized pricing that maximizes the bottom line.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-79-the-public-cloud-with-ribbon/)
###### [Ep 79 – Weaving through the public cloud with Ribbon](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-79-the-public-cloud-with-ribbon/)
14 November 2023 – Ribbon CEO Bruce McClelland talks about balancing daily business with the need to innovate, where telcos are with the public cloud, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-79-the-public-cloud-with-ribbon/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-78-visionary-telcos-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 78 – Visionary telcos use the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-78-visionary-telcos-public-cloud/)
31 October 2023 – Andrew Walker from Accenture explains why the move to the public cloud can be challenging for telcos and what they can do about it.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-78-visionary-telcos-public-cloud/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-77-why-subscribers-churn-network-coverage-price/)
###### [Ep 77 – Why do subscribers churn: network coverage or price?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-77-why-subscribers-churn-network-coverage-price/)
17 October 2023 – Ninety percent of consumers are on mobile phone plans that aren’t a good fit. Stetson Doggett, founder of BestPhonePlans.net, lifts the curtain on why they’re overpaying, what prompts them to switch providers, and where they can look for better options.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-77-why-subscribers-churn-network-coverage-price/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-76-the-nexus-of-genai/)
###### [Ep 76 – Into the Nexus of GenAI with Microsoft](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-76-the-nexus-of-genai/)
3 October 2023 – Rick Lievano, Microsoft CTO for Worldwide Telecommunications Industry, talks about telco and the public cloud, Azure Operator Nexus…
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-76-the-nexus-of-genai/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-75-nokias-journey-cloud-native/)
###### [Ep 75 – Nokia’s journey to becoming cloud native](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-75-nokias-journey-cloud-native/)
19 September 2023 – Nokia is shifting focus to enterprise and B2B, which it sees as the future of telecom. Nokia Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Europe Azfar Aslam talks about its new direction, refactoring legacy products, and what’s next.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-75-nokias-journey-cloud-native/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-take-on-twilio-cpaas/)
###### [Ep 74 – It’s time to take on Twilio!](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-take-on-twilio-cpaas/)
5 September 2023 – The future of enterprise telco lies in network APIs. Here’s a three-step plan to take back CPaaS revenue from companies like Twilio, plus a sneak peek at a powerful new Totogi CPaaS product.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-take-on-twilio-cpaas/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/)
###### [Ep 73 – Can telco compete in CPaaS?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/)
22 August 2023 – Telcos have lost money to companies like Twilio that make it easy for developers to add CPaaS capabilities to products. But the landscape is shifting and there are signs that telcos are ready to take back the CPaaS reins.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/)
###### [Ep 72 – Mats Granryd talks Open Gateway](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/)
8 August 2023 – GSMA Director General Mats Granryd sits down to talk about how Open Gateway could spark a massive shift in the telco industry and what needs to happen for it to succeed.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/)
###### [Ep 71 – Save bookoo bucks with CloudFix](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-71-save-bookoo-bucks-with-cloudfix/)
25 July 2023 – CloudFix can help telcos capture fast, automatic, and ongoing savings of 15 – 20% on their AWS spend, and now telcos can get a special discount on CloudFix from TelcoDR.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-71-save-bookoo-bucks-with-cloudfix/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-70-unleashing-telco-potential-with-aws/)
###### [Ep 70 – Unleashing telco potential with AWS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-70-unleashing-telco-potential-with-aws/)
11 July 2023 – Chivas Nambiar, director of worldwide solution architecture, AWS for telecom, talks about how the hyperscaler is working with our industry, how cloud software is changing the landscape, and the future of telco in an AI-driven world.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-70-unleashing-telco-potential-with-aws/)
###### [Ep 69 – Appledore Research sits down with Totogi](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-69-appledore-research-sits-down-with-totogi/)
27 June 2023 – Telco in 20 host Danielle Royston talks with Appledore Research about the state of charging in telecom, what Totogi is up to, and why SaaS is the future for telco.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-69-appledore-research-sits-down-with-totogi/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)
###### [Ep 68 – giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)
13 June 2023 – In 2020, award-winning MVNO giffgaff went all-in on the public cloud. Chief Operating and Technology Officer Steve McDonald shares the inside story on its courageous move.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-67-how-to-create-shareholder-value/)
###### [Ep 67 – How to create shareholder value](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-67-how-to-create-shareholder-value/)
30 May 2023 – Telco stocks were once a golden ticket. Can they return to their former glory? Recurve Capital Founder Aaron Chan sees a path for the public cloud to help telcos get back in the game.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-67-how-to-create-shareholder-value/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-66-anyone-can-be-an-mvno-with-gigs/)
###### [Ep 66 – Anyone can be an MVNO with Gigs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-66-anyone-can-be-an-mvno-with-gigs/)
15 May 2023 – Innovative tech firm Gigs is using the public cloud and APIs to make it easy for enterprise software developers to create and sell their own voice and data plans.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-66-anyone-can-be-an-mvno-with-gigs/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-65-the-new-guard-in-telco-tech/)
###### [Ep 65 – The new guard in telco tech](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-65-the-new-guard-in-telco-tech/)
2 May 2023 – Innovative telco vendor Working Group Two has built a multi-tenant, public-cloud-native, mobile core running on AWS—something naysayers have said today’s tech couldn’t support.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-65-the-new-guard-in-telco-tech/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-64-the-cloud-first-mindset/)
###### [Ep 64 – The cloud-first mindset](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-64-the-cloud-first-mindset/)
18 April 2023 – Hawaiian MVNO Mobi built a public-cloud-native, mobile core on AWS. CEO Justen Burdette talks about why it’s so great to work with cloud-first solutions.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-64-the-cloud-first-mindset/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-63-ante-up-to-be-a-public-cloud-contender/)
###### [Ep 63 – Ante up to be a public cloud contender](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-63-ante-up-to-be-a-public-cloud-contender/)
4 April 2023 – Hyperscaler spending on the public cloud is staggering. Charles Fitzgerald, founder of the Platformonomics blog, tracks their CapEx spending to get the inside story on who’s doing things right and who’s falling behind.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-63-ante-up-to-be-a-public-cloud-contender/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-62-running-your-network-on-the-public-cloud-with-juniper-networks/)
###### [Ep 62 – Running your network on the public cloud with Juniper Networks](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-62-running-your-network-on-the-public-cloud-with-juniper-networks/)
21 March 2023 – Ben Baker from Juniper Networks talks about whether the hyperscalers are technically ready to support network workloads.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-62-running-your-network-on-the-public-cloud-with-juniper-networks/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-61-supercharge-your-mvno-with-personalization/)
###### [Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-61-supercharge-your-mvno-with-personalization/)
7 March 2023 – MVNO’s can delight customers and grow ARPU by using carrier-grade, public cloud-native SaaS software (like Totogi!) to gain real-time insights and deliver superior subscriber experiences.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-61-supercharge-your-mvno-with-personalization/)
###### [Ep 60 – The American dream: Building a killer MVNO](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-60-the-american-dream-building-a-killer-mvno/)
21 February 2023 – US Mobile, a US-based MVNO, was built on the public cloud from day one. Founder and CEO Ahmed Khattack talks about how the company’s cloud-first design has delighted customers and helped it thrive.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-60-the-american-dream-building-a-killer-mvno/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-59-get-ready-for-mwc-2023/)
###### [Ep 59 – Get ready for MWC 2023!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-59-get-ready-for-mwc-2023/)
7 February 2023 – Mobile World Congress is a must-attend event for telco industry leaders. Here’s the latest on what to expect at this year’s event, which starts on February 27.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-59-get-ready-for-mwc-2023/)
###### [Ep 58 – Live and Learn: A new MVNO approach with Peter Adderton](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/)
24 January 2023 – MobileX is using AI and subscriber usage insights to design personalized plans with transparent pricing. CEO Peter Adderton explains what it’s up to and why.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/)
###### [Ep 57 –Catch the public cloud train with TELUS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/)
10 January 2023 – TELUS is on a path to become a cloud-native organization. CIO Hesham Fahmy talks about how the telecom built momentum for its cloud journey and lessons it learned that other telcos should know.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-catch-the-public-cloud-train-with-telus/)
* * *
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0) \| [Top](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#all-podcasts)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-56-best-of-2022-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
###### [Ep 56 – Best of 2022: DISH, The Telco Pioneer](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-56-best-of-2022-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
13 December 2022 – DISH Wireless’ Marc Rouanne brings home the gold! His episode of Telco in 20 was the most listened to AND WATCHED of 2022. Tune in to hear him talk about DISH’s new 5G network, open APIs, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-56-best-of-2022-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-55-supercharge-your-mvno-and-your-arpu-by-delivering-a-personalized-subscriber-experience/)
###### [Ep 55 – Supercharge your MVNO (and your ARPU) by delivering a personalized subscriber experience](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-55-supercharge-your-mvno-and-your-arpu-by-delivering-a-personalized-subscriber-experience/)
29 November 2022 – I’ve turned my keynote from the MVNO Nation Live conference into a podcast. I discuss how public cloud technology can help MVNOs streamline their work, lower costs, AND increase speed to market. Plus examples on how MVNOs can improve their NPS and ARPU by providing personalized customer experiences
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-55-supercharge-your-mvno-and-your-arpu-by-delivering-a-personalized-subscriber-experience/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-54-bye-bye-private-cloud-hello-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 54 – Bye-bye, private cloud; hello, public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-54-bye-bye-private-cloud-hello-public-cloud/)
15 November 2022 – Davide Bellini from Accenture shares insights into what telcos are planning to do with the public cloud and the challenges and opportunities they’re facing.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-54-bye-bye-private-cloud-hello-public-cloud/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-53-i-scream-you-scream-we-all-scream-for-mvnos/)
###### [Ep 53 – I scream, you scream, we all scream for MVNOs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-53-i-scream-you-scream-we-all-scream-for-mvnos/)
1 November 2022 – The MVNO segment of telco is gaining momentum, which makes it the perfect time to explore the ins and outs of launching an MVNO and ensuring its success.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-53-i-scream-you-scream-we-all-scream-for-mvnos/)
###### [Ep 52 – Born to run (in the cloud) with Nathan Bell](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-52-born-to-run-in-the-cloud-with-nathan-bell/)
18 October 2022 – A few years ago, former M1 Chief Digital Officer Nathan Bell helped the MNO go all-in on the public cloud, making it the most cloud-forward telco in the world at the time. He shares the details of M1’s transformation journey.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-52-born-to-run-in-the-cloud-with-nathan-bell/)
###### [Ep 51 – Catching up with Azure and AT&T](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-51-catching-up-with-azure-and-att/)
4 October 2022 – In 2021, AT&T sold its network cloud to Microsoft Azure. For this episode, Shawn Hakl, Microsoft VP of 5G strategy, shares the latest on how the hyperscaler-telco collaboration is going.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-51-catching-up-with-azure-and-att/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-50-the-public-cloud-is-perfect-for-india/)
###### [Ep 50 – The public cloud is PERFECT for India](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-50-the-public-cloud-is-perfect-for-india/)
20 September 2022 – The public cloud is perfect for India’s unique telco market. The only catch is that operators have to select software that’s native to the public cloud to maximize its potential.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-50-the-public-cloud-is-perfect-for-india/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-49-whats-up-with-totogi-what-it-takes-to-deploy-a-telco-charging-system/)
###### [Ep 49 – What’s up with Totogi? What it takes to deploy a telco charging system](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-49-whats-up-with-totogi-what-it-takes-to-deploy-a-telco-charging-system/)
6 September 2022 – Up until now, rolling out a telco charging engine has been a heavy lift. Not anymore, thanks to the public cloud-based Totogi Charging System.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-49-whats-up-with-totogi-what-it-takes-to-deploy-a-telco-charging-system/)
###### [Ep 48 – Tips for a successful cloud transformation](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-48-tips-for-a-successful-cloud-transformation/)
23 August 2022 – Research shows that the majority of big transformation projects fail. Teena Piccione, a change management expert at Google, explains why and offers tips for keeping your public cloud transformation on track
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-48-tips-for-a-successful-cloud-transformation/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-47-half-measures-hybrid-cloud/)
###### [Ep 47 – Half measures](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-47-half-measures-hybrid-cloud/)
9 August 2022 – CSG’s Shaun Whalon and I believe the move to the public cloud is inevitable for telco, and discuss our different ideas about the best way to get there.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-47-half-measures-hybrid-cloud/)
###### [Ep 46 – The nitty gritty about public cloud security](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-46-the-nitty-gritty-about-public-cloud-security/)
26 July 2022 – The director of cybersecurity at AT&T explains how and why the public cloud is more secure than how many telcos are doing business today.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-46-the-nitty-gritty-about-public-cloud-security/)
###### [Ep 45 – Drumming up ways to increase ARPU with McKinsey](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
12 July 2022 – Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
###### [Ep 44 – DISH: The Telco Pioneer](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-44-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
21 June 2022 – DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its partnership with AWS, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-44-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
###### [Ep 43 – Telco’s Pinball Wizard: Neil McRae](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-43-telcos-pinball-wizard-neil-mcrae/)
14 June 2022 – BT Chief Architect Neil McRae talks about the company’s digital transformation and strategies for working with hyperscalers … and pinball, of course!
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-43-telcos-pinball-wizard-neil-mcrae/)
###### [Ep 42 – Talking Telco with Google Cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-42-talking-telco-with-google-cloud/)
31 May 2022 – Amol Phadke, Google Cloud’s MD & GM for the Global Telecom Industry, talks about what the hyperscaler is doing in the telco space.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-42-talking-telco-with-google-cloud/)
###### [Ep 41 – Telco Religious Wars: Charging Databases](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-41-telco-religious-wars-charging-databases/)
17 May 2022 – When it comes to charging, the database you use is critical. Database expert Alex DeBrie talks about the pros and cons of database options.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-41-telco-religious-wars-charging-databases/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
###### [Ep 40 – New ways to build your future-ready workforce](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
3 May 2022 – Telcos need to hire a gazillion people with cloud skills. How can CSPs cultivate the talented teams they need? Good news – there are new workforce management strategies and AI tools that can help.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
###### [Ep 39 – Hacking Cloud Costs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
19 April 2022 – A cottage industry has popped up to help companies optimize their cloud environment and spending. Find out what you can do to hack cloud costs.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
###### [Ep 38 – What’s Up with Totogi? The Future of Charging](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-38-whats-up-with-totogi-the-future-of-charging/)
5 April 2022 – Nothing new has happened in charging in decades – until now. Find out why Totogi’s API-based, pay-by-the-use system is a game changer for telcos.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-38-whats-up-with-totogi-the-future-of-charging/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-37-a-chat-with-aws-about-the-future-of-telco-tech/)
###### [Ep 37 – A Chat with AWS about the Future of Telco Tech](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-37-a-chat-with-aws-about-the-future-of-telco-tech/)
22 March 2022 – I had a great conversation with Claus Verner from AWS at MWC22. We talk about how the public cloud is helping to build innovative telco software companies, the launch of TelcoDR, and more.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-37-a-chat-with-aws-about-the-future-of-telco-tech/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-36-the-public-cloud-is-now/)
###### [Ep 36 – The Public Cloud is NOW](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-36-the-public-cloud-is-now/)
8 March 2022 – Listen to the most exciting talk from MWC 2022 to learn how to turn the public cloud into a competitive advantage.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-36-the-public-cloud-is-now/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-35-azure-has-private-networks-too/)
###### [Ep 35 – Azure has private networks, too!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-35-azure-has-private-networks-too/)
22 February 2022 – Microsoft Azure’s private network offering unites 5G, edge computing, and a robust partner network to deliver private networks to enterprises. Shriraj Gaglani, GM, Azure Private MEC, tells us what this means for telco.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-35-azure-has-private-networks-too/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-34-get-ready-for-cloud-city-2022/)
###### [Ep 34 – Get ready for CLOUD CITY 2022!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-34-get-ready-for-cloud-city-2022/)
8 February 2022 – CLOUD CITY is back, baby! And 100% in the cloud this year. Find out what we’ve done to bring an in-person experience to our virtual platform, and what you’ll find during the event.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-34-get-ready-for-cloud-city-2022/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-33-quick-and-easy-real-time-communications-with-amazon-chime-sdk/)
###### [Ep 33 – Quick and easy real-time communications with Amazon Chime SDK](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-33-quick-and-easy-real-time-communications-with-amazon-chime-sdk/)
11 January 2022 – Amazon Chime SDK general manager Sid Rao shares insights into what this set of real-time communication tools can do for telcos.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-33-quick-and-easy-real-time-communications-with-amazon-chime-sdk/)
* * *
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0) \| [Top](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#all-podcasts)
###### [Ep 32 – 2022 Predictions: All aboard the public cloud train](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-32-2022-predictions-all-aboard-the-public-cloud-train/)
28 December 2021 – In this special episode, we take a look at telco and public cloud trends to watch in 2022. Tune in to find out what you need to know.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-32-2022-predictions-all-aboard-the-public-cloud-train/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-31-verizons-public-cloud-journey/)
###### [Ep 31 – Verizon’s public cloud journey](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-31-verizons-public-cloud-journey/)
7 December 2021 – In this special episode, we take a look at telco and public cloud trends to watch in 2022. Tune in to find out what you need to know.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-31-verizons-public-cloud-journey/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-30-whats-up-with-totogi-achieving-feature-velocity-with-the-totogi-apis/)
###### [Ep 30 – Achieving Feature Velocity with the Totogi APIs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-30-whats-up-with-totogi-achieving-feature-velocity-with-the-totogi-apis/)
7 December 2021 – Totogi APIs can help CSPs bring new features to market fast, and boost customer satisfaction and ARPU in the process.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-30-whats-up-with-totogi-achieving-feature-velocity-with-the-totogi-apis/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-29-telco-in-20s-best-of-2021/)
###### [Ep 29 – Telco in 20’s Best of 2021](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-29-telco-in-20s-best-of-2021/)
16 November 2021 – In our most popular episode from 2021, transformation leader Juha Korhonen shares his experience with the successful launch of Yaqoot, a digital mobile operator in the Middle East.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-29-telco-in-20s-best-of-2021/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-28-talking-public-cloud-with-gsma/)
###### [Ep 28 – Talking public cloud with GSMA](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-28-talking-public-cloud-with-gsma/)
19 October 2021 – Telco in 20 sits down with Mats Granryd, Director General for GSMA, to talk about the future of the public cloud and telco.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-28-talking-public-cloud-with-gsma/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-27-talking-public-cloud-with-telecoms-com/)
###### [Ep 27 – Talking public cloud with Telecoms.com](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-27-talking-public-cloud-with-telecoms-com/)
4 October 2021 – Telco in 20 sits down with Scott Bicheno and Iain Morris of the Telecoms.com podcast to have an awesome conversation about the public cloud and telco.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-27-talking-public-cloud-with-telecoms-com/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-26-avoid-vendor-lock-in-with-tm-forum-open-apis/)
###### [Ep 26 – Avoid vendor lock-in with TM Forum Open APIs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-26-avoid-vendor-lock-in-with-tm-forum-open-apis/)
28 September 2021 – TM Forum’s Open APIs are giving telcos a way to build IT solutions that are easier and cheaper to deploy, integrate, and upgrade. It’s time to change your thinking about the best way to build applications.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-26-avoid-vendor-lock-in-with-tm-forum-open-apis/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-25-get-ready-to-use-the-public-cloud-in-afghanistan/)
###### [Ep 25 – Get ready to use the public cloud… in Afghanistan](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-25-get-ready-to-use-the-public-cloud-in-afghanistan/)
21 September 2021 – Former Roshan CFO Imtiaz Esmail and his team refused to be sidelined by two devastating attacks on the Afghan telecom. Instead, they guided the company through a successful digital transformation.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-25-get-ready-to-use-the-public-cloud-in-afghanistan/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-24-whats-up-with-totogi/)
###### [EP 24 – What’s up with Totogi?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-24-whats-up-with-totogi/)
24 August 2021 – Here’s the latest on Totogi, the telco software darling built specifically for the public cloud – 80% lower TCO, anyone?
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-24-whats-up-with-totogi/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-23-dynamodb-a-tier-0-database/)
###### [Ep 23 – DynamoDB: A tier 0 database](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-23-dynamodb-a-tier-0-database/)
10 August 2021 – AWS’ Rick Houlihan tells us why flexible and scalable NoSQL databases are a great fit for telco.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-23-dynamodb-a-tier-0-database/)
###### [Ep 22 – Meet mediation vendor Digital Route](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-22-meet-mediation-vendor-digital-route/)
27 July 2021 – Jonas Wallenius, Strategic Product Manager at Digital Route, has a clear view of the public cloud’s potential for telco, and ideas about how the industry can get there.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-22-meet-mediation-vendor-digital-route/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-21-how-we-rocked-mwc21/)
###### [Ep 21 – How we rocked MWC21](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-21-how-we-rocked-mwc21/)
13 July 2021 – CLOUD CITY shifted the spotlight to the public cloud for telco for the first time in MWC history.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-21-how-we-rocked-mwc21/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-20-the-paradox-of-the-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 20 – The paradox of the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-20-the-paradox-of-the-public-cloud/)
30 June 2021 – There are massive upsides to the public cloud for telcos, but that’s not the whole story. TelcoDR CEO Danielle Royston tells it all in her MWC21 keynote.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-20-the-paradox-of-the-public-cloud/)
###### [Ep 19 – Double your ARPU with customer ❤️❤️❤️](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/)
1 June 2021 – Switching from being network-centric to customer-centric is not only necessary, but also the best thing you’ll ever do for your bottom line.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-19-double-your-arpu-with-customer-love/)
###### [Ep 18 – digital telco: Meet Yaqoot](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-18-digital-telco-meet-yaqoot/)
4 May 2021 – Juha was instrumental in Zain Group’s launch of Yaqoot, a digital mobile operator in the Middle East. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a bonafide, digital-transformation success story.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-18-digital-telco-meet-yaqoot/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-17-the-software-series-lastmilexchange/)
###### [Ep 17 – The Software Series: LastMileXchange](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-17-the-software-series-lastmilexchange/)
6 April 2021 – LastMileXchange’s cloud-based access quoting solution shines a spotlight on how the public cloud can transform telecom.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-17-the-software-series-lastmilexchange/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-16-savemwc/)
###### [Ep 16 – \#SaveMWC](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-16-savemwc/)
18 March 2021 – The rumors are true… Public cloud is taking center stage in Barcelona and TelcoDR is leading the way!
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-16-savemwc/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-15-totogi-the-new-ant-at-the-picnic/)
###### [Ep 15 – Totogi: The new ant at the picnic](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-15-totogi-the-new-ant-at-the-picnic/)
16 March 2021 – Remember the David-and-Goliath business story of Siebel vs Salesforce? There’s a new public cloud startup in Telco that will change everything – web scale charging engine Totogi.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-15-totogi-the-new-ant-at-the-picnic/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-14-the-software-series-portaone/)
###### [Ep 14 – The Software Series: PortaOne](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-14-the-software-series-portaone/)
2 March 2021 – Andriy Zhylenko, CEO of PortaOne, talks about leading a pivot to the public cloud via Oracle Cloud.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-14-the-software-series-portaone/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-13-the-software-series-csg/)
###### [Ep 13 – The Software Series: CSG](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-13-the-software-series-csg/)
16 February 2021 – Jon Fagan, Senior Principal Cloud Architect at CSG, talks about what the billion-dollar company is doing with the public cloud.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-13-the-software-series-csg/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-12-monetizing-5g-and-iot/)
###### [Ep 12 – Monetizing 5G and IoT](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-12-monetizing-5g-and-iot/)
2 February 2021 – Telcos are making huge investments in 5G. Will ROI follow? Pete Bernard, Senior Director of Azure Edge Devices, Platforms and Services, talks about how 5G, IoT, AI and the edge can work together to help monetize the network.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-12-monetizing-5g-and-iot/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-11-the-software-series-matrixx/)
###### [Ep 11 – The Software Series: MATRIXX](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-11-the-software-series-matrixx/)
19 January 2021 – The Software Series, Part 1: MATRIXX Software CTO Marc Price talks 5G, designing for the public cloud, and why customizations will be the death of vendors AND telcos.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-11-the-software-series-matrixx/)
* * *
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0) \| [Top](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#all-podcasts)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-10-2021-forecast-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-openran/)
###### [Ep 10 – 2021 Forecast: cloudy with a chance of OpenRAN](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-10-2021-forecast-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-openran/)
28 December 2020 – In this special episode, we take a look at 2020’s big headlines and trends to watch in the coming year. Tune in to find out who will be in the winner’s circle at the end of 2021.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-10-2021-forecast-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-openran/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-9-microsofts-big-move/)
###### [Ep 9 – Microsoft’s big move](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-9-microsofts-big-move/)
8 December 2020 – Microsoft wants to be THE hyperscaler for the telecom industry. Yousef Khalidi, corporate VP for Azure for Operators, shares exactly what Azure is up to and why telcos need to pay attention.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-9-microsofts-big-move/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-8-the-hr-series-pair-programming-the-most-powerful-tool-youve-never-used/)
###### [Ep 8 – The HR Series: Pair programming – the most powerful tool you’ve never used](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-8-the-hr-series-pair-programming-the-most-powerful-tool-youve-never-used/)
23 November 2020 – The HR Series, Part 2: What has two heads, two keyboards and two monitors and can help you squash the competition? It’s time to adopt pair programming.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-8-the-hr-series-pair-programming-the-most-powerful-tool-youve-never-used/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
###### [Ep 7 – The HR Series: Telcos, get ready for workforce transformation](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
10 November 2020 – The HR Series, Part 1: If telecoms are going to survive the inevitable move to the public cloud, they need to start focusing on people – retraining, hiring, and yes, letting some workers go.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
###### [Ep 6 – The BFCs: Is Google Cloud Platform (GCP) right for telcos?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-6-is-google-cloud-platform-gcp-right-for-telcos/)
27 October 2020 – Neil Bunn, Head of Customer Engineering, Media and Telco, for Google Cloud Canada, reviews the coolest features of Google cloud technology and offers an unexpected reason why GCP should be at the top of telcos’ list (hint: think, Anthos).
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-6-is-google-cloud-platform-gcp-right-for-telcos/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-5-bfcs-testing-microsoft-azure-for-telcos/)
###### [Ep 5 – The BFCs: Putting Microsoft Azure to the test for telcos](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-5-bfcs-testing-microsoft-azure-for-telcos/)
13 October 2020 – Rick Lievano, Worldwide Director of Technology Strategy at Microsoft, builds a good case for why Azure should be telecom’s cloud platform of choice, not the least of which is Azure for Operators – a game changer in the quest for carrier-grade cloud.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-5-bfcs-testing-microsoft-azure-for-telcos/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-4-right-size-your-public-cloud-spending/)
###### [Ep 4 – Lift Off: Right-size your public cloud spending](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-4-right-size-your-public-cloud-spending/)
5 October 2020 – Find out how telcos can control public cloud spending and avoid leaving money on the table. Featuring cloud economist and snark-master Corey Quinn.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-4-right-size-your-public-cloud-spending/)
###### [Ep 3 – Lift Off: Telcos moving to the public cloud – beware of lift and shift](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/)
5 October 2020 – Using a lift and shift strategy for public cloud migration demands clear vision around what’s waiting on the other side. Cloud architect Forrest Brazeal explains what you need to know and why.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-2-lift-off-taking-the-first-step/)
###### [Ep 2 – Lift Off: Taking the first step](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-2-lift-off-taking-the-first-step/)
5 October 2020 – Telcos need to start moving to the public cloud, like, yesterday. Migration specialist Troy O’Brien offers his advice on smart planning for a smooth journey.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-2-lift-off-taking-the-first-step/)
###### [Ep 1 – It starts with…transformational leadership](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/)
5 October 2020 – Telco needs disruptive leaders with the courage to drive change. Find out what sets these trailblazers apart and why it takes big changes to big things to succeed.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-1-transformational-leadership/)
[](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-0-telco-in-20-subscribe-now/)
###### [Telco in 20 – Subscribe now!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-0-telco-in-20-subscribe-now/)
1 October 2020 – You’ve found my podcast! Telco in 20 presents my vision for where the telco industry will be in 20 years and how savvy leaders will get there. New episodes, specifically for telco executives, drop every two weeks. Get the latest insights and best practices – and enjoy a few laughs!
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-0-telco-in-20-subscribe-now/)
Jump to: [2025](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2025-onwards) \| [2024](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2024-onwards) \| [2023](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2023-onwards) \| [2022](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2022-onwards) \| [2021](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#2021-onwards) \| [2020](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#podcast-0) \| [Top](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-archive/#all-podcasts)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## TelcoDR FAQs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#main)
# Frequently Asked Questions
June 23, 2025
Find answers to the most common questions about TelcoDR, public cloud and Gen AI innovation in telco.
**Telcos**: Becoming an AI-first telco starts here.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
## TelcoDR
**Who is Danielle Rios (DR)?**
Danielle Rios, often referred to as DR, is a Stanford-trained computer scientist, entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of TelcoDR. She also serves as the acting CEO of Totogi, TelcoDR’s flagship SaaS venture. With over three decades in enterprise software and more than 15 years as a CEO specializing in corporate turnarounds, DR is widely recognized as telecom’s leading public cloud evangelist. Her career highlights include scaling start-ups, taking Optiva public, and spearheading large-scale cloud migrations for tier-1 operators.
**Why is Danielle Rios called “telecom’s leading public-cloud evangelist”?**
DR earned this title through her relentless advocacy for the public cloud at major industry events such as Mobile World Congress (MWC), AWS re:Invent, and TM Forum DTW. She passionately argues that hyperscalers offer unmatched elasticity, security, and a faster pace of innovation compared to traditional private data centers. Her provocative keynote, “Why fight a 5-cent battle for a 2-cent war?”—which urged telcos to divest from infrastructure management—solidified her reputation as the industry’s most outspoken and clear advocate for cloud adoption.
**What is Danielle Rios’s overarching vision for the telecom industry?**
DR envisions a fully software-defined telecom industry where operators no longer manage proprietary data centers or bespoke integrations. Instead, they operate cloud-native stacks on hyperscaler infrastructure, leverage multiple AI models on demand, and expose rich APIs for developers to build new revenue-generating services. Her mantra, “Move fast, stay open, leverage cloud economics,” aims to transform telcos from slow, capital expenditure-heavy utilities into agile “tech-cos” capable of competing effectively with digital-native players.
**What previous roles has DR held in the industry?**
Prior to founding TelcoDR, Danielle Rios served as the CEO of Optiva from 2017 to 2020. During her tenure, she orchestrated a significant pivot, transforming the Canadian BSS vendor from a license-plus-hardware delivery model to a multi-tenant SaaS model hosted on Google Cloud. This initiative marked the industry’s first tier-1 BSS cut-over fully hosted on a hyperscaler, significantly reducing operating costs for early adopters and establishing her as a specialist in corporate turnarounds and cloud-native transformations.
**What is Danielle Rios’s leadership style?**
DR describes her leadership style as that of a “benevolent contrarian.” She sets ambitious, often challenging targets, and empowers her teams with clear Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), high autonomy, and radical transparency. She encourages a “fail-fast” experimentation approach but holds teams accountable for data-driven decisions. Her proven track record in corporate turnarounds demonstrates that high expectations combined with data-driven coaching can unlock significant potential in both people and products.
**How does DR contribute to industry thought leadership?**
Beyond her prominent conference keynotes, DR actively shares her insights through various channels:
\> An active [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/telcodr)& [X](https://x.com/TELCODR) presence.
\> Publishes the bi-weekly [“Telco-in-20” newsletter](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/newsletter-archive/), with over 25,000 subscribers.
\> Hosts the [“Telco in 20” podcast.](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/)
\> Authors the [“Telco-in-20” blog](https://telcodr.com/insights/?filter-resource-type%5B%5D=blog).
**Which major media outlets has Danielle Rios been featured in?**
DR’s forthright commentary and insights have been featured in numerous influential publications, including:
\> [Forbes](https://councils.forbes.com/profile/Danielle-Rios-Telecom's-Leading-Public-Cloud-Evangelist-TelcoDR/23a2bcde-fc92-4797-b6f9-92b3e91f154f)
> [Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/)
\> [Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/)
\> [Fierce Wireless](https://www.fierce-network.com/)
\> [Light Reading](http://www.lightreading.com/) \> [TelecomTV](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/danielle-rios-royston/)
\> [Mobile World Live](https://www.mobileworldlive.com/search/?query=danielle+rios)
\> [Capacity Media](https://www.capacitymedia.com/)
\> [TM Forum Inform](https://inform.tmforum.org/videos/dtw24-ignite-totogis-insights-on-the-transformative-potential-of-genai-for-telco-businesses?q=&page=1&order_by=newest)
\> [SiliconANGLE’s theCUBE](https://www.thecube.net/)
Her willingness to challenge conventional wisdom and call out “fake cloud” marketing makes her a highly sought-after voice on topics of public cloud adoption, AI ethics, and disruptive monetization models.
**What is TelcoDR?**
TelcoDR is a specialized telecom-focused investment and software company founded in early 2020 by Danielle Rios. It operates with a dedicated US$1 billion evergreen capital pool to accelerate the telecom industry’s migration to cloud-native, AI-first architectures. TelcoDR’s strategy involves acquiring undervalued assets, sponsoring open-source projects, and incubating new SaaS products, most notably Totogi’s charging and monetization platform. Beyond capital, the firm provides deep operational expertise in turnarounds, cloud economics, and go-to-market strategy, acting as both an investor and a “hands-on” operator.
**When was TelcoDR founded and by whom?**
TelcoDR was launched in early 2020 by Danielle Rios, following her departure from her CEO role at Optiva. Recognizing the industry’s slow pace in adopting cloud technologies, she established TelcoDR as a dedicated vehicle to inject capital, expertise, and urgency into the sector’s cloud transformation. The company made its public debut at Mobile World Congress 2021 with the impactful “Cloud City” pavilion, immediately signaling its bold, cloud-first worldview.
**How much capital has TelcoDR raised and for what purpose?**
TelcoDR has secured a US$1 billion evergreen fund from a syndicate of family offices and long-term institutional investors. This capital is exclusively earmarked for telecom software opportunities that drive public cloud adoption and AI monetization. Approximately 60 percent is allocated to strategic acquisitions, such as CloudSense, while the remaining 40 percent finances research and development (R&D), community outreach, and scale-up initiatives like Totogi. The fund’s mandate is to deliver both financial returns and significant industry impact by demonstrating the superior economics of modern, SaaS-based models.
**What is TelcoDR’s mission?**
TelcoDR’s mission is to fundamentally reshape telco software by injecting public-cloud scale, AI intelligence, and SaaS business models into every layer of the stack. The company aims to prove that true cloud-native, multi-tenant platforms can deliver superior performance, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and faster feature velocity than legacy on-premise solutions. This approach frees operators to focus on delivering customer value rather than engaging in infrastructure maintenance.
**How does TelcoDR plan to achieve its mission?**
TelcoDR employs a strategic “Buy, Build, Teach” approach:
\> **[Buy](https://telcodr.com/invest/)**: Acquire solid but stagnant codebases and refactor them into true cloud-native microservices.
\> **[Build](https://telcodr.com/build/)**: Invest aggressively in green-field SaaS development, with Totogi’s charging engine being the flagship example.
\> **[Teach](https://telcodr.com/advise/)**: Utilize thought-leadership channels (podcasts, newsletters, conference keynotes) to demystify cloud economics and share practical playbooks with the wider industry.
By combining capital with education, TelcoDR aims to catalyze a tipping point where cloud and AI become mainstream across telecom.
**What industries and specific areas does TelcoDR primarily serve?**
TelcoDR primarily serves the telecommunications industry, focusing on operators and service providers seeking to modernize their software infrastructure. Within this sector, TelcoDR specifically targets:
\> Business Support Systems (BSS) and Convergent Charging systems
\> AI-driven BSS interoperability
\> Data and AI workloads
These areas are chosen because they benefit disproportionately from the scale, agility, and innovation offered by hyperscale public cloud infrastructure.
**What is Totogi and how is it linked to TelcoDR?**
Totogi is a subsidiary incubated by TelcoDR in 2021 to address a critical market gap: a truly cloud-native, hyperscale charging and monetization platform. Built from scratch on AWS, Totogi separates policy from pricing, enabling unlimited plan experimentation, instant scaling, and full AI integration. Danielle Rios serves as its acting CEO. TelcoDR provides Totogi with capital, cloud expertise, and go-to-market support, while Totogi serves as the tangible product proof that DR’s cloud-first-AI-first ethos delivers measurable business value.
**What is “Cloud City” and why was it significant?**
When Ericsson withdrew from Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2021 due to COVID, TelcoDR seized the opportunity to take over the vendor’s massive 6,000-square-meter hall and re-branded it “Cloud City.” This pavilion became the event’s unofficial hub for public-cloud innovation, hosting live demos from AWS, Google, Totogi, and dozens of cloud-native start-ups. The initiative not only significantly raised TelcoDR’s profile overnight but also signaled a crucial cultural shift: the public cloud had arrived at the heart of telecom’s premier trade show.
**Provide an example of rapid deployment achieved by TelcoDR’s approach**
A notable example is [Zain Sudan, which replaced its decade-old charging system with Totogi in an astonishing 18 days](https://totogi.com/resources/case-studies/telecom-disaster-recovery-case-study/)—a stark contrast to the industry norm of 9-12 months. This rapid deployment was achieved by leveraging AWS CDK to spin up the environment in hours, migrating data via parallel ETL pipelines, and configuring new offers through Totogi’s API-driven catalog. This project vividly validates TelcoDR’s claim that cloud-native SaaS can compress time-to-revenue by an order of magnitude.
**What role does AI play in TelcoDR’s roadmap?**
AI is treated as a first-class citizen, not a bolt-on feature. The company embeds machine-learning pipelines into its products for anomaly detection, dynamic pricing, and predictive maintenance. TelcoDR also champions the use of generative-AI agents to automate customer support, marketing campaigns, and even network design. Its philosophy: the highest ROI in AI comes when models are delivered as simple SaaS APIs running on hyperscale GPUs—making advanced capabilities accessible to every operator, regardless of size.
**Which companies is Danielle Rios currently leading?**
DR wears two executive hats. She is the full-time CEO of TelcoDR, guiding investment strategy and portfolio governance. Simultaneously, she serves as acting CEO of Totogi, the group’s flagship SaaS business that offers an AI-powered, cloud-native monetization platform covering charging, rating, and real-time marketing for 4G, 5G, and IoT. The dual role ensures tight alignment between TelcoDR’s investment thesis and product execution.
**What is the “Telco in 20” podcast about?**
Launched in 2020, “ [Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/telcoin20/podcast-overview/)” distills complex industry shifts into twenty-minute episodes aimed at busy executives. DR interviews CTOs from Vodafone, Telstra, and Bell, product chiefs from AWS or Google Cloud, and start-up founders disrupting OSS/BSS. Episodes tackle cloud migration war stories, AI governance, network-as-code strategies, and monetization of 5G APIs—making the show a practical guide for anyone plotting a telecom transformation roadmap.
**What is TelcoDR’s stance on public versus private cloud?**
TelcoDR contends that private clouds replicate all the cost and complexity of legacy data centers without delivering hyperscaler innovation cycles. DR argues that “fake cloud” solutions—single-tenant software merely re-hosted—lock operators into high opex and slow upgrades. The firm therefore refuses to back vendors that won’t commit to true multi-tenant SaaS running on public infrastructure from AWS.
**Which recent acquisition has TelcoDR made and why?**
In 2024 TelcoDR acquired CloudSense, a CPQ specialist with a strong Tier-1 customer base but legacy architecture. The goal is to refactor CloudSense into a composable microservice that complements Totogi’s charging and offers operators an end-to-end, cloud-native quote-to-cash flow—furthering TelcoDR’s vision of modular, interoperable BSS.
**Why does TelcoDR emphasize open APIs and interoperability?**
Locked-in, monolithic stacks stifle innovation and bloat integration budgets. TelcoDR mandates support for TM Forum Open APIs and GraphQL endpoints across its portfolio, making it easy for operators to “plug and play” best-of-breed modules. This approach mirrors successful cloud ecosystems—think AWS Lambda or Stripe—and positions telcos to prototype new services in weeks rather than years.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
## Public Cloud for Telcos
**Why are telcos moving workloads to the public cloud?**
[Telcos are moving to the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/o2-telefonica-telco-public-cloud-blog/) to unlock significant cost savings, enhance performance, and speed up service delivery compared to traditional on-premises setups. The public cloud enables lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and gives operators the agility to respond quickly to changing market demands, driving both financial and operational benefits.
**What cost reductions can telcos expect from migrating to the public cloud?**
Public cloud platforms offer automated scaling, self-service provisioning, and managed services that streamline operations. Automation and flexible service management allow telcos to deploy new capabilities quickly and reduce manual intervention, leading to lower ongoing operational costs.
**How does cloud-native architecture contribute to cost savings for telcos?**
Cloud-native solutions, built on microservices, enable better resource utilization and lower maintenance costs. They eliminate the need for over-provisioning hardware and allow telcos to scale resources precisely as needed, reducing both capital and operating expenses.
**What impact does public cloud adoption have on capex versus opex?**
Public cloud shifts spending from capital expenditures (capex) to operational expenditures (opex). Telcos no longer need to purchase or maintain physical hardware, instead paying only for the resources they use, which improves financial flexibility and predictability.
**How does the public cloud improve scalability for telco services?**
Hyperscaler platforms offer global availability zones and elastic compute resources, allowing telcos to expand capacity instantly to meet demand. This eliminates the physical constraints and long lead times associated with expanding on-premise data centers.
**What is the impact of public cloud on time-to-market for new telco services?**
Cloud-native architectures and automation enable telcos to provision and launch new services in near real-time, significantly shortening product development cycles and speeding up innovation.
**Can telcos test new services more easily on the public cloud?**
Yes. Virtualized environments and “infrastructure as code” allow telcos to experiment, test, and roll out new services quickly and safely, reducing risk and accelerating learning.
**How does the public cloud support real-time and edge applications for telco?**
Cloud platforms integrate with edge computing, enabling ultra-low-latency and real-time responsiveness for applications like 5G, IoT, and immersive media. This is critical for supporting next-generation telecom services.
**What examples exist of large telcos running their networks on the public cloud?**
O2 Telefónica Germany, DISH Network, AT&T, and e& (UAE) are among the major operators adopting the public cloud for core network workloads, demonstrating its viability for even the most demanding telco environments.
**What are the main security concerns for telcos using public cloud?**
Key concerns include protecting sensitive subscriber and transactional data, ensuring compliance with regulations, and managing risks in multi-tenant environments. Telcos must also address potential vulnerabilities from misconfiguration.
**Who is responsible for security in a public cloud setup?**
Security is a shared responsibility: hyperscalers secure the infrastructure, while telcos are responsible for configuring their environments correctly, managing access, and protecting data within their cloud workloads.
**How do hyperscalers support compliance with telco data regulations?**
Cloud providers offer region-specific data centers, robust encryption, data masking, and compliance certifications to help telcos meet local regulatory and data sovereignty requirements
**What security tools are available to telcos in the public cloud?**
Hyperscalers provide built-in encryption (at rest and in transit), advanced identity and access management, monitoring, and compliance reporting. These tools help telcos establish strong security postures.
**How can telcos prevent misconfigurations in public cloud environments?**
By adopting standardized security patterns, leveraging automated configuration management tools, and following best practices for access controls and monitoring, telcos can reduce the risk of vulnerabilities arising from misconfiguration.
**Which telco workloads are best suited for public cloud migration?**
Business Support Systems (BSS), 5G core functions, and data analytics workloads are top candidates, thanks to their scalability requirements and the need for rapid innovation.
**Why move BSS and OSS workloads to the public cloud?**
Migrating BSS/OSS to the cloud enables flexible customer management, scalable offerings, and faster service innovation, while also benefiting from the agility and scalability of hyperscaler infrastructure.
**Is the 5G core network a good fit for the public cloud?**
Yes. Leading telcos are already migrating or building 5G core networks on public cloud platforms, leveraging the cloud’s agility, cost efficiency, and scalability to meet 5G demands.
**How does public cloud support telco data analytics?**
It provides on-demand compute and storage, advanced analytics tools, and AI/ML services that accelerate data processing and insights, helping telcos unlock value from their vast data assets.
**Why are partnerships with AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure important for telcos?**
Hyperscalers offer unparalleled infrastructure scale, advanced cloud services, and compliance tools. Partnerships help telcos accelerate cloud transformation, reduce costs, and access cutting-edge capabilities.
**How do hyperscalers’ global footprints benefit telcos?**
Their extensive network of regions and availability zones enables telcos to deploy services closer to users, reduce latency, and comply with local residency laws, thus improving performance and regulatory alignment.
**How do partnerships with hyperscalers affect telco innovation?**
By leveraging hyperscalers’ R&D investments and rapid product cycles, telcos can access the latest technologies and launch innovative services faster, staying ahead of market trends.
**Can strategic partnerships with hyperscalers reduce telcos’ total cost of ownership?**
Yes. Hyperscalers’ economies of scale, managed services, and continuous infrastructure investment lead to lower operational and capital expenses for telcos compared to maintaining private infrastructure.
**What is the difference between cloud-native and lift-and-shift migration?**
Lift-and-shift moves legacy applications to the cloud with minimal changes, missing many cloud benefits. Cloud-native means redesigning apps to fully exploit microservices, containers, and managed services, delivering agility and scalability.
**Why is true cloud-native architecture important for telcos?**
Cloud-native architectures allow telcos to maximize the benefits of public cloud—rapid innovation, elastic scaling, and operational efficiency—beyond what lift-and-shift migrations can offer.
**What are the advantages of a multi-cloud strategy for telcos?**
Multi-cloud provides resilience by avoiding vendor lock-in, allows optimization of workloads across different providers, and strengthens telcos’ bargaining power with hyperscalers.
**What are the disadvantages of a multi-cloud strategy for telcos?**
A multi-cloud strategy for telcos has several disadvantages, including increased complexity in managing and securing multiple cloud environments, higher operational costs, potential performance and latency issues due to data traveling between different providers, and challenges with integrating legacy systems. It also expands the security risk surface and requires specialized expertise to maintain availability and compliance, making overall operations more difficult and potentially less efficient.
**Is managing a multi-cloud environment more complex for telcos?**
Yes. Multi-cloud introduces operational complexity, requiring sophisticated orchestration, monitoring, and security tools to manage diverse environments effectively, but the benefits in resilience and flexibility often outweigh the challenges.
**Why has Totogi partnered exclusively with AWS?**
Totogi’s decision to choose AWS as its sole cloud partner is a strategic move that enables the company to leverage the full potential of the cloud and deliver innovative, cloud-native telecom solutions. By building its products on AWS from the ground up, Totogi can take advantage of AWS’s technical innovation, agility, scalability, security, and reliability, aligning with its mission to transform telecom operations by moving them to the public cloud.
**What advantages does Totogi gain by building software natively on AWS?**
By building natively on AWS, Totogi achieves exceptional scalability, efficiency, and cost savings. AWS managed services like Amazon DynamoDB enable dynamic capacity adjustments and autoscaling, ensuring high availability and optimal resource use. This means Totogi can support thousands of customer workloads efficiently, minimize operational complexity, and deliver reliable, high-performance SaaS to telcos of all sizes.
**What are the benefits of developing telecom SaaS as a dedicated, cloud-native application on AWS?**
Building a dedicated, cloud-native SaaS on AWS enables Totogi to offer enhanced security, reliability, and sustainability. The platform’s multi-tenant architecture leverages AWS autoscaling and load balancing, reducing total cost of ownership and carbon footprint. This approach supports rapid innovation, faster upgrades, and seamless integration with modern telecom networks, allowing telcos to stay competitive in a dynamic market.
**How does building on AWS enable Totogi to drive innovation and better customer engagement for telecom operators?**
With AWS’s advanced AI and machine learning services, Totogi unlocks powerful network insights that enable telecom operators to create personalized offers and automate customer engagement. This drives subscriber acquisition, reduces churn, and increases ARPU. The scalability and flexibility of AWS infrastructure empower Totogi to deliver innovative features quickly, helping telcos adapt to evolving customer needs and market opportunities.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
## AI in telecom & OSS/BSS modernization
**What does it mean to be an AI-first telco?**
[Becoming AI-first is about lifting intelligence “above all your systems”](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-111-building-an-ai-first-telco/) so algorithms can coordinate pricing, network use and customer journeys end-to-end. Instead of swapping every legacy box, you inject an enterprise brain that sees the whole business, turns silo data into real-time insight and lets you launch new offers in minutes. The result: lower OPEX, higher ARPU and freedom from multi-year integration cycles.
**Why are AI agents a game-changer for telcos?**
[In Episode 112, Microsoft’s Kevin Shatzkamer explains that agents can “self-heal, self-learn and self-improve,”](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/) handling tasks that once needed whole departments. Think care bots resolving complex tickets, network agents rerouting traffic before an outage or billing agents negotiating personalized offers. Because agents reason and act autonomously, they remake processes instead of merely speeding them up.
**How fast is AI adoption compared with public-cloud projects?**
[AI is an OpEx, not CapEx, conversation: you don’t touch radios or the user plane, so boards green-light pilots quickly](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/). That’s why he predicts AI will be “the fastest-adopted technology the telecom industry has ever seen,” eclipsing years of cloud debates.
**What is BSS Magic, really?**
[BSS Magic transforms telecom operations by eliminating integration complexity](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/) and enabling seamless system interoperability. Unlike vendors that apply AI to isolated processes, BSS Magic abstracts business logic into an AI-driven layer, allowing telcos to modernize without costly rip-and-replace projects.
**How do agentic flows differ from old workflows?**
Episode 112 notes that [legacy workflows follow rigid, pre-set paths;](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/) agentic flows let autonomous agents decide, adapt and improve. Rather than bolt AI onto human hand-offs, telcos redesign the process so agents take the primary role, with humans supervising exceptions and strategy.
**Is AI already in production at major operators?**
Shatzkamer cites [Telkomcel, Vodafone and Korea Telecom, plus “96 % of Microsoft’s Tier-1 telco customers,”](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/) that have agentic AI running in customer and employee experience today—proof that the tech is moving from hype to live value.
**Can AI agents prevent outages before customers notice?**
Episode 112 describes [network agents that anticipate faults and reroute traffic automatically](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/), delivering the self-healing operations telcos have chased for decades without endless rule-writing
**Why is vendor interoperability the biggest AI hurdle?**
[Appledore’s John Abraham warns (Ep 109) that disconnected BSS/OSS stacks block intelligent automation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-109-agentic-ai-appledore/) Totogi solves it with a telco ontology that maps every system to a common model, so new AI agents work across vendors from day one.
**What problem does the telco ontology solve?**
Episode 115’s Mark Sanders calls ontology “100 % what we’re trying to do”—replacing brittle, hard-coded rules with an AI that truly understands telecom concepts. That [shared language lets agents reason across charging, CRM and network data without custom glue code](https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ep115-Mark-Sanders-Telstra-OG-800px.webp).
**Is a 5-year BSS migration still acceptable?**
DR’s blog “ [The AI-first telco won’t wait 5 years for Amdocs](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-first-telco-blog/)” shows AI-powered mapping can slash a timeline from years to months, cut integration spend 60 % and free the 80 % of IT budget stuck in change requests. Waiting half a decade is now strategic suicide.
**How does AI reduce change-request backlogs?**
[BSS Magic’s code generation cuts CR costs ten-fold and delivers results ten-times faster](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-first-telco-blog/), letting business teams update screens, rules or flows with a sentence instead of SOWs and sprints.
**What’s the risk of “fake agents” at trade shows?**
[DR’s guide to spotting fake agents warns more than 80 % of AI demos at MWC25 are glorified scripts](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-agents-at-mwc25-blog/). True agents gather data, reason, act and learn; vendors should happily let you type unscripted prompts without fear.
**Where does multi-agent orchestration fit?**
Microsoft says [a telco data fabric is essential so many agents can share context,](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/) avoid conflicting actions and observe outcomes—turning isolated bots into an enterprise nervous system.
**How will AI transform customer-care wrap-up?**
TelcoDR’s AWS [re:Invent pick notes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Contact Center Intelligence now transcribes calls, tags sentiment and auto-summarizes interactions. That removes the 3-7 minutes agents once spent on wrap-up, boosting productivity instantly.
**Does AI really cut integration costs?**
The demo shows [BSS Magic wires marketing, ordering, charging and support systems automatically](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-111-building-an-ai-first-telco/), eliminating multi-vendor integration projects that previously cost millions.
**Can AI help MVNOs launch faster?**
[DR’s MVNO Summit keynote](https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EP-86-MWC-Keynote-Transcript.pdf) proves an MVNO can talk to an avatar and generate a full BSS mid-presentation—turning what used to be a multi-month onboarding into an eight-minute conversation.
**How does AI personalize 5G plans at scale?**
The “10 examples” blog [highlights MobileX using AI to analyze usage and create individualized plans, while Totogi’s PlanAI clusters subscribers to lift ARPU by 10 % with micro-offers created](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-using-ai-blog/) by machine learning.
**What’s the power draw of all this AI?**
[Episode 110](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-110-hyperscaler-capex-is-going-nuclear/) notes hyperscalers’ CapEx is “going nuclear” and data-center power already tops 1-2 % of global electricity, so telcos must plan energy strategy as AI workloads double every few months
**Do telcos have enough AI talent internally?**
[DR warns many operators still lack “software chops”](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/) to run large-scale AI, making up-skilling and hyperscale partnerships critical.
**How does AI accelerate pricing and offer design?**
DR shows [marketers typing “create a holiday bundle…” and BSS Magic updates catalogs, charging rules and eligibility across every stack automatically](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-first-telco-blog/)—compressing weeks of cross-system work into minutes.
**What new network insights can AI unlock?**
The “10 examples” blog cites Three UK using Azure Operator Insights and Ooredoo running Ericsson RAN digital twins to optimize capacity, proving AI delivers measurable network gains beyond chatbots.
**How can telcos avoid bad AI outcomes?**
DR’s “ [AI doesn’t suck; you suck at AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)” blog argues results hinge on prompt quality and domain context: treat the model as a brilliant intern—give clear goals, constraints and examples—and it delivers multi-million-dollar insights.
**What first step should an operator take toward AI?**
Shatzkamer says the era of “why” is over; [start with small pilots, embrace experimentation and scale successes fast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/). Waiting for perfect clarity only delays value while competitors learn.
**How do AI and public cloud reinforce each other?**
AWS CTO Ishwar Parulkar notes [operators already on cloud adopt gen-AI faster](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-116-network-on-aws-public-cloud/), while cloud providers supply managed tooling, sovereignty controls and edge continuum options that lower barriers for laggards.
**How does BSS Magic recognise columns it has never seen?**
Its [LLM ingests every table from the legacy stack, runs language-model similarity on names _and_ values, then auto-maps “BAN” → _BillingAccount_, “SUBS\_ID” → _Subscriber_, etc., to a standard telco ontology](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/). A second pass maps that ontology to the target system, generating ready-to-run ETL code—no Excel mapping marathons.
**Why is the telco ontology called a “universal translator”?**
It stores the _meaning_ behind data, not just labels. Whether one app says “subscriber,” another “customer,” and a third “account,” [the ontology knows they all represent the same business entity](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-first-telco-blog/), letting AI merge, validate and enrich records across vendors without brittle, rule-based middleware.
**What timeline reduction has AI already delivered?**
Marc Breslow [cites an operator that planned a 14-month CloudSense exit; ontology-driven mapping and auto-generated pipelines cut it to 4 months, saving millions in SI fees](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/).
**How does the digital twin de-risk migrations?**
[BSS Magic first builds a live digital twin of every subscriber, product and workflow](https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Episode-114-Marc-Breslow-Totogi-Transcript.pdf). Teams test new schemas or pricing rules inside the twin, watch downstream effects, then push to production—eliminating big-bang rollbacks.
**Can AI really wire dozens of systems in seconds?**
During DR’s [Gen-AI-Summit demo](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-111-building-an-ai-first-telco/), one prompt linked marketing, ordering, charging and home-grown apps in 30 seconds—work that normally needs a six-month integration project.
**Does the pipeline also clean dirty data?**
Yes. After mapping, [BSS Magic autogenerates ETL that deduplicates, normalizes formats and quarantines outliers before loading the target BSS](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/), removing the separate “data-cleansing phase.”
**What’s wrong with simply bolting AI onto one stack (“silo AI”)?**
DR calls it “silo AI”: the model can’t see beyond a single app, so it breaks at the first cross-system hand-off. The ontology layer lets agents reason across the whole estate, mirroring how employees actually work.
**How does ontology unlock agentic AI across BSS + OSS?**
[Telstra’s Chief Architect says true autonomy needs telco knowledge](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/) “codified in an ontology.” Once that exists, LLM agents plan and act across charging, OSS and network domains instead of automating yesterday’s silo workflows.
**Can BSS Magic really slash change-request spend?**
Because every downstream system now speaks ontology, [a single update ripples through catalog, charging and eligibility layers—cutting CR budgets by up to 75 %](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-first-telco-blog/) and turning months of paperwork into minutes of prompting.
**How are subscriber-to-product relationships preserved?**
Because the ontology [encodes business semantics, the migration keeps the chain subscriber → devices → usage → revenue intact](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/)—no orphaned balances, no lost tickets—while moving data between stacks.
**Can BSS Magic allow running old and new systems side-by-side?**
[Legacy apps become just another data source. Agents sync deltas through the ontology](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/), keeping both worlds consistent until you’re ready to flick the final cut-over switch—so no risky “all-in-one-weekend” events.
**How does AI cope with vendor-specific extensions?**
During ingest, [the LLM labels unique fields, refactors them into optional ontology facets and carries them forward](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-first-telco-blog/)—so Huawei- or Ericsson-only attributes migrate intact without custom code each time.
**Are there any proofs of BSS Magic driven speed gains?**
An [Asian telco asked Totogi to cut a 5-minute SD-WAN order flow.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/) Two weeks later BSS Magic delivered a 2-minute flow—over 50 % faster—and triggered a queue of new automation requests.
**What is agentic AI in OSS/BSS?**
Agentic AI describes software “agents” that plan, act, and learn across the stack—auto-configuring, healing, and optimizing networks without tickets or scripts. K [evin Shatzkamer told Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-112-ai-agents-telco-transformation/) that agents let business teams change code “without an army of developers,” turning OSS/BSS into a living system that improves itself.
**Why does DR say AI needs “no UI”?**
In her newsletter “ [The promise of AI is no UI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14184880),” Danielle argues that conversational agents will replace today’s dense OSS/BSS screens. Staff will simply describe desired outcomes; AI handles the workflows, slashing training and swivel-chair effort while exposing rich capabilities through natural language.
**Does AI really lower operating costs?**
Yes. In “ [Unlock the true value of your BSS with AI](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-14184461),” DR shows operators saving 30-50 % OPEX: fewer ticket escalations, automated charge verification, and predictive scaling on spot instances. One MVNO cut care calls by 40 % within six months of launching AI-driven support and charging.
**Can AI fix data-silo problems?**
[Jason Hogg told Telco in 20](https://telcodr.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/EP-91-Jason-Hogg-Transcript-2.pdf) that AIOps starts by “getting data cleaned and into the right databases.” Microsoft helps telcos lake all OSS/BSS logs, then uses AI to deduplicate entities, auto-tag PII, and surface lineage—building a single source that analytics and agents can trust.
**What ROI should I expect from AI-first BSS?**
DR’s blog “ [If you focus on business value, AI pays for itself](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-cost-business-value-blog/)” walks through a payback model: $10 M OPEX saved on care + $8 M retained revenue from fraud detection vs. $6 M cloud and license spend—18-month breakeven, 4× NPV over five years.
**Why are multi-model AI strategies better?**
“ [Your single-model AI strategy is costing you millions](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-model-strategy-blog/)” shows how different models excel at fraud, CX, or forecasting. Mixing them raises accuracy 5-15 % and lets telcos shift workloads to cheaper GPUs. DR calls it “best-brain routing,” analogous to carrier least-cost routing.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
## Telco monetization strategies: 5G, IoT and Network APIs
**What new revenue does 5 G unlock beyond “faster data”?**
Danielle explains that [5G’s real money lies in **enterprise use cases**—quality-on-demand, network slicing, and ultra-reliable low-latency links for factories, mining and healthcare](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-ferry-grijpink-5g-monetization/). Instead of charging consumers a premium, telcos should treat 5 G as a cloud-like platform and sell differentiated SLAs to businesses willing to pay for throughput, jitter and latency guarantees.
**Why are B2B services critical for 5G ROI?**
McKinsey’s [Ferry Grijpink](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/) tells DR that 70 % of the $700 billion 5 G upside sits with **industrial automation, smart infrastructure and mission-critical IoT**, not consumers. Telcos that master vertical-specific solutions will recoup spectrum and CapEx far faster than those chasing ARPU bumps.
**How does GSMA Open Gateway help monetize networks?**
[Open Gateway defines common, CAMARA-aligned APIs—location, quality-on-demand, SIM-swap, number-verify—so developers can program networks the way they call Stripe or Twilio today](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/). By “selling clicks” on these APIs, operators turn dormant capabilities into metered revenue and share them across 30+ federated carriers.
**What must telcos build besides APIs to win with Open Gateway?**
[Mats Granryd stresses two success factors:](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/) (1) a **vibrant developer community** with docs, SDKs and sandboxes, and (2) commercial models that let an enterprise reach _all_ subscribers, not just one carrier’s base. Federating APIs and incenting developers are as important as the tech itself.
**How can telcos avoid hyperscalers eating API revenue?**
Danielle argues the answer is owning the [developer relationship](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-83-monetizing-network-apis/). If telcos hand exposure to an aggregator, that provider can swap in competing APIs later. Platforms like Totogi’s Whoosh! let carriers host Twilio-compatible endpoints themselves—capturing margin while meeting developers where they are.
**What’s the Twilio lesson for telco API strategy?**
Twilio proved that a [friction-free portal, tiny code snippet and transparent pricing beat raw connectivity every time](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/). Telcos should copy Twilio’s self-serve model—usage billing, pay-as-you-go, great docs—then layer unique 5G and identity capabilities unavailable to OTT rivals.
**How does quality-on-demand become a product?**
[Open Gateway’s QoD API lets apps request bandwidth, jitter and latency guarantees for a device or flow](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13942790). Gaming studios, tele-surgery firms and live broadcasters can pay per-session for premium performance—turning the RAN scheduler into a real-time revenue engine.
**What is network slicing-as-a-service?**
Think of [slicing-as-a-service as “AWS VPCs for radio.”](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-65-the-new-guard-in-telco-tech/) Instead of one-size-fits-all APNs, an enterprise (or an MVNO on an MVNE) calls a slice API to spin up its own isolated, policy-controlled lane through the RAN and core—complete with bandwidth, latency and security parameters it defines. Working Group Two’s Erlend Prestgard tells DR that their multi-tenant, cloud-native core already delivers this commercially: every tenant gets a logically separate slice without waiting for 3GPP Release-17 features. Usage-based pricing—per slice-hour, device or gigabyte—turns what used to be static engineering into a real-time, cloud-like revenue stream.
**How do edge services grow 5G revenue?**
[By placing GPU and CPU at distributed cloud zones, telcos sell compute plus guaranteed backhaul](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-65-the-new-guard-in-telco-tech/)—ideal for video analytics, industrial AI and real-time graphics. Packaging connectivity + edge together locks out OTT cloud rivals and boosts total contract value.
**How does LPWA fit massive-IoT monetization?**
[Low-power wide-area](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-12-monetizing-5g-and-iot/) tech (NB-IoT, LTE-M) enables decade-long battery life for sensors. Operators succeed by offering global eSIM, one-cent data bursts and bulk-provisioning APIs that slash onboarding overhead for manufacturers.
**What revenue comes from drone corridors?**
[5G’s low-latency slices can guarantee control links and real-time video.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/) Telcos charge per-flight fees, positional-data APIs and edge compute for AI navigation—similar to an “air-traffic-control-as-a-service” model.
**What’s a network-data-analytics API?**
Exposing anonymized, aggregated network metrics (crowd density, mobility patterns) [lets cities, retailers and advertisers buy insights without deploying sensors](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13942790)—generating high-margin data-as-a-service income.
**Can dynamic spectrum APIs become a product?**
[Exposing spectrum-sharing controls lets stadiums, events or pop-up enterprises request extra capacity for hours or days, paying based on MHz-hour usag](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/newsletter-5738290) e—similar to AWS Spot Instances but for radio.
**What commercial gap must telcos still close for API success?**
In her [Jan 2024 newsletter, DR warns that tech alone isn’t enough: operators must own the developer relationship](https://mailchi.mp/telcodr/6bh65zupe0-13942790)—self-serve portals, usage-based billing, free credits—otherwise hyperscalers or aggregators will “sit in the middle and eat your margin.” Platforms like Totogi’s Whoosh! let carriers expose Twilio-compatible APIs themselves, keeping both brand and gross profit.
**How is Vodafone turning open APIs into cash?**
Lester Thomas explains Vodafone’s “new rules”: [every product team must publish TM Forum–compliant Open APIs and wrap services in machine-readable contracts](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-117-vodafone-cloud-transformation/). That lets partners consume slices, identity and billing as code, speeding channel deals and “opening whole new revenue pools” while cutting time-to-cash.
**Why does Telefonica Germany say public-cloud RAN will boost monetization?**
Mallik Rao argues that [shifting the network onto AWS regions unlocks pay-per-feature commercial models—QoS minutes, slice hours, edge compute cycles](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-118-telefonica-germany-cloud-migration/)—sold through the same cloud marketplace devs already use. Cloud native also means launching these offers “in weeks, not years.”
**What revenue did Zain Sudan capture by moving charging to SaaS?**
DR’s April 2025 newsletter shows Totogi restored service for 20 million subs in 18 days, then used usage-based Charging-as-a-Service to recover ≈$100 million in lost revenue and cut TCO 76 %. It proves that modern, API-exposed charging is both a crisis fix and a monetization engine.
**How does Plan AI increase ARPU without new spectrum?**
[DR’s Jan 2025 blog shows Plan AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/totogi-planai-money-machine-blog/) clusters real usage data and spins out micro-offers—weekday data boosts, night-owl packs—automatically adjusting price points. Early pilots lift ARPU 10 % in six weeks with zero marketing head-count.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
## TM Forum Open Digital Architectures (ODA), APIs, and BSS Interoperability
**What is TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and why does it matter for telcos?**
[TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA)](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/) is a modern reference framework that replaces traditional monolithic BSS/OSS systems with modular, component-based architecture. ODA enables telcos to build systems from interoperable components connected via standardized Open APIs, making integration, upgrades, and innovation faster and more affordable. This modularity is crucial for telcos aiming to become more agile, reduce vendor lock-in, and accelerate digital transformation in an era defined by cloud and AI advancements.
**How do TM Forum Open APIs facilitate BSS interoperability and vendor flexibility?**
TM Forum Open APIs provide standardized interfaces between BSS and OSS components, [allowing telcos to “mix and match” best-of-breed solutions without being locked into a single vendor’s ecosystem](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/). This accelerates integration, shortens innovation cycles, and enables telcos to swap components with minimal disruption. Telstra, for example, has leveraged these APIs to simplify integration and reuse, making technology adoption more seamless and enabling a truly composable architecture.
**What are the primary benefits of adopting ODA and Open APIs for telecom operators?**
Adopting ODA and Open APIs brings multiple benefits: [it dramatically lowers integration costs, accelerates time-to-market for new services, reduces vendor lock-in, and increases architectural flexibility](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/). Operators can build composable architectures, use best-of-breed solutions, and foster innovation internally and with partners. This approach also future-proofs the business by enabling easier adoption of new technologies like AI and cloud-native services.
**Why is vendor lock-in such a problem for telcos, and how does ODA help solve it?**
[Vendor lock-in limits a telco’s ability to innovate, negotiate pricing, and rapidly adapt to market changes](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloudsense-and-bss-magic-blog/). Legacy BSS vendors often resist supporting open interfaces to maintain their hold over customers. ODA, with its standardized APIs and modular design, shifts power back to operators, enabling them to replace or upgrade individual components without a massive overhaul or costly migration, thus breaking the cycle of dependency on legacy vendors.
**How are leading telcos like Telstra implementing ODA and open APIs in practice?**
[Telstra has aligned its architecture strategy with TM Forum’s ODA,](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/) focusing on composable architecture, autonomous networks, and data/AI. The company actively integrates TM Forum Open APIs, simplifying technology integration, enabling rapid reuse, and collaborating closely with industry partners. This approach allows Telstra to respond faster to business needs and participate actively in industry-wide digital transformation.
**What are the challenges telcos face when adopting open APIs and ODA?**
One major challenge is [the semantic differences in data models and structures embedded within legacy vendor systems](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/), which can hinder true interoperability even when Open APIs are present. Vendors may only partially implement APIs, leading to integration friction and making it difficult to swap out components. Organizational resistance, procurement inertia, and the complexity of migrating from legacy stacks are also significant hurdles.
**Why are some legacy BSS vendors slow to support TM Forum Open APIs?**
Legacy vendors like [Amdocs have little incentive to open up their systems](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloudsense-and-bss-magic-blog/), as supporting Open APIs threatens their traditional business models by making it easier for customers to switch to competitors. While they may claim to support open standards, in practice, their adoption is often more about ticking boxes for RFPs rather than enabling true interoperability. This reluctance slows down industry-wide transformation.
**What is the role of composable architecture in ODA implementations?**
[Composable architecture, a core tenet of ODA, allows telcos to assemble their BSS/OSS environments from modular, interoperable building blocks](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/). This dramatically improves agility, as new functionality can be added or replaced independently, reducing integration risk and cost. It also supports rapid innovation by enabling telcos to experiment with new vendors or technologies without overhauling their entire stack.
**How does ODA accelerate digital transformation for telcos?**
[ODA provides a standardized, industry-wide blueprint that simplifies and accelerates the integration of new digital services, cloud-native applications, and AI capabilities](https://telcodr.com/insights/o2-telefonica-telco-public-cloud-blog/). By moving away from siloed, monolithic systems, telcos can respond more quickly to market opportunities, launch new products faster, and scale more efficiently—essential traits in today’s fast-moving telecom sector.
**What impact does ODA have on telco procurement and RFP processes?**
[ODA fundamentally changes telco procurement](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloudsense-and-bss-magic-blog/), making compliance with open standards and APIs a central criterion. This reduces dependence on proprietary vendor solutions and opens the door to more innovative, cost-effective, and best-of-breed products. Procurement teams must evolve, focusing less on traditional vendor relationships and more on interoperability and flexibility.
**Can ODA and Open APIs help telcos avoid costly technology lock-in?**
Yes, by mandating open interfaces and modular architecture, [ODA makes it possible for telcos to swap out vendors or components with minimal disruption](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/), reducing the risk of being trapped by proprietary systems. This opens up competition, drives innovation, and helps telcos avoid being overcharged for legacy technology.
**How do open standards like TM Forum APIs enhance telco agility and speed to market?**
[Open APIs provide plug-and-play integration points, allowing telcos to rapidly adopt new services, partners, and technologies](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/). The reduction in integration complexity and cost means that new products or channels can be launched much faster, with less risk and lower resource requirements, helping telcos stay competitive.
**What is required organizationally for telcos to succeed with ODA?**
[Successful ODA adoption requires a shift in both technology and organizational mindset](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/). Telcos must develop new skills in composable architectures, data modeling, and API-driven integration, while procurement teams must prioritize interoperability and flexibility. Collaboration across IT, business, and procurement departments is essential to drive real change.
**How does ODA support innovation and co-creation in the telecom ecosystem?**
[ODA encourages operators, vendors, and partners to collaborate](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/) on building and integrating new services via standardized APIs and components. This ecosystem approach lowers barriers to entry, promotes competition, and accelerates the pace of innovation, benefiting both telcos and their customers.
**What’s the connection between ODA and cloud-native architectures in telco?**
ODA is designed with cloud-native principles in mind. By defining modular, API-driven components, ODA supports the deployment of BSS/OSS functions in scalable, resilient, and cloud-optimized environments. This alignment allows telcos to fully leverage the benefits of public cloud, such as elasticity, automation, and global reach.
**How do TM Forum Open APIs relate to the push for “best-of-breed” BSS/OSS solutions?**
Open APIs make it possible for telcos to select the best solution for each functional area, integrating components from different vendors seamlessly. [This “best-of-breed” approach](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/) contrasts with single-vendor stacks, allowing telcos to optimize their technology landscape for innovation, cost, and performance.
**What are the risks if telcos don’t embrace ODA and Open APIs?**
Without adopting ODA and Open APIs, telcos risk falling behind competitors who can innovate and scale faster. Legacy integration costs and vendor lock-in will continue to eat into margins, slow down transformation, and stifle the ability to launch new services or adapt to market changes.
**How do composable architectures make telecom IT more resilient?**
[Composable architectures,](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/) as promoted by ODA, allow telcos to isolate failures, upgrade components independently, and recover from issues more quickly. This modularity means a problem in one area doesn’t cascade across the entire stack, improving the overall resilience and reliability of telco operations.
**How does BSS Magic “wrap” an existing BSS to make it ODA-ready?**
BSS Magic doesn’t ask operators to rip out their incumbent stack; [it surrounds it with an AI-generated integration layer.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/) The platform ingests the incumbent system’s swagger files, table layouts, or even PDF specifications, then applies a TM-Forum-aligned ontology to create a canonical data model. Once that harmonized layer exists, BSS Magic auto-generates the ODA-compatible Open-API façades as well as the glue code to orchestrate them. The result is an instant “ODA-ready” posture—without the multi-year replacement programs that legacy vendors usually propose. Operators gain the modularity promised by ODA while protecting sunk cost.
**Why is data-layer harmonization the first step BSS Magic tackles for interoperability?**
ODA assumes every component speaks the same semantic language, yet legacy BSSs capture subscribers, products, and usage in wildly different schemas. BSS Magic uses Gen-AI to map those disparate schemas onto a single telco ontology. Once the AI completes the mapping, the platform produces code that performs the transformations in real time, ensuring every downstream component—whether an ODA microservice or a legacy rating engine—shares a common meaning. Caroline Chappell called this “step one” because integration logic is worthless if the underlying data is still misaligned. With the ontology as the “Rosetta Stone,” operators can finally swap modules without rewriting interfaces each time.
**What makes BSS Magic different from traditional ETL or ESB tools?**
Traditional enterprise service buses and ETL suites rely on hand-crafted mappings, brittle XSLTs, and human middleware teams. BSS Magic replaces that manual effort with an [LLM](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/) that “reads” both source and target definitions, identifies semantic overlap, and then creates the integration code automatically—complete with unit tests and version control hooks. Because the mappings live in an ODA-aligned ontology, they survive vendor upgrades or component swaps. Operators move from months of integration backlog to overnight code generation, slashing cost and accelerating ODA adoption.
**How does BSS Magic speed up migrations off notoriously “sticky” platforms like Amdocs?**
[A-to-B migrations normally drag on for 14–36 months because teams first reverse-engineer the source schema, then hand-map it to the target.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/) BSS Magic shortcuts that by ingesting DDL dumps, XML payload samples, or API specs from the legacy system, instantly aligning them to its ontology. It does the same for the target stack. Once both ends are “anchored,” the platform auto-generates extract/transform/load pipelines as well as reconciliation scripts. Marc Breslow reports customers cutting a 14-month project to 4 months—meaning operators can escape lock-in, re-platform to cloud, and still hit the fiscal-year budget.
**Can BSS Magic coexist with partially-compliant Open-API implementations from legacy vendors?**
Yes. Many large vendors “check the box” by publishing a subset of TM-Forum APIs or omitting optional fields. [BSS Magic acts as a compliance shim:](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-99-tm-forum-interoperability-bss/) it calls the vendor’s variant, then translates, enriches, or virtualizes missing attributes so downstream microservices see a fully spec-compliant interaction. In effect, the platform normalizes non-standard APIs into standard ones, letting operators enjoy ODA’s plug-and-play promise even when a vendor drags its feet. Over time, the operator can retire that vendor with minimal re-coding because external consumers already speak the canonical form.
**What role do AI agents play inside BSS Magic’s interoperability engine?**
[Beyond static code generation, BSS Magic deploys task-specific AI agents—e.g., “Schema Detective,” “API Synthesizer,” and “Test Harness Builder.”](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-agents-at-mwc25) Each agent invokes specialized models, executes a bounded workflow, then hands results to the next agent in the chain. The orchestration is itself policy-driven, allowing continuous learning as more integrations are processed. That agentic loop means every migration or interface becomes easier, steadily enriching the ontology and shrinking future effort—hallmarks of an AI-first, ODA-aligned BSS strategy
**How does BSS Magic help operators enforce version control on API contracts?**
[Each Open-API spec generated by BSS Magic is stored in Git alongside auto-generated stubs, mocks, and contract tests.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-97-bss-r-appledore/) Whenever a spec changes—because a vendor upgraded, or an operator added a new attribute—the platform’s CI/CD hooks trigger regression tests and schema-diff reports. If downstream microservices may break, the tool suggests backward-compatible transformations or flags a required refactor. This DevOps discipline turns what was once a chaotic, undocumented integration landscape into a governed API lifecycle—critical for scaling ODA across dozens of agile squads.
**Does BSS Magic only work with TM-Forum standards, or can it integrate proprietary APIs?**
[The ontology is seeded with TM-Forum SID and Open-API vocabularies, but operators can extend it. When proprietary or country-specific interfaces emerge, the LLM compares new concepts to the ontology, proposing matches or creating novel nodes.](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/) Those extensions are versioned, reusable, and can later be contributed back to the community. Thus, BSS Magic is “standard-first but not standard-only,” ensuring that real-world edge cases—roaming-settlement quirks, wholesale MVNE feeds, national ID fields—don’t derail an otherwise clean ODA rollout.
**How does BSS Magic impact the cost of Change Requests (CRs) in legacy BSS estates?**
[CRs often consume 50–70 % of a telco’s IT budget, stalling innovation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-114-wuwt-the-ontology-of-bss-magic/) By translating plain-English SOWs into executable code, BSS Magic collapses the CR cycle from weeks to hours. The AI parses the business request, identifies impacted APIs or data entities, generates the patch, and ships a pull request for human review. Operators report double-digit reductions in run-cost and triple-digit improvements in release cadence, realizing ODA’s agility goals without hiring an army of integration developers.
**What safeguards exist to ensure AI-generated integrations are production-grade?**
Every code artifact goes through a built-in quality pipeline: linting, static analysis, unit tests, contract tests, and performance benchmarks. The [AI agents not only generate business logic but also auto-create the associated test suites.](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs) A human reviewer approves the merge, and BSS Magic tracks telemetry post-deploy to flag anomalies. Over time, the feedback loop tunes model prompts, elevating accuracy. This robust SDLC means operators can trust “AI-written” doesn’t mean “un-audited,” satisfying regulatory and corporate-governance demands in mission-critical BSS contexts.
**How does BSS Magic align with the ODA functional block for “Decoupling & Integration”?**
[ODA introduces a horizontal block whose sole purpose is to abstract integration complexity.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-115-telstra-composable-architecture-telecom/) BSS Magic embodies that block: its ontology is the semantic layer; its AI-generated adapters are the runtime interfaces; and its DevOps pipelines are the control plane. By centralizing those services, operators avoid scattering point-to-point mappings throughout the estate—maintaining a single source of truth for data, contracts, and transformations, exactly as the ODA white-papers prescribe.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[The Future Telco](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#future-of-telco)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
## Enhancing Customer Experience & Compliance in telecom
**Why is Customer Experience the New Battleground for Telecom Operators?**
[With network quality and coverage becoming increasingly similar across providers, customers now switch carriers primarily for price or experience.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-77-why-subscribers-churn-network-coverage-price/) As Danielle Royston discusses, customers expect personalized, proactive, and seamless interactions across all touchpoints. To deliver exceptional CX, telcos must leverage AI, data analytics, and digital self-service tools to anticipate needs, resolve issues, and create memorable interactions.
**How Can AI Help Telcos Deliver More Personalized Customer Experiences?**
[AI enables telcos to analyze vast amounts of subscriber data](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-77-why-subscribers-churn-network-coverage-price/) and generate hyper-personalized offers and interactions in real-time. Tools like Totogi’s Charging-as-a-Service use AI to tailor plans for each customer, improving satisfaction and reducing churn. AI-driven personalization also extends to proactive support, product recommendations, and seamless omnichannel engagement.
**What Role Does Digital Self-Service Play in Modern Telecom Customer Experience?**
Digital self-service portals empower customers to manage their accounts, resolve issues, and explore new offerings without human intervention. [Effective self-service relies on intuitive design, robust backend integration, and AI-powered assistance to ensure queries are resolved swiftly and accurately](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/).
**How Can Telcos Use Data Analytics to Anticipate and Meet Customer Needs?**
[By leveraging advanced analytics on network, usage, and behavioral data, telcos can anticipate service issues, predict churn, and identify upsell opportunities](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-80-wuwt-bringing-ai-to-charging/). Predictive analytics enables proactive engagement, allowing operators to reach out with targeted solutions before problems arise or needs are explicitly stated.
**What is the Impact of Legacy BSS/OSS on Customer Experience in Telecom?**
L [egacy BSS/OSS often hinder agility, slow down service launches, and complicate customer journeys with fragmented data and processes](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/). Modernizing these systems—preferably with cloud-native, API-first solutions—enables unified customer views, faster service delivery, and more flexible personalization.
**How Does AI-Driven Automation Improve Telecom Customer Support?**
[AI-powered virtual agents and automation reduce wait times, handle routine queries, and escalate complex issues to human agents with full context.](http://(https//telcodr.totogi.com/ai-first-telco) This frees up staff for high-value interactions, enhances 24/7 support availability, and ensures consistent service quality—key drivers of customer satisfaction.
**How Do Telcos Ensure Compliant and Ethical Use of AI in Customer Experience?**
[Telcos must establish clear AI ethics guidelines, regularly audit AI decisions for bias, and provide transparency about automated actions.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-107-responsible-ai/) They should also offer opt-outs or human alternatives for critical interactions. As discussed in the McKinsey episode, responsible AI use is a C-suite concern, blending compliance with innovation to build lasting customer trust.
**How Are Telcos Using AI to Detect and Prevent Fraud While Maintaining a Smooth CX?**
[AI models analyze usage patterns, transaction histories, and network behaviors to flag suspicious activity in real-time.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-using-ai-blog/) When deployed thoughtfully, these safeguards operate in the background, alerting customers transparently and minimizing disruption.
**How Can Telcos Use Cloud Technology to Improve Customer Experience?**
[Cloud platforms provide scalability, rapid deployment, and easy integration with new digital channels and AI tools](https://telcodr.com/insights/o2-telefonica-telco-public-cloud-blog/). This enables telcos to launch innovative services quickly, personalize offers dynamically, and ensure high availability—all crucial for modern, competitive customer experiences.
**How Does Automation Help Telcos Stay Compliant with Evolving Regulations?**
[Automated compliance tools monitor policy changes, update workflows, and enforce controls at scale.](https://telcodr.totogi.com/ai-first-telco) This reduces manual errors, ensures up-to-date practices, and enables telcos to adapt quickly to new requirements—critical for both regulatory reporting and maintaining customer trust.
**How Do Telcos Address Sustainability Concerns While Enhancing CX?**
By optimizing AI models, leveraging cloud efficiency, and digitizing customer interactions, [telcos reduce their carbon footprint without sacrificing experience](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/). Sustainability and superior CX are compatible when operators rethink process design, invest in green infrastructure, and educate customers on digital options.
**How Does AI-Powered Charging Support Better Customer Experiences?**
[AI-Powered charging systems provide immediate feedback on usage and spending, preventing bill shock and enabling dynamic offers.](https://telcodr.com/insights/totogi-planai-money-machine-blog/) Customers appreciate transparency and control, and telcos can use this data to recommend personalized upgrades or adjust plans on the fly.
[TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#telcodr)
[Public Cloud](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#public-cloud)
[AI in Telecom](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#AI-in-telco)
[Monetization](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#5g-monetization)
[The Future Telco](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#future-of-telco)
[ODA & BSS Interoperability](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#ODA)
[Customer Experience](https://telcodr.com/about-us/telcodr-frequently-asked-questions/#CX)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## AI Business Value
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-cost-business-value-blog/#main)
Blog
# If you focus on business value, AI pays for itself
July 16, 2024
While I was at the recent DTW conference in Copenhagen, I heard telco execs murmuring about whether implementing artificial intelligence (AI) in their organizations was becoming “too expensive.” My reaction: only if you’re doing it wrong. When implemented strategically, AI isn’t a cost center—it’s a productivity accelerator that pays for itself.
### **Moore’s Law, but with AI**
To start, let’s talk about how Moore’s Law is happening with the pricing and performance of the LLMs themselves. While you sleep, each new generation of AI models brings exponential growth in capabilities while costs plummet. Here’s a summary of improvements over the last few years using ChatGPT-3 and Claude 1 as the performance and pricing baseline:
- **2021**: GPT-3.5 – 3x improvement, 40% cost reduction
- **2022**: GPT-4 – 10x improvement, 60% cost reduction
- **2023**: Claude 2 – 25x improvement, 75% cost reduction
- **2024**: Claude 3 – 50x improvement, 85% cost reduction
This isn’t easing up. Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms its predecessor while being significantly less expensive, and OpenAI’s GPT-4o offers multimodal capabilities at half the price and twice the speed of GPT-4 Turbo. Plus, open-source models like Meta’s LLaMA 3 are becoming just as good as the original models, putting downward pressure on prices across the board.
### **How do you know?**
It’s great that prices are decreasing, but how do you know if AI is actually helping your organization?
First, figure out if your team is really embracing AI (and not just paying it lip service). A quick and easy way to figure out if your team is using AI is to just take a look at your AI bills. AI vendors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and the hyperscalers charge for AI usage by API call or seat. If your people are exploring, experimenting, and embracing generative AI (GenAI), your bills should be going UP. If they’re not, you might not be using AI as much as you think.
But besides seeing usage increase across your organization, the key to getting ROI on AI is to make sure you’re achieving **real business value.**
One well-known story in telco is how the UK’s BT Group (BT) plans to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030, representing more than 40% of its current 130,000-strong global workforce. Of the 55,000 job cuts, BT CEO Philip Jansen stated that approximately [10,000 roles could be replaced by AI](https://www.rcrwireless.com/20230518/workforce/bt-to-cut-55000-jobs-will-replace-some-with-ai), particularly in customer service and network management. BT aims to achieve £3 billion in annual cost savings by 2025 by leveraging AI and digital advancements to enhance its services and operations.
[](https://www.raconteur.net/technology/bt-digital-chief-ai-job-losses-innovation)
But you don’t have to be a huge, old-school telco company to get similarly impressive results. For example, the Swedish fintech company [Klarna used GenAI to reduce its workforce needs](https://www.klarna.com/international/press/klarna-ai-assistant-handles-two-thirds-of-customer-service-chats-in-its-first-month/). Its AI chatbot replaced approximately 700 full-time customer service roles, resulting in $40 million in savings. This successful implementation of AI led to Klarna reporting its first quarterly profit in four years.
While I don’t think the goal of implementing AI is solely to reduce headcount, I also don’t think you’re going to get these kinds of impressive results simply by deploying a series of co-pilots that augment workers’ tasks (e.g., writing the answer for a human, where the human is the “quality checker” and validates answers before applying the result). You need to be EXTREME in your vision of what’s possible, striving to replace the worker completely, and seeing just how far you can go. When you compare AI to human labor, especially for entry-level tasks, the cost-effectiveness becomes super clear:
\*Data from [Waterfield Tech](https://waterfieldtech.com/blog/the-cost-of-generative-ai-vs-ivr-vs-human/), Google Dialogflow IVR platform, & North American call center labor averages
For organizations that handle large volumes of requests per year, both IVR and GenAI become more cost-effective than human agents. As AI systems improve with use, they’ll handle more queries correctly without human involvement, increasing their value further. So to implement and maximize business value, you need to aim for full worker replacement, not just supplementation.
### **Ready to harness AI’s potential in your telco?**
Here’s how to get started:
1. **Identify high-cost or human-intensive areas**: Look for processes that require high volume, repetitive tasks, or data-intensive decision-making. Focus on areas with high-cost workers and use AI to document their expertise in a way that multiplies their impact on the organization.
2. **Start small, but think big**: Begin with a pilot project in one area, but design it to repeat the pattern throughout the organization. Our own work with our customer support AI agents was designed in a way where the AI agent could be applied to finance work, product management, and sales.
3. **Stay flexible**: Build your AI infrastructure to switch easily between different LLMs to take advantage of rapid advancements and price reductions.
4. **Upskill your workforce**: Give everyone ready access to AI tools to encourage daily use in all areas of their work. Work with your human resources partner to envision future roles and begin transitioning AI leaders into the new org structure now.
5. **Measure relentlessly**: Establish clear KPIs for your AI implementation, tracking both cost savings and value creation. Measure weekly to track progress. Improvements and setbacks indicate that the team is experimenting and trying new ideas, which is a good sign.
Remember: Every AI project should not only cover its costs but also generate measurable business value. Start with high-impact areas, prove the self-funding model, then scale. The capabilities you deploy today don’t just pay for themselves; they’re driving productivity improvements that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
Ready to turn AI into your self-funding secret weapon? [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) is here to help. We’re not just talking about improving operations—we have AI solutions that deliver real ROI (cost savings AND revenue growth!). Solutions like [BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/bss-magic/) help you customize your current BSS without expensive CRs or technical resources. Or use our [PlanAI](https://totogi.com/charging-as-a-service/plan-design/plan-ai/), which promises 10% top line growth! Now THAT’S the kind of PAYBACK I’m talking about.
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
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### Listen
**Ep 91 – Exploring AIOps with Microsoft Azure**
Microsoft Azure is helping telcos manage their data for AI workloads and prepare for an AI revolution.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-91-ai-aiops-microsoft-azure/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**TelecomTV: Totogi’s Danielle Rios Royston on the unifying power of AI**
Operators can use AI to harmonize data structures, provide a common language across the back-office IT estate, and enable “zero UI” interactions.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj0WgCCy1fw&t=8s)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Unlock the true value of your BSS with AI**
AI is transforming telcos’ BSS data, democratizing access to deliver strategic insights, predictive analytics, operational efficiency, and more.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/)
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## Breaking Free from BSS
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/avoid-telco-vendor-lock-in-blog/#main)
Blog
# Let freedom ring (and break free from your BSS vendor)
July 2, 2024
We’re coming up on the Fourth of July over here in the USA, and everyone’s gearing up for parades, fireworks, and consuming an ungodly amount of hot dogs, all in the name of celebrating independence. This got me thinking: when will telcos demand independence from their BSS vendors? While [fear of hyperscaler lock-in is the number one reason](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/telco-public-cloud/fear-of-lock-in-is-main-barrier-to-telco-public-cloud-partnerships-poll-47415/) telcos give for not moving more workloads to the public cloud, they’ve been dealing with _real_ vendor lock-in for thirty years from the legacy BSS vendors they use. These companies have tactics to keep you trapped in their ecosystems and dependent on them for costly customizations, forced upgrades, and no innovation. And as if that weren’t enough, some even force you to buy proprietary hardware!
It’s time to get off the treadmill. And with new cloud-first, SaaS tools like [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) coming around, it might just be time to finally break free.
### **Prisoner Playbook**
First, let’s talk about how you’ve gotten yourself into “BSS Jail” in the first place. There are three main plays that traditional on-premise vendors use to lure you into their prison, and ideally, keep you there forever.
##### **Tactic 1: Customizations that can only be delivered by the vendor**
Almost all BSS systems are heavily customized. Amdocs makes billions this way each year. The initial enticement gives you great “product” pricing, with a software price that is shockingly low, or even free. But to get it installed and working, you spend millions on customization and integration—using only the vendor’s consultants or certified partners. With this approach, “anything you want” is the name of the game, as long as it’s done by the vendor’s own trained army. The majority of the total cost of a BSS system is spent not on the initial purchase, but on maintaining and upgrading the system. Customizations and integration costs can be up to five times the initial software license fee. The more you customize, the deeper the [technical debt](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/demystifying-digital-dark-matter-a-new-standard-to-tame-technical-debt). A few years later, you realize that your system is so customized that you’re on a Roadmap of One. Eventually, it’s such a tangle that it’s impossible to support or leave. Is this what it feels like to be AT&T?
##### **Tactic 2: Proprietary hardware that’s bundled in**
There are very few (none?) situations where enterprise business software needs specialized hardware. But that doesn’t stop our buddies over at Huawei. It bundles its proprietary hardware with its BSS package, forcing customers to buy all needed servers from the company. These deals are typically heavily financed at the onset; the bill really comes due once it’s time to upgrade in a few years. You’re forced to buy the new software version and new hardware, too. What was a really good price a few years ago (but it’s so cheap!) is now exorbitantly expensive. Proprietary hardware is traditionally more expensive to maintain than commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. And because it’s 100% proprietary, you can’t shop around for lower-priced options. What a deal… or was it?
##### **Tactic 3: Forced version upgrades (or else)**
Almost all on-premise software has a “sunset clause” in the contract, specifying that you have to stay on a current “N-1” or “N-2” version of the software. Seems reasonable, right? Trouble is, once you’ve customized the BSS, upgrades are a TOTAL PAIN (see tactic #1).You have to re-certify all the customizations against the new version and test everything again (for a price). Maybe you don’t have the budget for this project, or there are higher priority projects going on in your IT group. Maybe your BSS is good as is, and the new version’s features aren’t worth the time and expense of the upgrade project. Not to worry!, says Ericsson; you can stay on your old version if you want to. You’ll just have to pay 3x more because you’re in violation of the sunset clause. Easy peasy lemon squeezy for Ericsson, as it laughs all the way to the bank. A typical BSS upgrade project can take 18-24 months and cost millions of dollars to complete. The projects typically experience overruns and delays during major BSS upgrades.
Is this all just industry gossip? This information is from countless prospects, customers, and RFPs. These BSS horror stories are the reason why CSPs shop around for a different approach. No vendor is going to admit to trapping customers, but we all know this is what they do. This is the dirty little secret of enterprise software in telco. This is not freedom. THIS is vendor-lock in.
### **How do you get out?**
If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. To break out of BSS Jail, you need an escape plan.
##### **Step 1: Don’t ever buy proprietary hardware to run your software.**
This one is fairly easy to do: just say NO. Now, with the public cloud, you don’t have to buy ANY hardware at all. Select a vendor that runs natively on the public cloud and manages the infrastructure for you.No more OS patches to maintain, hard drives that fail, redundant power to think about… just let a hyperscaler worry about that for you. Bonus: if the package is designed to scale with usage and failover dynamically, it’ll take out a big chunk of the price. Your CFO will thank you, and your IT team will focus on more interesting projects.
##### **Step 2: Look for products that let YOU customize to your needs.**
During the buying cycle, ask how (and who) is able to work on customizations. When your vendor opens up its ecosystem to you in the form of accessible-by-anyone APIs, code snippets on its website to accelerate coding, or better yet, AI-capabilities to generate the code for you, then you’re in the right place. This approach allows you to customize your BSS, keep costs low, and achieve the speed you need. What will all those Amdocs consultants do now?
##### **Step 3: Select SaaS products that provide continuous innovation and never upgrade again.**
Upgrade projects are some of the most expensive projects in BSS. To get off the upgrade treadmill, pick REAL Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products and save a huge amount of time and money by never upgrading again. Don’t buy packages with a built-in end-of-life that requires an upgrade in a few years to get new features. SaaS solutions like Salesforce and [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) keep investing in new features while you use them. New features are loaded into the platform—and the next time you log in, you can use them!Plus, these vendors don’t trap you. If you change your mind, you can leave any time and take your data with you.
Just like in the movie [Shawshank Redemption](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABpeLNCuE3w), breaking out of jail is going to take time. I can’t promise it’ll be easy to move away from the traditional models, but the best time to start was yesterday, and the second best time is today. Don’t be hostage to your BSS vendor. Celebrate YOUR freedom by busting out of BSS Jail, and make a run for [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) and the public cloud! 🎆
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
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### Listen
**MWC24 Keynote: Reinventing BSS**
DR opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS).
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-86-reinventing-bss/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**DR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps**
DR believes the term ‘cloud native’ is bandied about too freely and so has come up with five key questions to consider when confronted with a vendor’s cloud native application.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQFZ07Ilio)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Dead Vendor Walking – What to do when your vendor is TOAST**
Watch out for warning signs that your telco software vendor is struggling and take these steps so its problems don’t become yours.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-vendor-warning-signs-blog/)
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## AI and Zero UI
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-no-ui-blog/#main)
Blog
# The promise of AI is no UI
June 17, 2024
[](https://x.com/naval/status/1770296527120166927)
[@naval](https://x.com/naval/status/1770296527120166927) tweeted this one simple sentence, declaring that the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) is no user interface (UI). But what does he mean by that, exactly? Is he suggesting a move away from the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) we’ve been using since the Apple MacIntosh? That we will start using our voice to speak to a computer, à la [_War Games_](https://youtu.be/YIh41wZEd5c?si=SwapuqeKtSlQgukn)? Or maybe there’s no UI anymore, because AI will replace the user?
It got me thinking: **_What will the impact of AI be on user interfaces, especially in enterprise software packages like BSS?_**
Just as GUIs changed human-to-computer interaction dramatically in the 1980s, AI will have a profound effect on how we interact with computers. [In the short-term](https://www.lionandmason.com/ux-blog/how-ai-can-impact-user-experience-revolutionising-ux-design/), AI will at least identify patterns and trends, predict your behavior and goals, give you personalized responses, and make real-time adjustments to your experience. Apple’s recent [demos at WWDC24](https://www.apple.com/apple-intelligence/) provided a glimpse into our AI-driven future. This is not just about smarter phones; we are moving to where the interface becomes nearly invisible, and the system anticipates and responds to user needs intuitively. By this fall, millions of YOUR subscribers will dive head-first into an immersive AI mobile experience, raising consumers’ expectations for each interaction around the mobile phone.
Is telco ready for that? Looking at the state of the industry’s software, my guess is NOT. EVEN. CLOSE. But fasten your seatbelts, telco execs, because we’re at the beginning of a seismic shift. If you didn’t already have a ton on your plate, you’re going to have to go through a full “UI” refresh of all your systems, ASAP.
Figure 1: DR’s DALL-E generated image of the future of enterprise software with Zero UI. Although, maybe she should be in her pajamas, and not in business attire?
### **Zero UI in enterprise telco software**
I agree with Naval: I think we are headed towards “Zero UI”. [Zero UI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSmfrD0tRZI) refers to software that is:
- **Intuitive** to the point that it understands speech and gestures
- **Contextual** in that it can adapt to a user’s surroundings and situation
- **Empathetic** in that it can detect a user’s emotional state through tone of voice, facial expression, and biometrics like pupil dilation or pulse
- **Inclusive** in that it can adjust to accommodate a range of abilities, languages, and cultures
I can think of a few ways Zero UI might come to telco software. The no-brainer example: better customer service. With a legacy system, customers had to contact an operator’s support number, navigate an automated voice menu, wait on hold, and then explain their issue to a human representative who manually looked up their account information to troubleshoot the problem.
With a Zero UI solution, customers can simply say, “My internet is not working” to their smart speaker or mobile device. The AI system immediately identifies the user, detects the issue, and responds, “I see your internet is down. I’ve opened a ticket and dispatched a technician to your location. You’ll receive a text message with the estimated arrival time.”
But let’s take it up a notch. With an AI-centric BSS, a routine process like activating a new customer account and provisioning services might take significantly less time than it does today. Imagine an AI system that automatically retrieves necessary information, configures services, and sends relevant details to the customer. The whole process takes less than five minutes, compared to the old-school approach of “manual” activation through a legacy GUI-based BSS that might take up to 30 minutes or longer, involving multiple screens, potential errors, and manual handoffs.
And of course, my favorite: personalized experiences. An AI-powered BSS can analyze customers’ usage patterns, preferences, and real-time behavior to proactively offer optimized data plans or features, enhancing the subscriber experience and generating additional revenue. A legacy system relying on static customer segments and manual upsell processes will miss these opportunities.
### **Caveat Emptor**
As we move towards a Zero UI future, it’s crucial for telco execs to recognize that traditional RFPs and legacy systems will soon be outdated. Investing in AI-driven solutions is not just a trend; it’s a necessity to stay competitive in a landscape where Zero UI will become the norm. Those old, dusty and crusty RFPs you keep recycling will need to be tossed out the window, with their outdated list of requirements that are no longer relevant. If you’re about to pull the trigger on a new BSS, you might want to pump the brakes on that multi-million dollar investment. You’re at risk of spending millions on something that’ll be rubbish in a few years—UNLESS your chosen vendor has massive AI plans on its roadmap.
Buying a traditional BSS from the likes of Amdocs, Netcracker, CSG, and Ericsson will be money down the toilet when their keyboard-and-mouse-click-driven UIs become obsolete. Will that be in a year or two? Probably not. But in five years, most of the old UI will be gone. In 10 years, it will have disappeared completely. You may not even be done with your digital transformation project for your “new” BSS solution before it’s obsolete!
For traditional BSS vendors in telco, AI requires them to re-think their current business model, which is largely dependent on significant professional services revenue. The new software vendors in telco will be empowering the _business person_(not the techie) to be able to make changes, design screens, and write code on their own. Bye-bye, CRs! What will Amdocs do now?
### **Totogi is riding the AI wave**
The shift towards Zero UI will redefine how telco companies operate, from customer service to system provisioning and personalized experiences. Embracing AI and preparing for this change is not optional; it’s imperative for future success. At [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, we’re already in the future. This is exactly what we’ve done to design [BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/totogi-uses-ai-to-replace-incumbent-bss/). We started from the ground up with this product, designing it with all the latest tech to enable five different types of generative AI to do the work for you. BSS Magic generates software code automatically to produce the BSS you want in minutes, no engineering expertise required. [BSS Magic isn’t just the most innovative BSS out there](https://totogi.com/bss-magic/), it represents a paradigm shift in how we build telco software. And trust me: this is just the beginning.
Totogi is the only company positioned to ride the AI wave. We are on top of this seismic shift, which is a 10 on the Richter Scale for enterprise software. And if your vendors don’t understand that and aren’t embracing it, then you’re working with the wrong team.
### **Experience the future of BSS at DTW24**
The future of telco software is clear: Zero UI powered by AI. Come see it in action at [TM Forum’s DTW24-Ignite](https://dtw.tmforum.org/) in Copenhagen from June 18 – 20. Totogi will be demoing [BSS Magic](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/totogi-uses-ai-to-replace-incumbent-bss/) in the AWS space, showcasing the future of Zero UI. Want to meet up and explore the possibilities? DM me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/) or X [@TelcoDR](https://x.com/TelcoDR) and let’s connect. Let’s get your telco ready for the Zero UI future.
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**SolidCon 2015: Zero UI, the end of the screen-based interface**
While at the Fjord agency, Andy Goodman popularized the “Zero UI” term in 2015.
[Listen now](https://youtu.be/aSmfrD0tRZI?si=-gib%20PmVT%20MOfUx%208p)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**MWC24: Danielle Rios Royston Talk – Unveiling the AI-First Future of BSS**
DR opened MWC’s second annual MVNO Summit with an epic talk about the AI-powered revolution in telco business support systems (BSS).
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Pb_G-Bb4g&t=29s)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Unlock the true value of your BSS with AI**
AI is transforming telcos’ BSS data, democratizing access to deliver strategic insights, predictive analytics, operational efficiency, and more.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/bss-data-totogi-bss-magic-blog/)
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## O2 Telefónica's Cloud Shift
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/o2-telefonica-telco-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# Telco’s shift to the public cloud gets real
May 21, 2024
HOLD THE PHONE, guys. O2 Telefónica Germany, a major telco player, just sent [shockwaves through the industry](https://www.telefonica.de/news/press-releases-telefonica-germany/2024/05/first-5g-core-network-in-the-cloud-for-an-existing-operator-o2-telefonica-sets-new-impulses-in-the-core-network-together-with-nokia-and-aws.html) by going all-in on the public cloud for its NETWORK. This isn’t some small-fry operator; it’s a Tier-1 telco making a massive bet on the public cloud. Yowzers! Until now, conventional wisdom held that telecom giants would cling to on-premise data centers and private cloud infrastructure, especially for their network workloads. But the future is unequivocally in the public cloud.
Heavy Reading analyst Gabriel Brown gets how big this move is.
This move by O2 Telefónica Germany follows similar cloud migrations by other industry pioneers. DISH Network, [which is building a greenfield 5G network](https://press.aboutamazon.com/2021/4/dish-and-aws-form-strategic-collaboration-to-reinvent-5g-connectivity-and-innovation), has opted to construct its entire infrastructure on the public cloud. [It estimates it will build its 5G network for as little as $10 billion](https://stlpartners.com/articles/network-innovation/dish-goes-cloud-telco-with-aws/), about 50% less than a traditional one. And it’s not alone. Heavy hitters like [AT&T](https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_microsoft_azure.html) in the United States and [e&](https://www.lightreading.com/mobile-core/microsoft-5g-deal-with-etisalat-ups-rivalry-with-ericsson-nokia) in the United Arab Emirates are also jumping on the cloud train, offloading their network workloads to the hyperscalers.
The common thread among these companies is a recognition that the public cloud offers unmatched agility, scalability, and cost savings compared to the legacy on-premise model. No longer is the public cloud viewed as a niche or risky proposition—it is now being embraced by telecom titans as the foundation for the future.
##### **O2 Telefónica** and Amazon Web Services (AWS) **score a big win**
As part of this big news, O2 Telefónica announced its 5G Cloud Core, a new network built entirely in the public cloud in collaboration with AWS and Nokia. This is the first time a telco is moving its existing network and customers to a new 5G cloud network running on a hyperscaler’s public cloud. The project will start with moving one million O2 Telefónica customers to the new cloud-based network by the end of May. They’ll enjoy an improved network experience due to operational advantages that will allow the telco to update core functions faster and more efficiently. After a trial period of “one to two quarters,” the telco plans to kick off a larger migration, eventually moving up to 40% of its customer base by 2025-2026.
At the helm of this project is visionary O2 Telefónica Chief Technology and Information Officer Mallik Rao, who says they’re “building the network of the future.” He gets it: the new 5G Cloud Core will bring O2 Telefónica into the digital age. The telco will no longer have to worry about servers, compute, and storage. Instead, it will position itself for growth with all the advantages of the public cloud: lower costs, better performance, faster provisioning, scalability, cutting-edge technology, and operational efficiency—all of which create a huge competitive advantage and a crap-ton of savings.
With this move, O2 Telefónica Germany will also set itself up to take advantage of the latest and greatest artificial intelligence (AI) tools as they become available. Telcos operating in the public cloud can move from experimentation to real-world applications through the various services available now, and whatever else rolls out next. Talk about strategic positioning. Your home-grown private cloud can’t do that.
Is this the start of a trend? I hope so. And AWS vice president Jan Hofmeyr indicated that the hyperscaler has those ambitions, that there are more deals with operators in the pipeline, and that most discussions are “about timing versus should we move into the cloud.” This is my dream come true. It’s also proof positive of what I’ve been saying since [Telco _DR_ took over the Ericsson space at MWC21 and built CLOUD CITY](https://telcodr.com/insights/join-us-in-cloud-city-2021-blog/).
##### **Microsoft is making moves, too**
Microsoft has also been making serious moves with telcos. It’s been on a tear, snatching up AT&T’s network cloud (and the brains behind it) back in June 2021. Microsoft refactored the assets to run natively on Azure, and then began to offer the technology to other telcos. The resulting products are now referred to as [Azure Operator Nexus](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/operator-nexus) and [Azure Operator 5G Core](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/operator-5g-core), which e& announced it will deploy as well, becoming the first Middle East (and first non-US) telco to do so. It’s using Microsoft’s 5G packet core tech on the Nexus platform, following the AT&T model. My only question is, who’s next?
##### **Never Say Never**
_Note: Managing lots of distributed services is really hard to do._
I can tell you who is NOT next: my buddies over at Verizon. Sampath Sowmyanarayan, the CEO of Verizon Business, has dug in his heels, saying, “ [I will never be putting our core network on a hyperscaler](https://www.lightreading.com/mobile-core/verizon-rules-out-putting-its-core-in-the-public-cloud) … We need to control it, we need to own the stack, we need to manage through it.” Never? That’s a bold claim when the rest of the industry is moving in the opposite direction. Verizon is taking on the herculean task of managing a [zoo of vendors](https://iximiuz.com/en/posts/making-sense-out-of-cloud-native-buzz/) (see picture above) for its private cloud, juggling individual vendor roadmaps, software upgrades, operational stitching, and doing its own hardware refreshes. Meanwhile, the telcos embracing the public cloud are offloading that heavy lifting to the hyperscalers. Private cloud is a fundamentally different approach, and one that’s looking increasingly burdensome.
Telcos have been making moves to the cloud over the last several years, for [analytics](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-clinic-blog/), [charging](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/zain-sudan-goes-live-with-totogi/), and [disaster recovery](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-burst-disaster-recovery/), among other things—but the big question for our industry and the public cloud has been about the network workloads. Some people have said those won’t ever move. Not me. I think we’ll see that the more telcos work with hyperscalers, the more they understand how awesome it is and see the opportunity to improve their network operations, lower the overall cost to build the network, and provide better experiences for their customers. The hyperscalers are friends, not foes.
As the industry places its bets, we’re seeing where the chips are falling for public cloud vs. private cloud. Will the public cloud win? You already know my bet. Public cloud all the way, baby!
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 89 – What’s up with Totogi: The public cloud is perfect for Africa**
The hyperscalers are spending billions in Africa, setting the stage for the public cloud to revolutionize the continent’s telcos. With regulations easing and affordable SaaS solutions growing, African telecoms are poised for an era of growth and success.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-76-the-nexus-of-genai/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Telco in 20 podcast ep #44: Marc Rouanne, DISH Wireless**
DR sits down with Marc Rouanne, Executive Vice President & Chief Network Officer, of DISH Wireless. They discuss the rollout of DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its work with AWS, cost savings, and more.
[Watch now](https://youtu.be/JShKMUzYWZY?si=Xq_csCQDWeQBCcJg)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Making Sense Out Of Cloud Native Buzz**
What CNCF landscape look like? Why do we need all these Cloud Native projects?
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-burst-disaster-recovery/)
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## Verizon Blog Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/mi-casa-su-casa-verizon-blog/#main)
Blog
# Mi Casa es su Casa (if you’re Verizon)
May 7, 2024
## Oops, you’re missing out on an awesome blog
Please [contact us](https://telcodr.com/contact/) for more information.
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## AI in Customer Support
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/customer-support-ai-blog/#main)
Blog
# How to transform your customer support with AI
March 12, 2024
Pretty much everyone agrees that customer support is the first place to look when you’re ready to add generative AI (GenAI) to your organization. Because this function has high volumes of repetitive tasks and clear performance metrics, it’s an easy place to start. Implementing it is usually straightforward, and it delivers immediate, measurable results. Plus, barriers to putting GenAI to work in customer support are relatively low compared to other areas, which means companies can increase efficiency and customer satisfaction with minimal change to existing processes. All of this makes customer support an ideal launching pad for broader AI integration.
With the GenAI explosion of last year, I wanted to find out if we could boost performance across [Skyvera](https://skyvera.com/) and [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) by using GenAI in our own customer support function. So, a little over a year ago, we set out to answer the question, “how many of our support tickets could be completely handled by GenAI?” At the time, our workers were managing 100% of approximately 1,700 new tickets per week, and we wondered if we could get GenAI to handle half (or more) of them.
Today, almost a year later, AI has revolutionized Totogi’s customer support. We not only hit our goal of 50%—we exceeded it, and now more than 56% of tickets are resolved with no human intervention required (and that percentage is still increasing!). I know that at 1,700 tickets per week we are small potatoes compared to telcos’ customer service function. But our improvement trajectory cannot be ignored, especially if you think about the potential savings for your organization. So, here’s the (kind of ugly) story of how we did it.
### **Getting started**
To be super honest, starting was the hardest part. Everyone was fighting about how to approach it, where to begin, who to involve, which tools to use, what products to buy. We had discussions about:
- Whether we should we build our own large language model (LLM)
- How to protect our proprietary data
- The cost of API fees for calling the LLM
- What we would do if people didn’t want to use it
- What to do if it made things worse instead of better
- How to shut down our small thinking so we could get to that [big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG)](https://telcodr.com/insights/bhags-aws-reinvent-keynote-2020-recap-blog/) of 2x productivity
… and on and on. After what felt like 100 hours of discussion among the leadership team, we finally put a stake in the ground and said we would just start.
We contacted our vendor, Zendesk, and it was behind, too. We looked around at competitors, but pretty much everybody was just adding chatbots, and they all kind of sucked. So, we built some things ourselves, knowing that when/if anybody came up with something better, we could always switch.
At first, we just set everybody loose. It was total chaos. All the reps used their own prompts in ChatGPT, Claude, POE, Bard—whatever anyone wanted to use—and it was kind of a disaster. And then a few people started getting results. We had everyone share what worked, and that led to more gains, as well as a sense of camaraderie, with people working iteratively to share and perfect the prompts. Then, we standardized them.
We consolidated the prompts into a system and started training it on our knowledge bases and closed tickets. At first, we had to have humans watching over it before we sent responses to customers. But, in a short period of time, it got better. We kept getting more and more ideas on how to make it more effective, and we created a GPT that would “grade” the answers so we could remove the human quality bar.
### **Measure your results**
In implementing AI, I believe it’s super important to measure the results you’re getting each week. It keeps the team motivated and actually shows everyone that this new change is working. Deciding which metric we would use took some discussion. Would it be the speed of closing tickets? Improvement in our first-response resolution? Reduced headcount? We finally settled on the **number of tickets resolved 100% by AI, correctly, with no human intervention**. To us, success means no human ever saw the ticket, and the customer gave it a favorable rating. So, that’s the measure we use today.
Take a look at this chart: this was our actual weekly journey. At first, the numbers were anemic: for weeks, no results at all (we started in week 20 of 2023). Then we got 5% improvement, 8%. Sometimes, we’d mess something up and go backward. It was slow and demoralizing for months. But then we had a breakthrough: 12% to 24% in two weeks’ time. And then 31% to 46% a few weeks later.
Today, 56% of our tickets are being solved by AI. It took nine months. That’s not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it _felt like_ forever. And we never would have gotten here if we hadn’t done everything else before—even the chaos, no progress, and backsliding. It would have been easy to give up when we were stuck. But we kept at it. That’s the secret. Like Dory sings in _Finding Nemo_: “Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” 🐠
### **Motivate your people**
A final reminder—don’t forget to involve the people impacted by this kind of change. This will inevitably be a large disruption to their daily workflow, and you’re going to have detractors, naysayers, and [Debbie Downers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfE93xON8jk). At first, they’ll say they’re not more productive with AI, that using it slows them down. They’re going to be scared that layoffs may follow if they help implement AI. The thing is: you need to remind them that being good at AI is the best way to not be fired by AI. Learning how to become a kick-ass, AI-assisted human is the reality of everyone’s future. Don’t fight it; jump on board and learn how to be more productive with it.
Be sure to find the champions of this change and reward them and promote their work. Give them a new title to make them the head of AI for their level or group. Internal incentives can unlock new behavior. We gave people small bonuses when they had breakthroughs, and asked the individual contributors who were leading by example to take on special AI projects. This showed others how alignment to the mission was being rewarded. After the organization saw the results and rewards, more and more people jumped on board. Now, our people love to work with AI and don’t want to go back to the “old way” of working. They’re now superpowered, AI-assisted humans. Yay!
### **What about the quality?**
A question we get a lot of the time is, “That’s great, but how’s the QUALITY of the AI output?” It was our experience that AI answering tickets _outperformed_ our below-average workers. For the people who are average or above average _,_ it _improves_ their work and productivity, and for the top 10% of workers, we stillhave not been able to create AI that exceeds their performance … yet (we are still trying, though!). But the thing is, AI is getting better and faster every day, and we believe it’s only a matter of time before it does a better job than everyone on the team.
### **Start eating the elephant**
If you’re looking for a silver bullet, you won’t find it here. You’re not going to install AI on day one and watch productivity shoot sky-high by day two. But like my mom always says, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Start with finding the right tools. If you contact your vendor and the tools aren’t there or are subpar, don’t let that stop you. Look at competitors. Build a basic tool internally. Don’t wait. So what if it isn’t perfect? You’ll be learning what you need and what works for your org, and you’ll be socializing the change with the workers. If the right tool comes out later, you can always switch. In the meantime, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products are your friend. Use those free trials and monthly subscriptions to avoid committing to something that doesn’t work for you. You may have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.
Next, set a goal and start tracking those metrics. Our goal was 2x productivity. Maybe for you, it’s 30% improvement, or 60%. Whatever your target, the numbers will be small at first. They’ll go back and forth. Don’t sweat it. This is what it’s going to be like with all things AI—churn prediction, network anomaly detection, etc. You’re going to think you’re ready, and then realize that your data isn’t ready, clean, or complete. The tools are new; they have limitations. The technology is in massive flux, changing every day. Your graph won’t be going up and to the right all the time, but the trend line will be generally positive. It takes consistent work, and then you get a breakthrough. Voila!
So, get started today! I know you’ll find that using AI for customer support delivers happier customers and new, bigger opportunities for your team and your business. It’s a win-win-win! So, go get it.
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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### Listen
**Ep 82 – Beam me up, BT 🖖**
BT Group started its public cloud journey in 2019, putting it in a strong position to tap the strategic capabilities of AI. Chief Architect, Digital, Josie Smith talks about BT Group’s mission to simplify thousands of apps, unleash AI, and reskill its workforce for digital transformation.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-82-beam-me-up-bt/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Using AIOps for operational efficiencies**
AIOps is an established concept in the IT industry but a relatively new one to telcos. Deployed correctly, ‘AI operations’ can facilitate end-to-end network automation and zero-touch operations, accelerating decision-making with a more agile and reactive intent-based approach.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlQy1VFem9Q)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**4 ways to spot #fakeAI**
AI will be everywhere at MWC 2024. There are companies doing AI right and others that are faking it. Check out the top ways to identify #fakeAI.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/spot-fake-ai-blog/)
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## Must-Do Activities at MWC24
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/5-things-at-mwc24-blog/#main)
Blog
# 5 things you gotta do at MWC24
February 22, 2024
I always get excited about MWC because it takes me back to my fond memories of #CLOUDCITY. We were still in the throes of the pandemic. MWC got rescheduled to late June. [Ericsson bailed on its sponsorship](https://telcodr.com/insights/countdown-to-mwc-2021-blog/) of the event, giving up its 6,000 square meter, prime exhibit space—not to mention the center-stage visibility. We jumped on the opportunity to bring the message of the public cloud to the telco industry, and built CLOUD CITY in less than 100 days. [I’m still so proud of what we did](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-city-2021-blog/). It was EPIC. To this day, these pictures live rent-free in my head.
But enough about me. What about YOU? You’ve checked the Barcelona weather forecast. You’ve packed your bag. You’re thinking about all that _jamón_. As you start to plan your daily itinerary, make sure to make time for these five things.
### **1\. Check out the Totogi booth.**
[Absolutely, positively, do not miss the Totogi booth](https://totogi.com/event/mobile-world-congress-mvno-summit/). We’ll be in Hall 2 at the Fira. As the acting CEO, I’m biased, of course. I think our vision for the telco industry is the most exciting thing going on in telco software right now. Plus, our booth is insane! We’ll have product demos, a huge video wall, delicious free snacks, and, of course, the BEST COFFEE in Barcelona.
Plus, it won’t be just the usual amazing products. We’re launching something new at the MVNO Summit (more on that below). [We think of it as the perfect BSS.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-bss-blog/) So, be sure to stop by and take a look for yourself. For 1:1 attention, [book a meeting with the Totogi team](https://totogi.com/event/mobile-world-congress-mvno-summit/)!
### **2\. Visit your hyperscaler.**
MWC is the perfect opportunity to meet with your hyperscaler(s) and see what’s new. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud have been going [bigger every year at MWC](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-9-after-mwc23-blog/), and I’m sure this year will continue the trend. They all had a big physical presence last year, and also lots of telco-related product announcements. [Azure’s list was particularly impressive](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/important-observations-from-microsoft-at-mobile-world-congress-2023/) and I hear AWS is planning to unleash a treasure trove of announcements.
Make time to drop by your hyperscaler’s booth to get the inside scoop on what’s coming. It will probably be showing off awesome new artificial intelligence (AI) tools for our industry. You can also introduce yourself, shake some hands, and put faces to names. Ask about other telcos in your market, other telcos of similar size, what deals it has for telcos, how it can help you migrate workloads, and what third-party vendors it’s working with. If you stop by the AWS booth, be sure to visit the Digitizing industries section and meet with Totogi where we’re presenting our 5G Private Network monetization solution with Verizon!
### **3\. Ask a lot of questions about AI.**
I’ve spent a LOT of time with AI advancements in the last year, and I’ve noticed that there are companies doing it right, and companies that are touting #fakeAI. Everybody wants to LOOK LIKE they’re on the cutting edge. Only a few are actually putting in the work to get there.
With industry pubs saying [MWC24 will be all about AI](https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/mwc-will-probably-be-an-ai-show), you know we’re gonna be knee-deep in hype from vendors about all of their new AI features. How do you tell what’s real innovation and what’s window dressing? Who’s killing it, and who’s just going through the motions? It requires some (relatively easy) homework.
So, do this: Make a list of your key vendors. Find them at MWC and ask about what they’re doing with AI: chatbots, copilots, RAG tools, LLMs, etc., and ask to see their demos. (They should have them front and center!) [My recent blog](https://telcodr.com/insights/spot-fake-ai-blog/) provides the questions, the follow-ups, and even a handy scoring system to help you spot the fakers.
### **4\. Get in on the network API action.**
New network APIs are cropping up all over the place these days, and from operators worldwide. It’s been a year since GSMA announced the Open Gateway initiative, and the last few months have seen several announcements from the 40-some telcos that have signed on to the framework of universal network APIs.
Last September, Deutsche Telekom, under the brand MagentaBusiness API, [launched three APIs](https://www.rcrwireless.com/20230921/carriers/deutsche-telekom-commercially-launches-network-apis): Quality-on-demand, Device Status, and Device Location. November saw [Sri Lanka’s four mobile operators launch](https://www.fierce-network.com/tech/gsmas-open-gateway-gathers-steam-api-launches-brazil-and-sri-lanka) One Time Password Validation, Device Location, and Carrier Billing, followed by [Brazilian operators Claro, TIM, and Vivo](https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/brazilian-mobile-industry-launches-three-anti-fraud-network-services-and-becomes-pioneer-for-gsma-open-gateway/) with Number Verify, SeIM Swap, and Device Location. Earlier this month, Spanish operators Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone announced [Number Verification and SIM Swap](https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/spanish-mobile-industry-to-launch-online-anti-fraud-and-identity-services-through-gsma-open-gateway-initiative/). BT is reportedly [thinking about it](https://www.telcotitans.com/btwatch/bt-looks-to-apis-as-it-reaches-network-monetisation-inflection-point/7757.article).
Mike Dano from Light Reading reports that [AT&T is launching an accelerator program to promote its network APIs to developers](https://www.lightreading.com/network-automation/at-t-dusts-off-developer-program-for-network-api-push), and Verizon and T-Mobile have similar efforts underway. AT&T and [Verizon](https://www.lightreading.com/network-automation/ericsson-wins-verizon-s-api-biz) also announced plans to work with Ericsson’s Vonage, [which is rolling out its API platform on AWS Marketplace](https://www.vonage.com/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/Vonage-and-AWS-Leverage-Communications-and-Network-APIs-to-Deliver-New-Solutions/b81dba7c-4d0a-4521-a60f-a2ec5b5b9f40/), to get their network APIs into the hands of more devs.
Need to get on this train? [Send your developers to the Open Gateway DevCon](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/agenda/sessions/4459-open-gateway-devcon) on Wednesday, February 28, from 3 – 7 pm for insights, practical knowledge, and a list to them get started. (Note: this session overlaps with the [MVNO Summit](https://www.gsma.com/get-involved/gsma-membership/gsma_events/mvno-summit-at-mwc-barcelona-2023/).)
Regular readers know I’ve been [conducting studies](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-twilio-blog/) and [thinking and blogging about network APIs](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-strategic-advantage-blog/) a lot (and [buying CPaaS companies](https://totogi.com/whoosh/), and [launching products](https://telcodr.com/insights/whoosh-work-blog/), and [blogging about that, too](https://telcodr.com/insights/whoosh-work-blog/)).
In short, I’m all for Open Gateway, but building network APIs is the easy part. The hard part is [building a developer network](https://telcodr.com/insights/is-open-gateway-the-answer-to-telcos-twilio-woes-blog/), which is THE KEY to monetizing the APIs. And bad news for telcos, this is not something you can go out and buy; you actually have to build it yourselves. We have to make it massively easy to move and significantly cheaper, which is exactly why Totogi launched [_Whoosh!_](https://totogi.com/whoosh/)
### **5\. Come to the MVNO Summit (and our AI-CONIC afterparty!)**
Come to the second annual [MVNO Summit](https://www.gsma.com/get-involved/gsma-membership/gsma_events/mvno-summit-at-mwc-2024/)! Even if you work for a giant mobile network operator (MNO), you’ll want to hear my amazing talk and get your 20,000 steps in by making your way to Hall 8, Theatre 4, Fira Gran Via. It starts at 4 pm CET on Wednesday, February 28, but get there early! Last year, it was standing-room-only in the 350-person room, and pre-registrations are going fast. I’m providing the pre-Summit drinks and snacks, so make the trek, it’ll be worth it!
Totogi is unveiling a new product at MWC that will build [the perfect BSS](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-bss-blog/). Hold on to your socks, because our demo might just knock them off. Here’s a little teaser video to whet your whistle:
[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFcUkEg7Dl0)
After the summit wraps at 6:30 pm, join us at our _AI_-CONIC party! It’ll be the best party in Barcelona, at a super cool venue. Last year someone told me that the parties we throw remind them of old-school telco parties, which is a good thing, I guess?!?! DM me on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/) or X [@TelcoDR](https://x.com/telcodr) for an invite.
Okay, that’s my list! Be sure to do your AI homework. I don’t want you getting snowed by some of these #fakeAI vendors that are all talk and no action.
Are you ready? Are you pumped? AI AM! Haha, see what I did there? I can’t wait! See you at MWC, nerds.
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 85 – What’s up with Totogi: 2degrees, a modern telco**
New Zealand MNO 2degrees is tapping Totogi’s multi-tenant charger to streamline MVNO onboarding and support, and to capture additional revenue.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-85-wuwt-2degrees-a-modern-telco/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Totogi casts a Magic spell on the BSS sector**
Totogi’s BSS Magic gives service providers the chance to create an affordable, tailored and easy-to-modify system that will improve their business prospects and the experience of their customers.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBNxUV8MCI)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**4 ways to spot #fakeAI**
AI will be everywhere at MWC 2024. There are companies doing AI right and others that are faking it. Check out the top ways to identify #fakeAI.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/spot-fake-ai-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Spotting Fake AI
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/spot-fake-ai-blog/#main)
Blog
# 4 ways to spot \#fakeAI
February 12, 2024
You know the [five love languages](https://5lovelanguages.com/)? Mine happens to be “Acts of Service,” and because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day 💜, I’m offering the following Act of Service to all of you: a list of the top ways you can spot #fakeAI when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) in telco software.
Mobile World Congress (MWC) is just around the corner, and everyone will be talking about AI. But talk is cheap, and many vendors will just be riding the marketing wave. I want to help you figure out which are hawking #fakeAI so you can focus on the vendors selling the real deal.
To help, I created this quick primer to help you evaluate all the AI claims you’ll hear while you’re running around at the Fira.
##### **1\. How to evaluate a co-pilot**
Want to juice up your product with AI? Then let me introduce you to the world of copilots. Copilots offer a straightforward method to integrate AI into software products, leveraging large language models (LLMs) for decision support, problem-solving, and content generation. They are particularly effective in systems rich in historical data, such as billing, CRM, and everyone’s favorite AI use case: customer support.
The utility of a copilot can be enhanced when paired with a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) framework, merging information retrieval with natural language generation. This combination minimizes inaccuracies (AKA “hallucinations”), enriches content with current data beyond initial training sets, and cites sources to help validate responses.
Use these questions to learn more about a copilot:
- Which LLM was the copilot trained on? Can you change out LLMs?
- What additional information did you use to train the copilot?
- How do you make sure your copilot stays true to provided materials?
- How is the raw data cleaned and prepped for ingestion by the copilot?
- How do you charge for the API calls to the LLM?
- How do you protect my proprietary data?
- How does the copilot’s output help to increase the productivity of the user?
- What other systems can the responses be integrated into?
Once you get through your interview, place the copilot into one of these three categories:
- **Basic**: Offers decision-related information without significantly boosting productivity.
- **Intermediate:** Provides contextually relevant suggestions, enhancing productivity but still requiring human validation and intervention.
- **Advanced:** Fully automates tasks, including complex problem-solving and problem resolution, often outperforming the average human completing the same task.
An example of advanced copilot implementation is [Totogi’s _Plan Sidekick,_](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/telco-plan-design-with-generative-ai/) which utilizes a RAG system for comprehensive plan design, generating legal documents, marketing materials, and sales emails, showcasing the potential of AI to enhance operational efficiency and creativity for a marketing team.
##### **2\. Validating predictive analytics**
Another way vendors add AI to their products is by adding predictive analytics. Predictive analytics employs a variety of techniques and technologies, including statistical analysis, modeling, data mining, and machine learning (ML) to forecast future events based on current and historical data. It identifies patterns and trends to aid organizations in making informed decisions, optimizing operations, and tailoring strategies.
The field is particularly distinguished by advanced systems capable of real-time analysis. These use sophisticated models, such as deep learning and neural networks, to identify complex patterns in extensive and diverse datasets. Their proficiency in processing large volumes of data swiftly and their scalable nature allow for immediate, actionable insights. These advanced systems are adaptable, continuously learning from new data without needing manual updates. They provide highly accurate predictions due to their sophisticated algorithms. Their integration, automation, and customization capabilities make them invaluable across various industries.
A prime example is real-time fraud detection through deep learning, analyzing vast transactional data against historical fraud patterns and dynamically improving prediction accuracy. This reduces fraud, builds customer trust, and increases efficiency, demonstrating predictive analytics’ potential to evolve and combat financial fraud effectively.
Use these questions to learn more about a vendor’s predictive analytics capability:
- How is data ingested for use, and how long does it take to prepare it?
- How are your models trained, and how often are they updated with new data?
- What specific AI and ML technologies are utilized in your solution?
- How does your solution integrate with our existing data infrastructure?
- How do you ensure the quality and integrity of data used in your predictive models?
- What measures do you take to ensure the privacy and security of data?
- How customizable is your solution to fit specific business needs and objectives?
- What support and training do you offer to ensure successful implementation and maximization of the solution’s value?
- How do you measure the accuracy and performance of your predictive models, and what benchmarks do you use?
- Can you share case studies or examples where your solution has delivered measurable business outcomes?
Once you get through your interview, place the predictive analytic feature into one of these three categories:
- **Basic**: Uses simple statistical models for straightforward predictions based on historical data, focusing on linear relationships. Output is provided in the form of a summary report.
- **Intermediate:** Incorporates complexity with multiple data sources and variables, using techniques to identify both linear and non-linear patterns. Output is usually not real-time.
- **Advanced:** Employs complex algorithms for real-time analysis of vast datasets, capable of identifying intricate patterns, adapting to new data, and providing highly accurate, actionable predictions.
An example of this advanced application is [Totogi’s real-time churn prediction ML model](https://totogi.com/churn-prediction-service/), which leverages charging data to predict customer churn, continuously refining its accuracy and offering real-time insights through an API. This exemplifies the advanced capabilities of predictive analytics in providing dynamic, data-driven churn prediction.
##### **3\. Prove it!**
Any vendor with legit AI tools should be shouting about how it increases productivity, decreases costs, or increases revenue. While they may not have exact figures, they should be able to estimate metrics for you. Do the tools eliminate steps or handoffs? For example, at my company, AI tools are now handling all level-one customer support queries. We’ve been able to promote our level-one support people to higher-paying jobs doing things only humans can do.
Ask if the tool has been deployed to customers, and seek out reviews and testimonials from current customers. Look for evaluations or assessments of the AI technology by independent third parties, such as research firms, industry analysts, or academic institutions. These sources can provide unbiased views on the technology’s effectiveness and innovation. While it’s early days on AI features and many vendors will be light on these external proof points, they should be coming in the next year, so be on the lookout for them.
Categorize the vendor’s metrics using the following guidelines:
- **Basic:** The tool improves performance. If the model is real, the vendor should have some basic documentation, benchmark results, and (favorable!) comparisons with other models. The metrics may include processing speed, compute or memory usage, cost savings, ROI, F-score, etc.
- **Intermediate:** There are real customers using it (and they like it). At this level, the vendor should have metrics from actual customers using the solution in production. Additional metrics would include relevant business KPIs, such as ticket resolution stats, customer satisfaction scores, customer acquisition or retention, revenue growth, adoption rate, etc.
- **Advanced:** The vendor is already talking about next-gen improvements. If your vendor has advanced-level AI chops, then company reps should be able to talk about all of the above metrics off the cuff—and even tell you about performance metrics on raw data from new customers, how to avoid built-in bias, compliance, security, etc.
At Totogi, our F1 score on our revenue optimizer is at 87% as we continue to drive towards 90%. At this point, it can predict customer churn six weeks in advance. That took a lot of work—like two years and millions invested in Google-trained data scientists. This kind of performance isn’t a press release throwaway line. It’s hard-ass shit.
Your vendor should have war stories about how hard it’s been to get it working. There is a lot of trial and error with new technology like this. We had false starts, internal throwdown fights about how to get things working, tried a bunch of third-party tools before we found the right one, delays while we cleaned our data, and further delays because we made an incorrect assumption and had to wait to accumulate more data and try again. It takes time. We shaved what felt like 1,000 yaks. We cleaned our data some more. Ask me, and I’ll be happy to whine to you about it.
##### **4\. Seeing is believing**
With MWC coming up in just a couple of weeks, it’s the perfect time to explore firsthand the capabilities of various AI technologies. To really check out vendor’s AI capabilities, ask for a demonstration! Put them on the spot and inquire whether it is a pre-packaged or live demo. Bonus points to the vendor if it lets you bang on the demo yourself. The ability to interact directly with the technology, if permitted, can provide valuable hands-on experience; any reluctance to offer this might suggest the AI is not yet fully refined or produces variable results. If there’s not a demo available, ask if a pilot project or trial period can be done after MWC. This lets you see firsthand the benefits and potential challenges that might not surface through an in-booth demo.
For vendors that are making progress with AI and claiming customers are using it, ask if any case studies are available. This can give you insight into the implementation process, challenges faced, and outcomes, focusing on metrics and data that support the touted benefits. Additionally, having discussions with existing customers about their experiences, from implementation to ongoing support and the realization of benefits, can offer critical insights.
Evaluating AI offerings can be structured into three categories:
- **Basic**: Exhibits through a canned demo. This is a prepackaged demonstration available at their booth, providing a superficial look at capabilities.
- **Intermediate**: Has a live demo that accepts your input for a personalized test, or a willingness to engage in a trial or a pilot project, allowing you to evaluate the technology directly.
- **Advanced**: Provides case studies and customer references, presenting detailed insights into real-world applications, challenges, and the value delivered, demonstrating the AI’s effectiveness and reliability.
Want to learn more about what REAL AI looks like in telco software? Come visit the Totogi booth in Hall 2, Booth 2B72, at MWC. We’ll be giving LIVE demonstrations of all our AI capabilities and letting attendees test them out for themselves. I also invite you to my talk at the MVNO Summit at MWC on Wednesday, February 28, 4 – 6 pm CET, in Hall 8, Theater 4. I’ll be talking about how the Totogi team is using AI to reinvent BSS. [In fact, my talk will be the official launch of Totogi’s latest offering](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/ai-powered-telco-tech-mwc24/). See you there!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 82 – Beam me up, BT 🖖**
BT Group Chief Architect, Digital, Josie Smith talks about BT Group’s mission to simplify thousands of apps, unleash AI, and reskill its workforce for digital transformation.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-82-beam-me-up-bt/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Using AIOps for operational efficiencies**
How can telcos best leverage AIOps to reduce opex and achieve network efficiency gains, and just how mature is the technology today?
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlQy1VFem9Q)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Do you need an AI strategy?**
GenAI is brand new and changing fast, which is why every telco needs a strategy to drive the use of AI through their organization.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/telecom-ai-strategy-blog/)
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## Telco BSS Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-bss-blog/#main)
Blog
# The perfect BSS
January 30, 2024
Why is it so frickin’ hard to make a great telco business support system (BSS)? There are roughly 400 BSS vendors in this space serving about 2,000 mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and 800 mobile network operators (MNOs). A few behemoths—Amdocs, Netcracker, CSG—stand out for being, well, ginormous. But that leaves another 397 that are also vying for your business. But _none_ of the products are great. In fact, they all kind of suck. We still don’t have the “Salesforce” of BSS—the one vendor that’s the de facto winner of BSS. Why not?
### **Why does BSS suck so much?**
There are a lot of reasons why BSS sucks. To start, there’s not a standard definition of what goes into a BSS. It starts at CRM and ends up sprawling everywhere, largely via customizations and integrations to other systems. The incumbent vendors want to keep it this way, though. More sprawl equals more chains binding you to their solutions, making it hard to upgrade, or even worse, swap off of their products.
But these solutions aren’t doing the job. Telco leaders are frustrated with their BSS. Here are five reasons why:
##### **1\. Sky-high pricing**
Everyone hates the huge cost of implementations from the major vendors, which runs in the millions to tens-of-millions (and billions if you’re AT&T).
##### **2\. Poorly-designed interfaces**
The interfaces were an afterthought, and designed for human-only keying. They are difficult to learn and hard to modify for use cases outside of what they were designed for.
##### **3\. Difficult integration**
It’s a months-long (and expensive) struggle to connect BSS systems with existing infrastructure or third-party solutions. It’s almost as if the vendors don’t want to integrate with each other! Your data is held captive in their databases, making it difficult to extract insights.
##### **4\. Outdated technology**
Many BSS vendors are behind the curve and dependent on old technologies. Most still aren’t truly cloud-native. They are behind on industry innovations, trapping your organization in the past.
##### **5.** **Lack of flexibility and customization options**
Too few customization options make it challenging to adapt systems to specific business needs and processes. Asking for changes to meet evolving requirements results in way too much effort and additional cost.
I do see vendors out there trying to solve these problems. They are modifying their products to be cloud native, or reducing them to micro services, adding low code/no code functionality, even adding AI chatbots for customer service workflows. But no amount of TMForum ODA/API additions will solve these problems. BSS has to be reconceived from the ground up.
That’s why [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, believes there’s room for _one more vendor_ to improve the BSS market. Say hello to #401.
### **You deserve a killer BSS**
So far, no one has created a BSS system that customers love. If someone did, the telecom industry would go nuts for it! So the Totogi team sat down and brainstormed, asking ourselves: what would be the perfect BSS? In a nutshell, we tried to come up with a way to make it cheap, but customizable. Easy to install and upgrade. Built on a modern tech stack—AI-first and public cloud-ready, of course.
Instead of offering yet another modular, pre-built system, we wanted to build something that would start with headless backend APIs that offer core BSS functionalities. Doing so would eliminate the predefined frontend—providing unprecedented flexibility in developing user interfaces and experiences. You could customize it to your heart’s content, and also create applications that serve a wide variety of use cases like MVNO, IoT, enterprise, and others we haven’t even thought of yet.
No longer would you need to force-fit your business processes to the predetermined fields and workflow of a BSS. You could use AI to write code dynamically based on your unique requirements. This strategy would pivot away from outdated, one-size-fits-all solutions and enable the creation of a personalized, efficient BSS tailored to each operator’s specific workflows and needs.
By embracing cloud-native design principles, these dynamically generated BSS solutions would offer global scalability and performance. By using AI-first, we could use the advancements we’re seeing in every industry to speed application development, user interface improvements, reduce bugs, and accelerate features—effectively eliminating the need for change requests and a legion of programmers.
Taken altogether, this innovative approach would be a game-changer in the telecom world. This product would not be just a step forward; it would be a leap into a future where MNOs and MVNOs are equipped with agile, customized solutions that are easily changed, maintained and deployed, setting a new paradigm for how BSS functionality is conceived and delivered. It would be the _perfect_ BSS.
### **I think we can have the perfect BSS**
Sound good? I might be working on something just like it! [Come to my talk at the MVNO Summit at MWC](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/agenda/sessions/4492-mvno-summit) on Wednesday, February 28, 4 – 6 pm CET, in Hall 8, Theater 4. I’ll be taking the stage, talking up Totogi and our new approach to BSS. We’re solving the myriad problems of traditional BSS by using AI and the public cloud. [Totogi will be unveiling a new offering at MWC](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/ai-powered-telco-tech-mwc24/) that incorporates advanced AI concepts in its attempt to build the perfect BSS, and you’re not going to want to miss it. So make a plan and attend my talk.
See you at MWC!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 80 – What’s up with Totogi? How Totogi is bringing AI to charging**
Totogi is using the public cloud, AI, and data-driven algorithms to help the industry adopt dynamic, personalized pricing that maximizes the bottom line.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-80-wuwt-bringing-ai-to-charging/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**The Totogi vision: Learn how Totogi is redefining the telecoms BSS software space**
Totogi’s world-class, carrier-grade BSS enhancement platform is used by CSPs and software developers to supercharge their current BSS with services.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLGulMjVLIM)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Do you need an AI strategy?**
GenAI is brand new and changing fast, which is why every telco needs a strategy to drive the use of AI through their organization.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/telecom-ai-strategy-blog/)
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## Telco Vendor Warning Signs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-vendor-warning-signs-blog/#main)
Blog
# Dead Vendor Walking – What to do when your vendor is TOAST
December 5, 2023
There is a lurking danger in telecom software procurement that I like to call “Dead Vendor Walking.” These aren’t just companies that are technologically behind; these companies are financial time bombs masquerading as viable partners. Akin to the phrase “Dead Man Walking,” Dead _Vendor_ Walking refers to telco software providers on the edge of financial collapse. Your mission? Sidestep them and align with vendors that are not just tech-savvy but also financially bulletproof.
For this blog, I want to sharpen your executive eye so you can be sure you’re aligned with fiscally strong vendors, not those teetering on the edge. As you put together 2024 budgets and place bets on where to allocate spend, be sure to include an assessment of the _financial viability_ of the vendors that support you in critical areas. As usual, I am here to help you out!
This is a real telco software vendor’s stock chart. Does your vendor’s stock chart look like this?
If so, it’s time to create an exit strategy.
### **Be Like VPC**
It’s always a good idea to take a hard look at the roster of vendors supporting your core areas and ask: do these vendors have staying power? Remember, the applications you’re procuring aren’t just systems you’ll use for a few months; in most cases, these are products that you’ll use for YEARS. The partners you select need to be able to go the distance.
When the economy is roaring it’s easy to get access to new capital. But that’s not the state of the world at the moment. Interest rates are high, and even private equity firms that finance deals with debt are having a tough time gaining access to capital. Venture capitalists are asking tougher questions of their companies, and they are being more conservative in the bets they’re placing. For telco software companies out there that aren’t profitable and are running low on cash, this situation puts them into a bind. They must conserve their cash, and if required, service their debt. Only profitable, cash-rich companies tend to weather these conditions well, and weaker competitors can face fire sales, bankruptcy, and even death.
How do I know? Remember, I’ve been on the hunt for telco software companies to buy. Since I started looking in 2021, I’ve never seen a longer list than today’s list of companies ready to sell to Telco _DR._ It’s long because some of these companies are in financial trouble and their owners need to get out _fast_.
So, how do you know if your vendor is in trouble? In my experience as a software CEO, I most often see procurement and finance groups take the easiest and most direct approach, which is to monitor and track the vendor’s main metrics, like stock price, revenue, cash position, debt, and profitability. But be sure to track more than the most recent values; if the company has been around for a while, ask what these numbers were two or three years ago. You need to track these key financials to make sure the vendor can survive the journey to support you for years to come. To this day, the thought of Vodafone’s Procurement Company (VPC) still sends shivers down my spine. When I was CEO of Optiva ( [TSX: OPT.TO](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/opt)), VPC routinely performed what felt like a forensic audit of our financials every quarter. So, be like VPC and go deep.
However, sometimes those key metrics don’t uncover the full picture. Use these three questions to dig deeper:
##### **1: How much are you investing in research and development?**
Ask your vendors how they’re dealing with the inevitable technological shift that’s come to telco. Almost all vendors should be updating their products to use the public cloud and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). Maintaining competitiveness against competitors will be crucial, and investment will be required. If the company is in financial distress, it will be forced to balance the need to innovate with the financial realities of the business. If it says they are developing new capabilities, ask for delivery dates and demonstrations of the new product. Monitor year-over-year levels of investment, and look for proof that the R&D group is actually delivering on the new tech. Anyone can put out a press release; is the company producing actual innovation?
##### **2: How many customers do you have today, and how many have exited in the last 12 months?**
It’s suuuuper easy to hide behind a list of departed customers’ logos. When Telco _DR_ looks at buying a company, we interview the seller’s customer roster logo by logo, customer by customer, and ask if there has been any indication of the customer swapping off the product. We compare previous years’ revenue to current and projected revenue. We ask: has the customer issued requests for proposals (RFPs) that the seller hasn’t been invited to? Has the customer actively started an exit project? Telco customers take _years_ to move off software, so it’s really easy to hide behind what seems like an active revenue stream. Dig deeper, and compare several years of revenue to see if the annuity is declining. If so, that’s a telltale bad sign, as it means the vendor has already started discounting to keep the business or the customer has started to ramp down usage as it exits the product. Another way to check: do reference calls with multiple customers and ask if they have been reducing their spend with the vendor over time, and why.
##### **3: What’s the average revenue per employee?**
Is your vendor a software company, or a consulting company? Telcos need to be buying software products, not big consulting projects that take a big team to maintain. Unfortunately, to date most telco software has been heavily customized, meaning you need a small army to run it. Revenue per employee (plus contractors!) will give you a clue if the company can support you. Healthy enterprise software companies typically have revenue per employee of $200,000 to $300,000 or more. For truly SaaS companies, you’ll see even higher values (for comparison, as of 2022, Oracle’s revenue per employee was at $378k; Salesforce’s at $554k). In contrast, consulting companies are typically at $175,000 or lower, which means they have a smaller cushion to maintain the employee base (for example, as of 2022 Amdocs was at $175k, Optiva at $160k). When revenue drops, the shit hits the fan FAST, and these vendors have to release employees immediately. This leaves customers in a dangerous spot, as knowledge walks out the door and there are fewer knowledgeable team members to do the work. Knowing the revenue-per-employee ratio can help you assess your vulnerability to this kind of scenario. Depending on what you learn, you can start proactively planning your exit (more on this below), instead of going down with your vendor’s sinking ship.
### **Ok, so your vendor is in a death spiral. Now what?**
So, you did your research. You asked the questions, and you’ve determined the situation is NO BUENO. What’s your move?
##### **\#1\. Don’t pick them.**
If you haven’t signed a deal yet, DON’T—no matter how great the price. When companies are in distress, they may not have the right talent in-house because they have to make tradeoffs between paying the cloud bill and keeping staff. Better to just avoid these kinds of vendors. The low, low cost might be attractive, but when they are forced to sell the company, go bankrupt, or just shut down, you will be left holding the bag regardless of the price you paid. Don’t put yourself in a position where you’re going to have to do an emergency swap project. Start by not inviting them to your RFP process in the first place.
##### **\#2\. Use your leverage to negotiate a really good deal.**
If you’re already a customer, you have an opportunity to save a _ton_ of money. Shrinking revenue is a sign that customers are switching to other platforms. To avoid losing the install base, dying companies will offer deep discounts: 50%, 75%, even 90%. These vendors DO NOT want to lose your business and they _definitely_ don’t want to lose your logo. For all you procurement leaders out there, this is GREAT news for you. Vendors like these aren’t part of your long-term strategy, so you can go after them with your sharp pencil and negotiate a big discount. Go. To. Work.
##### **\#3\. Create an escape plan NOW to get out in six months or less.**
You don’t want to be the last customer out the door, so create your exit plan. There are two ways to create an exit plan. One approach is to aggregate your workloads into one of your bigger suite vendors—like Amdocs, Netcracker, Ericsson, etc. They’re always eager to get more of your business and will offer super competitive (even free!) pricing to get you enmeshed in their product suite. Once they consolidate and expand their position, they’ll make their money on consulting and change orders.
If you’re ready for a breath of fresh air (and if you read this blog, you must be!), then another approach is to try one of the new cloud vendors that are eager for your business. Like, for example, [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), the Charging-as-a-Service company where I’m acting CEO. Want to try before you buy? No problem: [sign up for a penny on AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile?id=f4070acf-9402-4a6c-9464-0a74748972c7). You can get a pilot up and running in _days_ to see how it works. Love it? Bring your business over and pay as you grow. Doesn’t work for you? Cancel anytime. These new free-trial, easy-set-up, public cloud-based solutions are great options that you should absolutely consider. Plus, it’s a great way to dip your toe in the public cloud water to get a taste of this new tech to see if it will work for you.
### **Get started today!**
Economic tough times call for due diligence. Start by taking a look at your small, legacy vendors—especially those that have been slow to embrace the public cloud. They might be in financial trouble: no cash, heavy debt, fleeing customers, and shrinking revenue. If they don’t have the R&D to invest in transformative tech right now, they (and your business) are going to get left behind.
If that describes your vendors, make their problem your opportunity—for easy money in the form of discounts and for the catalyst you need to experiment with cloud vendors that offer 21st-century tech. Need help? I’m here for you! I’ve restructured more than 20 companies from bankruptcy (most recently, Kandy) to near bankruptcy (Redknee/Optiva), and have created emergency vendor swap-off plans to save money and save the business. I’ve never missed a date and the moves have had minimal customer impact. Don’t wait. Be proactive and get your new year started on the right foot!
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 67 – How to create shareholder value**
Telco stocks were once a golden ticket. Can they return to their former glory? Recurve Capital Founder Aaron Chan sees a path for the public cloud to help telcos get back in the game.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-67-how-to-create-shareholder-value/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Why transparent pricing is key for the cloud-native age**
Developing true cloud-native functions is just the first step for vendors looking to provide the most appropriate software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications to cloud-friendly telecom operators, but transparent and appropriate pricing is just as important.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG2omDZf0LE)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Why do telco software companies have such lame valuation multiples?**
Many cloud software companies in the telecom sector look more like services companies than developers of products.
[Read now](https://www.lightreading.com/oss-bss-cx/why-do-telco-software-companies-have-such-lame-valuation-multiples-)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telcos' Strategic Advantage
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-strategic-advantage-blog/#main)
Blog
# Telcos, don’t give away your strategic advantage!
January 15, 2024
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” [wrote George Santayana](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Santayana) in 1905.
That’ll be us, telco industry, if we don’t learn from what happened with Twilio and CPaaS APIs and do something different this time around with network APIs. So, let’s refresh our memories.
### **Remember the Twilio**
Programmable connectivity APIs aren’t new. The first time around, telcos built their own CPaaS APIs. Each team designed its own API signature, and didn’t think about the experience _software developers_ would have when using this product. Sending a simple one-time-passcode (OTP) SMS, for example, was a total pain in the ass. Enterprise developers had to:
- Sign a commercial agreement with each telco—which often took a long time and required a significant upfront commitment;
- Then learn each telco’s different signature for sending an OTP API;
- And then write and maintain the code to send an OTP API for each network to ensure the message was delivered to the intended recipient.
These first CPaaS APIs were _TELCO_-CENTRIC, and not _DEVELOPER_-CENTRIC.
Twilio recognized that and flipped the script. It optimized its product experience around the _developer_ by offering:
1. A single, common API for each use case with an easy-to-use interface and great documentation, eliminating the need to learn, code, and have agreements in place for each network’s APIs; and
2. It built a “ [multiplexer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplexer):” a black box that abstracted away the complicated work of identifying which network the subscriber was on such that delivering a message to the recipient’s network required only one line of code.
Twilio took the pain out of the process for the developer. Not surprisingly, the company was a huge success. It now has a $12 billion market cap from largely SMS revenue that used to flow into telco coffers.Meanwhile, [we’re asking ourselves, why we can’t have that](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7066928187426918400/)? It doesn’t seem fair. Well, with network APIs, we have the opportunity to take back what’s ours. Instead, I fear it’s going to be déjà vu all over again.
### **The promise and risk of Open Gateway**
It’s 2024. MWC is a month away. It’s been nearly a year since the GSMA announced [Open Gateway](https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/gsma-open-gateway/), an initiative to create common network APIs for the whole industry. At launch, 21 mobile network operators (MNOs) had signed on. Today, “ [nearly 40 mobile operator groups worldwide](https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/brazilian-mobile-industry-launches-three-anti-fraud-network-services-and-becomes-pioneer-for-gsma-open-gateway/)” are using it, which is great. I love it because it means telco isn’t out of the game; we’re going to fight back and we’re going to monetize the shit out of these 5G networks.
What’s great about Open Gateway is the common APIs everyone’s agreed to. These will smooth the path for developers to add connectivity to their apps. We finally have an easy-to-use interface with great docs! That’s the first step in the Twilio playbook, and it’s absolutely key to monetization.
But we still haven’t solved the critical second part of the Twilio strategy. How will we do the OTHER thing that Twilio does? Do we have a “multiplexer” that takes developers’ code from their applications and figures out which network to send the network API call to, ideally with little to no effort on the developer’s part? Or are we still requiring developers to know which network they want to use in advance of the API call being sent?
Unfortunately, Open Gateway is solving only one of the two key problems that Twilio figured out to make CPaaS a breakout hit. When I ask telcos what we’re going to do about this second problem, I get this response:
“Azure (or another hyperscaler) is going to do it for us!”
### **Telcos, it’s time to roll up your sleeves**
This is what I mean about history repeating itself. Why is leaving the “multiplexer problem” to Azure any different than leaving it to Twilio? Allowing someone else to solve the hard problem cedes our strategic advantage. It puts Azure in a position to do exactly what Twilio did, and telco will be left out in the cold again. The hard part wasn’t the common APIs; the hard part is the multiplexer.
You might be surprised to hear “don’t partner with the hyperscalers on this” coming from me, telco’s leading public cloud evangelist. While there are a lot of reasons to use public cloud technology for all sorts of workloads, this is the one thing the **telco industry needs to own together**. Telcos need to work together to own the developer community of network APIs, and should not give it up to a hyperscaler. This is the valuable part: getting your code into enterprise applications. Once it’s in there, it will never be ripped out. It will live in those applications generating revenue day in and day out, and that’s what makes it valuable.
If Azure (or another third party) owns the multiplexer, it also has the power to decide how to route those API calls, and will decide which networks to use. Azure gets to use least-cost routing (to save money) for connectivity API calls that are network agnostic, adding markup and margin that should go to the telcos. If Azure wants to abstract you away, it has the power to do that. Since it’s the cop directing traffic to the different networks, it’ll be in control of who’s getting traffic, and who isn’t. This is exactly what’s happening with Twilio now. Have you noticed you’re getting more one-time passwords delivered to you through email instead of through SMS? I am. Twilio wants users to redirect more traffic to email, and away from SMS, because it’s essentially free (it’s certainly cheaper than using SMS). I’ve also seen one-time passwords coming through native apps on my phone, which also cuts your network out of the picture. Swapping SMS’ for email and apps reduces Twilio’s biggest cost and its reliance on telcos. Meanwhile, our share of this pie continues to shrink, even as [the market for these services continues to grow](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/08/24/2731637/0/en/Communication-Platform-as-a-Service-CPaaS-Market-Size-to-Reach-USD-130-8-Billion-by-2032-with-27-5-CAGR.html).
### **Hello, Whoosh!**
So, how are we going to build our own developer community for telco? I agree it’s not an easy task and will require us to roll up our sleeves and put in the hard work. Lucky for us the building blocks are already sitting right in front of us within our **enterprise IT relationships**. You already have relationships with the same enterprises that largely use Twilio today. I argue the developers using Twilio are likely to be the same developers that will use network APIs. So how can we capture them from Twilio?
With [Totogi’s _Whoosh!_](https://totogi.com/whoosh/) We specifically designed this product to help you to build your own developer community. _Whoosh!_ targets enterprise customers that already use Twilio, and with a simple one-line code change, moves them over to the _Whoosh!_ API set. _Whoosh!_ is not another CPaaS vendor; instead, we give you the code to sell to your enterprise customers. You add your connectivity (with better margins than Twilio can buy itself), and you are able to undercut Twilio’s price by 50%. This easily swaps developers into your camp. Once you own the developers, you can expand to sell them your network APIs. To learn more about it, [watch my _Whoosh_! launch talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjW000-zlFc), and if you’re interested, [let’s talk](https://totogi.com/whoosh/#Whoosh-preview-request-form)!
I’m not saying I have all the answers. Open Gateway is a solution to the first HUGE step of getting the telco industry to agree on common interfaces for APIs. But we still have to solve the multiplexer challenge so that we, telcos, own the developer community, and more importantly, GET OUR APIS INTO THE CODE. We don’t want to hand that relationship to anyone else—not even our pals over at Azure. I love the public cloud, but I don’t think telcos should partner with them on this. This is one of those times that our industry does need to build it ourselves.I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and talking to lots of different people in the industry, including [Yesmean Luk of STL Partners](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/), my guest on episode 73 of my Telco in 20 podcast, and Ferry Grijpink, partner at McKinsey & Company, who will be my guest on next week’s Telco in 20 episode. Check both of those out, and also stop by the [Totogi booth](https://totogi.com/event/mobile-world-congress-mvno-summit/) (#2B72 in Hall 2) at [MWC 2024](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/), running February 26 – 29 in Barcelona, Spain, to find out more about how _Whoosh!_ can help you build your developer community.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 72 – Mats Granryd talks Open Gateway**
GSMA Director General Mats Granryd sits down to talk about how Open Gateway could spark a massive shift in the telco industry and what needs to happen for it to succeed.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Building APIs is not enough – it’s time to take on Twilio!**
In this talk, Totogi’s acting CEO, Danielle Royston, introduces a three-step plan for telcos to implement in order to regain their strategic position within enterprise IT departments.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjW000-zlFc)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Will _Whoosh!_ work?**
Totogi just launched Whoosh!, a CPaaS offering with 100% Twilio-compatible, Application-to-Person (A2P) APIs. Will it work?
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/whoosh-work-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telecom AI Strategy
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telecom-ai-strategy-blog/#main)
Blog
# Do you need an AI strategy?
December 18, 2023
Did you catch the _Moves in the Cloud_ blurb in my last newsletter where I applauded global-telco Orange on its [large-scale test of new generational artificial intelligence (GenAI) capabilities](https://www.orange-business.com/en/blogs/how-generative-ai-can-revolutionize-future-work-early-insights-microsoft-365-copilot)? Orange is part of an early access program (EAP) for Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is designed to leverage the Microsoft 365 suite. Orange plans to roll out at scale across its internal organization, and will have just about every function using it: sales, marketing, human resources, IT, consulting, operations, assistants, project managers, legal, finance, “and more,” according to the blog post. What an ambitious project!
But analyst Dean Bubley, [@disruptivedean](https://x.com/disruptivedean), suggested that companies don’t really need an overarching AI strategy, with this posting:
I disagree with Dean—a lot. GenAI is SO new, and it’s changing SO fast, that I believe every enterprise needs an AI strategy. Why? Because this shit is hard to do, dude. Remember, us “commoners” have been using GenAI on the regular for only about a year. Chances are, very few people inside your org are skilled at using it, especially the non-techie folks. So don’t expect to toss a bunch of AI tools at your organization and watch people to just “get it.” Why is that? Because the inertia of your organization is strong, and to change work habits, you’re going to have to drive AI through the organization.
Your strategy to drive widespread internal adoption doesn’t have to be complex, but you do need a plan. My first suggestion: treat this as a quick, iterations-type project, not a big-bang approach that takes years to implement. But get going: the sooner, the better. One of my favorite starter blogs is [this one from Bain](https://www.bain.com/insights/telcos-stop-debating-generative-ai-and-just-get-going/), which offers a cheat sheet for getting underway. Once you do that, follow this four-step plan to roll out GenAI in your organization.
Step 1. Where are you going to use GenAI?
Step 2. What tools are you going to use?
Step 3. How will you train people?
Step 4. How will you measure success?
* * *
### **1\. Where are you going to use GenAI?**
Short answer: In as many places as you can! GenAI can be applied in almost every area of an organization. Take another look at the list above from Orange and think about how workers across your organization could speed the creation and review of reports, spreadsheets, presentations, marketing copy, etc. [Review this blog](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/blog/telecommunications/2023/04/11/unlock-the-potential-of-ai-in-the-telecommunications-industry/) from Microsoft Azure about how our industry can use AI. To Dean Bubley’s point, AI is eventually going to be everywhere. Deciding where to begin is its own challenge.
Lots of telcos are trying it in customer support organizations, where they already have a ton of content and data to work with, as well as a mechanism for measuring success. (More on that later.) Start with your internal help desk, or add a chatbot to your external chats. Areas of low-hanging fruit for GenAI are call transcription, summarization, and categorization, as well as drafting answers to customer queries based on existing information. While it will marginally improve your top worker’s productivity, it will dramatically improve the quality of work of average to below-average workers. Imagine turning your whole workforce into a full set of powerhouses? Whoa.
### **2\. What tools are you going to use?**
It’s overwhelming to keep up with all the creation that’s happening with AI tools. Get a handle on it by assigning one or more AI Champions in your org who are aligned with the vision of using the tech in as many places as possible. Their first task: research all the AI tools out there and [create a second brain](https://fortelabs.com/blog/basboverview/), which is a document where you keep all your AI tips and tricks about a particular topic. In this case, it’ll include all the GenAI tools and ideas your Champion finds on LinkedIn, X, blogs, etc., a record of which ones they’ve tried, and the result.
Your Champion should spend 30-60 minutes each day researching all the changes that have happened. (Here’s a tip: have them follow [Rowan Cheung](https://x.com/rowancheung) and subscribe to [The Rundown AI](https://x.com/therundownai) for daily updates. He also puts out a super informative [email newsletter](https://www.therundown.ai/subscribe) each business day.) So much is happening so quickly that your Champion will need to scour the sites on a daily basis to see what new things have come out.
Once your Champion has a shortlist of ideas to try, sign up and take them for a spin. Almost all will have a free trial or a low introductory cost; buy a few seats and experiment rapidly. See which ones produce the best quality and turn out the best results. Once you find the winners, buy the tool for the entire department.
### **3\. How will you train your people?**
It’s hard to get people to stop working the way they’ve worked their entire lives, which is doing everything manually. So, channel Jim Abolt! Jim is a leadership guru (and my former colleague and pal), and the smartest guy I know when it comes to getting people to embrace change. [He shared his “framework for change” with me](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/) more than 30 years ago. In short, it’s a five-step process where company leaders communicate the plan, create the desire among workers, model the new behavior, change the work, and make it stick. That means your C-suite, your VPs, and all of your directors become cheerleaders, telling everyone that you are going ALL-IN on AI. To get your org to change its inertia everyone has to be singing from the same song sheet, saying, “We’re changing the way we work. We’re investing in new initiatives. We’re going to be AI-first.” Then, your leaders have to be the pioneers, forging ahead to learn and demonstrate the new way to operate, and then require the same of everyone else. If they start using it, then everyone will start using it. In that way, the new way becomes the only way.
As a part of that effort, leadership will need to set business goals around how AI will affect the organization. As a part of that, you’ll need a goal for how many people are going to use AI. Then, offer free training. There are tons of options out there from [Amazon Web Services](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/7-free-and-low-cost-aws-courses-that-can-help-you-use-generative-ai), [Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/training-certifications/new-generative-ai-trainings-from-google-cloud), and Microsoft Azure (which has different courses for [developers](https://github.com/microsoft/AI-For-Beginners) and for [business users](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/paths/introduction-ai-for-business-users/?WT.mc_id=academic-77998-cacaste)). Then: get everyone to start using it. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you can measure usage, even better. Track who’s doing it, and who’s not. Share successes and reward the people who are embracing the new way. At Telco _DR_, my goal is 100% of our organization using AI—all roles, all people.
### **4\. How** will you measure success?
With AI, the key performance indicator (KPI) will be productivity improvements. This is another reason customer support is an easy place to start. You are probably already set up to measure all kinds of metrics, and you can easily compare the before and after of your implementation. Here’s a list of things that will improve with the right application of GenAI:
- First response time
- Resolution rate
- Number of interactions per ticket
- Tickets solved per day, per agent
In my organization, we’ve set a goal that we want people using AI 50% of the time or more. Additionally, we’ve created second brains for all our company functions. We’re experimenting with tools, and keeping the ones that work. We’re training people. We require recruits to take an AI test, and we start training new hires on AI immediately once they start at our company.
And we’re measuring it. We’ve implemented GenAI in our customer-support systems for Skyvera and Totogi, and are now solving 42% of our tickets with AI, freeing humans to work on thornier issues that AI can’t solve. Our customers are happy to get answers faster. Our support teams are psyched to have time freed to work on more complex problems, giving up the repetitive mundane tasks for the AI bots to manage.
Want to talk more about it? [Try the TelcoDR ChatBot on my home page!](https://telcodr.com/) (Launch it with the little orange bot in the lower right of the screen.) We trained it on all my blogs, podcasts, and speeches from the last three years to give you an authentic chat-with-DR experience.
You could ask it if you need an AI strategy. But you already know the answer: the answer is YES, so get going.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 76 – Into the Nexus of GenAI with Microsoft**
Rick Lievano, Microsoft CTO for Worldwide Telecommunications Industry, talks about telco and the public cloud, Azure Operator Nexus, and how GenAI is changing everything.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-76-the-nexus-of-genai/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Using AIOps for operational efficiencies**
AIOps is an established concept in the IT industry but a relatively new one to telcos. Deployed correctly, ‘AI operations’ can facilitate end-to-end network automation and zero-touch operations, accelerating decision-making with a more agile and reactive intent-based approach.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlQy1VFem9Q)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**We’ve just scratched the surface on machine learning in telco**
Telcos can use ML to improve experiences, reduce churn, increase ARPU, and more. And they need to use the public cloud to do it.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/machine-learning-use-cases-in-telecom-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## AWS re:Invent 2023 Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#main)
Blog
# TelcoDR’s top picks for AWS re:Invent ‘23
November 21, 2023
The last of the annual Big Three hyperscaler events, Amazon Web Services’ [AWS re:Invent](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/), happens next week, following [Microsoft Ignite](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) last week and [Google Cloud Next](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcodrs-watch-list-google-cloud-next-blog/) back in August. AWS re:Invent is the largest conference of the three, which makes sense given that AWS has the largest market share. This yearly shindig is the best place to learn all about AWS, get to know the latest tech, and rub elbows with the folks who build it.
Telco execs should try to meet up with AWS’ Chivas Nambiar, who was recently named general manager of the telco business unit (and who was [a guest on the Telco in 20 podcast this past July](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-70-unleashing-telco-potential-with-aws/)). Besides being able to congratulate him in person (YAY!), I’m excited to watch the joint session being hosted with Chivas and Adolfo Hernandez on Tuesday, November 28 at 3:30 pm. Head on over to the Wynn hotel, Level 1, Lafite 4, to hear their take on the state of telco in the public cloud.
As for the rest of re:Invent, I’m sure it’ll be a packed house over at Adam Selipsky’s keynote. I expect artificial intelligence (AI) to be a huge talking point for Adam as AWS [recently launched a $100 million program](https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/22/aws-launches-100m-program-to-fund-generative-ai-initiatives/) to fund generative AI (GenAI) initiatives. After this weekend’s crazy news out of OpenAI, I’m sure enterprises of all sizes are thinking twice about betting on just one LLM. If you’re Amazon, now’s a great chance to catch up on the AI race.
To find telco-relevant sessions, you can [go to the session catalog](https://aws-news.com/) and filter by Industry > Telecommunications. I’d also check out [this blog and announcements-feed app from AWS Hero Luc Von Donkersgoed built](https://aws-news.com/) to keep up with all the news coming out of re:Invent. AWS has also put together an excellent [Telecom Attendee Guide](https://pages.awscloud.com/rs/112-TZM-766/images/Telecom%202023%20reInvent%20Attendee%20Guide.pdf?version=6) that gives a general orientation to the event, including the lay of the land, the different types of sessions, a few picks for telcos, and where to get more info.
And don’t forget to have some fun while you’re in Vegas! Pickleball, anyone? If that’s not you schtick, then go check out the tattoos and piercings booth over at the Venetian, where you’ll probably find some [Amdocs people getting tatted up](https://www.linkedin.com/signup/cold-join?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elinkedin%2Ecom%2Ffeed%2Fupdate%2Furn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6815778536381665280) (remember this shout out from 2021? Hilarious!).
Below you can find my top picks from the telco-tagged content, as well lots of other interesting stuff that’s applicable to our industry. I’ve grouped it by keynotes, customer stories, AI, cost optimization, tech sessions for developers, migration, and telco-specific topics. Enjoy!
* * *
Jump to: [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
## **Keynotes**
If you watch only a few sessions, I recommend making time for the keynotes. You can livestream them at the session times listed below, or watch on-demand some other time.
##### [**Adam Selipsky keynote**](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/experience/keynotes/)
The Venetian
This is the big one. AWS CEO Adam Selipsky will talk about the big picture, highlight some customers, and then segue into product announcements in data, chips, and definitely AI.
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 8:30-10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST)
- Tuesday, November 28, 4:30-6:30 PM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
- Wednesday, November 29, 12:30-2:30 AM Singapore Time (SGT)
##### [**TLC203: Building a sustainable, competitive, and smart telco with AWS**](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=TLC203)
It’s not technically a keynote, but I’m including it here because this session is a must-see for telcos. Speakers include Adolfo Hernandez and Chivas Nambiar (mentioned above) as well as Ishwar Parulkar, the CTO, Telecom and Edge Cloud for AWS. The description promises real-world examples of AWS helping telcos monetize investments, use AI to their advantage, transform network core, and more.
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 11:30 PM – 12:30 AM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM SGT
##### [**Dr. Swami Sivasubramanian keynote**](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/experience/keynotes/\#swami)
The Venetian
GenAI has come at us fast from multiple directions in the past year. AWS VP of Data and AI Dr. Sivasubramanian will talk generally about how companies can use AI to increase productivity, and then welcome a few customers onstage to share how they’re using it. Should be inspirational!
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 8:30-10:30 AM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 4:30-6:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 12:30-2:30 AM SGT
##### [**Dr. Werner Vogels keynote**](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/experience/keynotes/\#werner)
The Venetian
Always a fan favorite, Amazon.com’s VP and CTO will talk tech, covering best practices for building in the most resilient and efficient way. He’ll also talk AI, and why we have to consider it when developing new things, and what he sees as the larger impact.
**Session time:**
- Thursday, November 30, 8:30-10:30 AM PST
- Thursday, November 30, 4:30-6:30 PM GMT
- Friday, December 1, 12:30-2:30 AM SGT
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
* * *
## **Customer stories**
Get ready for true tales from the trenches! These sessions are all presented by real AWS customers doing real stuff in the real world. It’s an impressive lineup, IMO.
##### [**COP230-S Building a next-gen 5G telecom network**](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=COP230-S)
This is a “lighting talk,” which is a 15-minute session hosted by a sponsor. In this case, it’s Mobi, a Hawaii-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and AWS Partner. Presenters will talk about how shifting from a legacy network to being cloud-native helped them achieve all kinds of great things. I had [CEO Justen Burdette on my Telco in 20 podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-64-the-cloud-first-mindset/) back in April. It was a great episode! It’s even on the shortlist for Telco in 20’s episode of the year, so check it out!
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 4:30-4:50 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 12:30-12:50 AM GM
- Tuesday, November 28, 8:30-8:50 AM SGT
##### [**TLC305-R: Personalized customer journeys powered by generative AI**](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=TLC305-R)
Globe Telecom is using real-time analytics to map customer journeys and assess things like churn risk and product affinity. The Philippine telco is also using GenAI to create tailored marketing and services to maximize its own efficiency and offer more value to customers. Customer love, baby!
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 1:30-2:30 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 9:30-10:30 PM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 5:30-6:30 AM SGT
##### [**BIZ217: How DISH scaled contact center and agent success with Amazon Connect**](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=BIZ217)
DISH Wireless is on a multi-year journey to build a brand-new, cloud-first 5G network on AWS. (Here’s [my podcast with EVP and chief network officer Marc Rouanne](https://telcodr.com/insights/dish-the-telco-pioneers-blog/).) It’s exactly what I think all telcos should do, so my ears perk up whenever DISH provides dispatches from the front. For this one, presenters will cover how they’re using GenAI and Amazon Connect to improve the contact center experience for agents and customers. If you want to learnmore about Amazon Connect, check out the sessions listed in the AI section, just below.)
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 1:30-2:30 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 9:30-10:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 5:30-6:30 AM SGT
##### **Two Netflix sessions**
Netflix streams massive volumes of content globally and has a best-in-class personalization engine. Here are two sessions that give you a peek into how it manages it all.
###### [NFX202: How Netflix saved millions in Amazon S3 costs using S3 Storage Lens](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=NFX202)
Cost-savings, anyone? This is cost-savings at scale, so probably a great one for telco FinOps execs to check out.
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 7:30-8:30 PM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 3:30-4:30 AM SGT
###### [NFX304: How Netflix uses AWS for multi-Region cache replication](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=NFX304)
Are you in a country with multiple accessible regions? Get ideas on how to use them like Netflix does.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 10:30-11:30 AM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 6:30-7:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 2:30-3:30 AM SGT
##### [**GAM304: Exiting the data center: A League of Legends story**](https://hub.reinvent.awsevents.com/attendee-portal/catalog/?search=GAM304)
For the uninitiated, League of Legends is a massive multiplayer online game. Developer Riot Games recently moved hundreds of thousands of players from its on-premises data centers to the cloud. As a MMOG provider, latency matters. See how they use the public cloud and keep their gamer happy.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 1:30-2:30 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 9:30-10:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 5:30-6:30 AM SGT
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
* * *
## **AI**
It’s all any of us can talk about these days, and like this excellent Bain & Company blog asserts: [Telcos, Stop Debating Generative AI and Just Get Going](https://www.bain.com/insights/telcos-stop-debating-generative-ai-and-just-get-going/). These sessions can deliver the inspiration you need.
##### **TLC302: At the cutting edge: AI-driven sustainable 5G networks**
Who says telecom can’t innovate? Drop in on this session to hear about cool, new, cloud-based deployments from over 20 countries. Presenters will cover planning and deployment for MVNO, public and private 5G, and AI/ML use cases. Real-world use cases involve AWS Graviton, serverless, AWS IoT Core, AWS Telco Network Builder and Integrated Private Wireless.
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 5:00-6:00 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 1:00-2:00 AM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 9:00-10:00 AM SGT
##### **FSI201: How to deliver business value in financial services with generative AI**
This session features speakers from three different financial services firms, and they’ll all talk about topics near and dear to 21st-century telcos, like hyper-personalization, GenAI apps to improve employee productivity, and fraud prevention. I like sharing financial services stories as it is a highly regulated industry as well. Maybe listening in will spark an idea for you?
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 5:00-6:00 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 1:00-2:00 AM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 9:00-10:00 AM SGT
##### **AIM224: Boost agent productivity with real-time transcription and insights**
This one is all about AWS Contact Center Intelligence—now with AI! The service could already automatically transcribe and analyze conversations, measure call sentiment, suggest next-best actions, etc. Now, it uses GenAI for Q&A and call summarization, and has enhanced analytics. Great way to add immediate impact to your call center.
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 7:30-8:30 PM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 3:30-4:30 AM SGT
##### **Amazon Connect: An AI-powered solution for contact centers**
Customer service is the no-brainer application for GenAI. Amazon Connect is one of AWS’s cloud-based contact center services that uses AI and machine learning (ML) to boost productivity and provide better service. Check out these six sessions where you can learn about it from various angles.
###### BIZ216: What’s next in contact centers with Amazon Connect and generative AI
This should be a good orientation to what’s new in the service, along with good examples of current customers doing cool things.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 10:00-11:00 AM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 6:00-7:00 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 2:00-3:00 AM SGT
###### BIZ218: Personalize omnichannel customer experience with Amazon Connect and AI
This is where it gets exciting. Public cloud technology and recent advancements in AI are making all kinds of personalization not only possible, but accessible and affordable for more companies. Hear about how leading contact centers are using GenAI to deliver WAY better customer experiences.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 7:30-8:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 3:30-4:30 AM SGT
###### BIZ226: Transform self-service experience with AI and Amazon Connect
Here, the focus is on conversational AI and customer data to personalize contacts, predict customer needs and automate actions to improve agent productivity.
**Session time:**
- Thursday, November 30, 3:30-4:30 PM PST
- Thursday, November 30, 11:30 PM-12:30 AM GMT
- Friday, December 1, 7:30-8:30 AM SGT
###### BIZ308: Empower your contact center agents with Amazon Connect & generative AI
This expert-led chalk talk (interactive whiteboard session) provides some live demos of the AI-powered features.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 3:00-4:00 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 11:00 PM-12:00 AM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 7:00-8:00 AM SGT
###### BIZ311: Automate agent evaluations with Amazon Connect and generative AI
Amazon Connect Contact Lens streamlines and automates the agent evaluation process. Drop in to this interactive talk to learn about recent AI-powered improvements.
**Session time:**
- Thursday, November 30, 1:00-2:00 PM PST
- Thursday, November 30, 9:00-10:00 PM GMT
- Friday, December 1, 5:00-6:00 AM SGT
###### BIZ312: Supercharge customer service with Amazon Connect and AWS Supply Chain
This chalk talk discusses how to use AWS Supply Chain to give customers real-time insight into product availability and other info.
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 3:30-4:30 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 11:30 PM-12:30 AM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 7:30-8:30 AM SGT
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
* * *
## **Cost optimization**
Don’t let the fear of cost overruns keep you up at night. Instead, educate yourself about how to find total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) savings with public cloud technologies.My no-brainer starting point: using [CloudFix](https://cloudfix.com/), which is a partner of Telco _DR_ and a leading provider of cloud cost optimization solutions that help reduce AWS costs easily and automatically. When you [buy it through Telco _DR_](https://cloudfix.com/), you get telco-specific add-ons that target your largest spend: compute.
##### **CloudFix sessions**
We love CloudFix so much we partnered with them to bring extra discounts to Telco _DR_ customers. Check out these two sessions to learn more:
###### COP218-S: Saving on AWS? If not, what are you waiting for?
CloudFix CEO Rahul Subramaniam talks about what holds companies back from the massive savings available in the public cloud.
**Session times:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 2:30-3:30 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 10:30-11:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 6:30-7:30 AM SGT
###### COP219-S: A cloud cost savings spectacular
For this one, Stephen Barr and Rahul Subramaniam from CloudFix get together with two people from AWS to share “next-level tips” for saving, optimizing, and avoiding pitfalls. Sounds like my cup of tea!
**Session times:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 7:30-8:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 3:30-4:30 AM SGT
##### **CMP315: Migrating critical business applications to AWS Graviton with ease**
AWS Graviton chips are the fastest chips around—and they’re more efficient, too. Use Graviton to get better performance and save on compute; it’s one of my top ideas for telcos using AWS to save money.
**Session time:**
- Thursday, November 30, 4:00-5:00 PM PST
- Friday, December 1, 12:00-1:00 AM GMT
- Friday, December 1, 8:00-9:00 AM SGT
##### **CON326-S: Reinvent your cloud strategy: Optimize performance & cut cloud costs**
Sponsored by Intel, this session gives a mic to folks from social media company Snap (fka Snapchat), so they can share how they used application performance optimization to scale their Kubernetes workloads. Remember: Kubernetes isn’t the goal, but it might be a helpful stepping stone on the journey.
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 2:00-3:00 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 10:00-11:00 PM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 6:00-7:00 AM SGT
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
* * *
## **Tech sessions for developers**
Not for execs, these technical sessions are where developers can talk shop with AWS experts and get hands-on experience with AWS tools. Send your devs and tell them to bring their laptops, as they are hands-on coding sessions with AWS tools.
##### **ENT232-S: Modernizing apps and eliminating 200M+ lines of legacy code**
Eliminating 200 MILLION lines of legacy code? SIGN ME UP. Sponsored by AWS Partner [StackSpot](https://www.stackspot.com/en/), this session shares the story of how Itaú Bank, with a customer base over 70 million, is modernizing its mission-critical applications. With millions of lines of code inside telco IT departments, this is a great session to listen in on. Less code means not only needing less people to support it, but also less opportunities for undiscovered bugs to be lurking. Reduce!
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 5:30-6:30 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 1:30-2:30 AM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 9:30-10:30 AM SGT
##### **TLC303: AWS AI/ML and generative AI workshop for telcos**
Bring your laptop to this workshop, where you’ll use AWS tools to explore promising AI and ML use cases for telco. We’re talking customer experience, network installation and management, and business analytics. Great way to get hands on with AI and ML.
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 5:00-7:00 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 1:00-3:00 AM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 9:00-11:00 AM SGT
##### **DOP207: Build and run it, streamline DevOps on with machine learning on AWS**
Developers: are you ready to get on the AI bandwagon? Attend this session to learn about how Amazon CodeWhisperer and DevOps Guru can help you write software faster, boosting productivity and your entire team’s capacity. Embrace the future!
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 1:30-2:30 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 9:30-10:30 PM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 5:30-6:30 AM SGT
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
* * *
## **Telco topics**
Oh, and not everything is AI. Check out these telco topics, too!
##### **TCL204: Integration of telecom APIs with AWS**
Network APIs are a hot topic in telco these days, what with Open Gateway and [_Whoosh!_](https://totogi.com/whoosh/) In a 15-minute “lightning talk,” AWS CTO for Telecom and Edge Cloud, Ishwar Parulkar, will share how AWS can help.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 3:00-3:20 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 11:00-11:20 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 7:00-7:20 AM SGT
##### **TLC301: 5G intelligent apps and networks with thousands of edge locations**
This is an advanced-level “builders session,” where your technologists can learn how to plan to build a 5G network and deploy service-aware applications using a bunch of different AWS services. It’s repeated four times over three days, which should make it easy for your team to find time to attend. Laptop required!
**Session times :**
_Option 1_
- Monday, November 27, 12:00-1:00 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 8:00-9:00 PM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 4:00-5:00 AM SGT
_Option 2_
- Tuesday, November 28, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 7:00-8:00 PM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 3:00-4:00 AM SGT
_Option 3_
- Tuesday, November 28, 5:00-6:00 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 1:00-2:00 AM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 9:00-10:00 AM SGT
_Option 4_
- Wednesday, November 29, 10:00-11:00 AM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 6:00-7:00 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 2:00-3:00 AM SGT
##### **TLC401: Expanding telco 5G networks to the cloud**
Here’s an interactive chalk talk where AWS experts will walk through how to build a cost-efficient network for various telco use cases (burst traffic, disaster resilience, low-latency roaming services), covering best practices and real-life examples of telcos using AWS services. Expect many mentions of DISH!
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 8:30-9:30 AM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 4:30-5:30 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 12:30-1:30 AM SGT
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics)
* * *
## **Migration**
What, you STILL haven’t moved to the cloud?!?! I picked some baby intro sessions for you, too.
##### **NTA202: Cloud migration strategy**
Still need to make a business case to migrate to AWS? This session will help provide a framework.
**Session time:**
- Wednesday, November 29, 12:00-2:00 PM PST
- Wednesday, November 29, 8:00-10:00 PM GMT
- Thursday, November 30, 4:00-6:00 AM SGT
##### **ENT215: Completing a large-scale migration and modernization with AWS**
Hear from other enterprises who have migrated and modernized their on-prem workloads with AWS and how AWS Professional Services and AWS Partners (like [Totogi](https://totogi.com/)!) can help.
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 7:30-8:30 PM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 3:30-4:30 AM SGT
##### **ENT220: AWS MAP: A proven methodology for cloud migration and modernization**
Learn about the AWS Migration Acceleration Program, which can support your organization’s public cloud transformation.
**Session time:**
- Tuesday, November 28, 2:30-3:30 PM PST
- Tuesday, November 28, 10:30-11:30 PM GMT
- Wednesday, November 29, 6:30-7:30 AM SGT
##### **HYB203: A migration strategy for edge and on-premises workloads**
Yes, you can even migrate legacy and business-critical applications! This session shares stories from telco migrations, as well as those from healthcare, life sciences, and financial services.
**Session time:**
- Monday, November 27, 3:00-4:00 PM PST
- Monday, November 27, 11:00 PM-12:00 AM GMT
- Tuesday, November 28, 7:00-8:00 AM SGT
##### **HYB313: Real-world analysis of successful hybrid cloud migrations**
Here’s a technical chalk talk that’ll discuss and whiteboard scenarios for how hybrid and edge services can help your migration.
**Session time:**
- Thursday, November 30, 12:30-1:30 PM PST
- Thursday, November 30, 8:30-9:30 PM GMT
- Friday, December 1, 4:30-5:30 AM SGT
Whew! Did you read all the way to the end? Thanks for your dedication, and watch this space for a wrap-up of all the best news from this year’s re:Invent.
Jump to: [Keynotes](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Keynotes) \| [Customer stories](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Customer-stories) \| [AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#AI) \| [Cost optimization](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Cost-optimization) \| [Tech sessions for developers](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Tech-sessions-developers) \| [Telco topics](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Telco-topics) \| [Migration](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-23-blog/#Migration)
* * *
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
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### Listen
**Ep 70 – Unleashing telco potential with AWS**
Chivas Nambiar, director of WW solution architecture, AWS for telecom, talks about how the hyperscaler is working with the telecom industry.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-70-unleashing-telco-potential-with-aws/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**Why we chose to build on Amazon Web Services (AWS)**
Listen as Sudhanshu Sinha, SVP of Totogi, explains our reasons for choosing AWS to build the first MVNO-in-a-box solution – ANTO.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow43FUqAe2I)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Will _Whoosh!_ Work?**
Totogi just launched Whoosh!, a CPaaS offering with 100% Twilio-compatible, Application-to-Person (A2P) APIs. Will it work?
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/whoosh-work-blog/)
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## AI Opportunities for MVNOs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvnos-can-use-ai-blog/#main)
Blog
# MVNOs can use AI too
October 9, 2023
You heard the news, right? I’m talking about how South Korea’s SK Telecom plans to triple its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next five years, projecting it will [rake in $18.5 billion in AI revenue by 2028](https://www.telecoms.com/523937/sk-telecom-targets-18-5-billion-in-ai-revenue-by-2028/). Holy cow. No wonder it’s [pouring boatloads of cash into AI startup Anthropic](https://venturebeat.com/ai/ai-startup-anthropic-gets-100m-to-build-custom-llm-for-telecom-industry/).
But not every mobile network operator (MNO), much less every mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has hundreds of millions lying around to build its own telco-specific large language model (LLM). Plus, MVNOs have an additional hurdle to overcome: a dependency on their network provider’s legacy tech stack. Even though MNOs are starting to experiment with AI inside their own organizations, my guess is that it may be a while before they roll out this goodness to the MVNOs on their network.
So, what’s a MVNO to do? Luckily, there are still plenty of opportunities to use various types of AI to get real business results and improve the bottom line. AI is a way to embrace new technology across almost every business function for better customer service, more targeted marketing, insightful finance, efficient legal support, and more.
To help, I pulled together five examples of operators and MVNOs big and small (and virtual!) that are putting AI to use.
#### **1\. Plan creation: MobileX**
**AI application:** Design and recommend plans based on subscriber usage data
MobileX is a cloud-native MVNO that launched last year and made splashy news recently with its [deal with Walmart in the US](https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/mobilexs-big-bet-walmart-and-whats-next). MobileX’s differentiation is that it uses AI to estimate each customer’s future monthly usage rates based on their history. [Founder Peter Adderton was a guest on my podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/) in January of this year, and described how the company dynamically designs subscription plans and presents them to customers. The system then “learns” what people accept and reject, and incorporates that knowledge into future plan creation. By applying this same AI-based approach throughout the subscriber lifecycle, [MobileX is working toward creating dynamic and highly personalized experiences](https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/mobilex-pledges-allegiance-to-ai-and-the-cloud). (This linked article also mentions how much MobileX has embraced software as a service, or SaaS, [which I highly recommend for MVNOs](https://telcodr.com/insights/fake-saas-blog/)!)
#### **2\. Customer retention: Lyca Mobile**
**AI application:** Use predictive insights to personalize marketing campaigns
Lyca Mobile, one of the world’s largest MVNOs, [deployed the AI-powered Customer Value Management (CVM) Accelerator from Flytxt](https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/lyca-mobile-to-deploy-flytxt-cvm-accelerator-solution-in-europe-and-us-after-successful-pilot-program-880336812.html) in seven of its largest markets in Europe and the US. Flytxt specializes in marketing automation and AI technology, specifically for customer lifetime value management. Flytxt’s CVM Accelerator will share customer and product insights with Salesforce, which Lyca Mobile uses to unify customer data and interactions.
A pilot project in one of Lyca Mobile’s European markets used insights from the Accelerator to inform marketing campaigns sent through the Salesforce Marketing Cloud, resulting in a 1.3% increase in average revenue per user (ARPU). While small, I expect with continuous improvement and iterations it should be able to get this number north of 10%.
#### **3\. Customer Service: Vodafone**
**AI application:** Handle millions of customer inquiries with a customer service chatbot
Vodafone used [Microsoft Azure Bot Service](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/ai-bot-service/) to create [TOBi, a conversational digital assistant](https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/838350-vodafone-telecom-azure-cognitive-services) that aims to help customers. It’s currently in 16 markets and speaks 15 languages. Customers can interact with TOBi through chat on Vodafone’s website, messaging apps, and the My Vodafone app. TOBi handles an impressive 60 percent (!) of customer interactions. That’s 25 to 30 million customer conversations each month. Vodafone thinks this will eventually be 500 million per month. And since launching the bot, the operator says it has reduced the frequency of customer contacts to call centers by 12% year over year.
For MVNOs, which use the call center to really differentiate the customer experience, pushing more and more requests to chatbots with high quality interaction and resolution should be the goal. Nothing drives satisfaction more than quick resolution (not even response times, contrary to popular opinion). Measure this area and watch NPS soar.
#### **4\. Identity verification: Telefónica**
**AI application:** Authenticate callers with AI plus a biometric security solution
Telefónica [partnered with biometric security company Nuance](https://www.nuance.com/omni-channel-customer-engagement.html) to help identify senior citizens calling in for support. The operator had a policy of moving this at-risk group to the front of the service queue for priority support. Initially, customer service reps were limited to asking people if they were 65 and older, and had no way to know if callers told the truth when they said yes, or if they just wanted to skip ahead in line. By implementing Nuance Gatekeeper, Telefónica was able to identify seniors via voice biometrics. [Using a type of AI called a deep neural network](https://www.nuance.com/omni-channel-customer-engagement.html), Nuance can analyze each customer’s voice and create a “voiceprint” that maps to each individual’s unique acoustics. The solution has processed more than 25 million calls, reduced incidents of under-65’s getting priority service by 60%, and accurately identified seniors 95% of the time.
For MVNOs that are differentiating their offering based on a specific demographic, this technology can be applied in the same way. Say, live translation of a language not spoken by the call center agent, or sentiment analysis to identify an angry but high-ARPU customer. Just think of all those opportunities to connect with customers and turn frustrating interactions into locked-in loyalty.
#### **5\. Marketing content: Mint Mobile**
**AI application:** Get free advertising copywriting from ChatGPT
Canadian actor and part-owner of Mint Mobile Ryan Reynolds asked ChatGPT to write a commercial for the MVNO in his voice. The generative AI (GenAI) tool did such a good job that Reynolds described the result as “mildly terrifying.” [Watch the commercial here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eHjifELI-k) and decide for yourself!
Okay, so this example isn’t 100% serious, and this transparent use of GenAI won’t work for _every_ brand. But, I can speak personally to the timesaving benefits of using GenAI to come up with ideas for all kinds of marketing content, source examples to beef up a blog or presentation, and get to a first draft quickly (and then iterate from there). My team and I have been playing around with [ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/), [Microsoft Bing](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/learn?form=MG0AUO&OCID=MG0AUO), and [Codey from Google](https://ai.google/discover/our-models/), and loving how much they speed things up. It’s not that they do the job for us; it’s that they get a response to us in 10 seconds and then we can spend our time making it better. It’s been a huge time saver. I even recently launched a Telco _DR_ chatbot to interact with visitors looking for a quick Telco _DR_ answer trained on my vast collection of articles, blogs, and podcasts. While it still needs improvement, it’s a start! Look for it in the bottom right corner of this website. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
#### **Last but not least: TOTOGI!**
**AI application:** Personalize subscriber experiences with real-time insights
Every company in the list above implemented its AI-based tools _individually_. That’s all well and good, but at [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, we don’t think that every single MVNO should have to figure this out on its own. What’s different about the Totogi SaaS monetization platform is that we’re building ONE machine learning model that all of our customers use—for the price of a subscription. (We can do this because we are a [true SaaS company](https://telcodr.com/insights/fake-saas-blog/).) We improve the models continuously, and as they get better, ALL of our customers get the benefit immediately.
Our products are an especially good fit for MVNOs. These small, nimble disruptors may not have data scientists or AI experts on staff. They don’t have the deep pockets required to build expensive, new systems from scratch. And that’s nothing to worry about, because Totogi has a platform that everyone can use. Our goal is to build telco’s best churn predictor and best revenue up-lifter. Not just the best for the little guys, and not just the best for one large MNO, but the best in the **whole industry**, bar none.
Keen on what MobileX is doing with plan creation or want to use GenAI to generate marketing materials for your latest plan? Check out [Totogi’s Plan Design](https://totogi.com/charging-as-a-service/plan-design/). Jealous of Lyca Mobile’s customer retention initiative? Then sign up for a demo of our [Plan AI](https://totogi.com/charging-as-a-service/plan-design/plan-ai/) product. I’ll be sharing more details at [MVNO Nation Live](https://totogi.com/event/mvno-nation-live/), running October 23 – 25 in Valencia, Spain. I open the event with my keynote on how MVNOs can break free from their network provider’s legacy tech stack and use AI to win subscribers. Totogi is also hosting a working group session to help MVNOs conquer churn on Monday, October 23, with only 20 seats available. It will fill up fast, so if you want to learn how to apply cutting-edge technology to increase ARPU, [sign up now to reserve your spot](https://totogi.com/event/mvno-nation-live/). See you there!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 96 87"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Listen
**Ep 58 – Live and Learn: A new MVNO approach with Peter Adderton**
MobileX is using AI and subscriber usage insights to design personalized plans with transparent pricing. CEO Peter Adderton explains what it’s up to and why.
[Listen now](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-58-new-mvno-approach-peter-adderton/)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 129 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Watch
**MWC23: Danielle Rios Royston MVNO Summit Talk – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization**
By using highly cost-effective, carrier-grade, truly cloud-native software, MVNOs can gain real-time insights and deliver superior subscriber experiences with the help of AI and machine learning tools.
[Watch now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2NsYTv4ebXY)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 105 77"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
### Read
**Turn your data into customer love**
These MNOs and MVNOs are using subscriber data, AI, ML, and the public cloud to deliver personalized experiences, proactive support, targeted offers and customer love to their subscribers.
[Read now](https://telcodr.com/insights/turn-your-data-into-customer-love-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## TelcoDR Summer Reading
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcodrs-summer-reading-list-2023/#main)
Blog
# TelcoDR’s Summer Reading List 2023
July 31, 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 Telco _DR_ 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](https://totogi.com/)); 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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-64-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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-57-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?**](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-execs-are-you-jealous-of-twilio-blog/)
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?**](https://telcodr.com/insights/is-open-gateway-the-answer-to-telcos-twilio-woes-blog/)
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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-american-virtual-cloud-technology-assets-press-release/)
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](https://totogi.com/), here are a few resources covering what we’ve been up to lately.
- PODCAST: [**Appledore Research sits down with Totogi**](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-69-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.**](https://telcodr.com/insights/stop-differentiating-on-price-start-personalizing-customer-experience-blog/) 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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/new-revenue-streams-monetizing-private-enterprise-networks-blog/)
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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-ai-chips-blog/)
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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/conversational-ai-in-telecom-blog/)
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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/machine-learning-use-cases-in-telecom-blog/)
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](https://totogi.com/) 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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-71-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 Telco _DR_ if you want to use it and get access to a special discount.
- BLOG: [**How to save 50-90% on compute with spot instances**](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-save-on-compute-with-spot-instances-blog/)
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**](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-cost-savings-telco-press-release/)
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 Telco _DR_.
So there you have it! A buffet of knowledge, served up Telco _DR_ 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!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
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DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its partnership with AWS, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-44-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## TelcoDR's Google Cloud Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcodrs-watch-list-google-cloud-next-blog/#main)
Blog
# TelcoDR’s watch list for Google Cloud Next
August 15, 2023
[Google Cloud Next](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next) (GCN), the hyperscaler’s big annual cloud conference, is happening earlier than usual this year: August 29-31. If you’re not planning to go to San Francisco to attend in person, or if you’re not already holding an event pass (too late—it’s sold out!), there are still plenty of interesting sessions that will be available to watch on-demand. My team and I have searched, scanned, and combed through the catalog to find the topics most relevant to telcos. You can find the “short” list below!
Historically, these events have been the place where hyperscalers make their biggest announcements of the year. But I wonder if we’re seeing a shift in the way Google Cloud is marketing to the telco industry. The hyperscaler announced [a bunch of exciting new telco products](https://www.googlecloudpresscorner.com/2023-02-27-Google-Cloud-Announces-New-Telecom-Products-to-Address-Network-Transformation-and-Monetization) at MWC this past February, and now, with new telco leader [Ankur Jain at the helm](https://www.lightreading.com/service-provider-cloud/ankur-jain-to-take-over-google-clouds-global-telecom-biz/d/d-id/786037), maybe the marketing strategy will change under his direction. Either way, annual GCN events have always been a “learn-fest,” so if you are a Google Cloud customer or thinking of becoming one, this show is definitely something you should pay attention to.
Here are my top three, must-watch GCN sessions for telcos, which are outlined in the list below:
1. [The future of telecommunications: How data, AI, and networks are changing the game](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=ITDM202#view-all)
2. [Unleash your customer data and turn improved experiences into revenue](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=CT202#view-all)
3. [How Google Cloud helps shape and transform telecom network deployment and monetization models](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next?session=ARC102)
All said, this year there are more than 200 breakout sessions covering various topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, security, productivity, and more. Of these, we found 42 sessions (21%) of the 200+ sessions to be focused on AI, leading all categories. I’d plan on attending some of these sessions—after all, the public cloud is a perfect place to run generative AI (genAI) workloads and Google Cloud is considered a leader in AI. (My guess is that Microsoft Ignite and AWS re:Invent will also focus heavily on AI as a topic—I mean, it’s the biggest thing since the desktop computer, the internet, and the iPhone.)
Be sure to catch the keynotes, too, as they always give a splashy, entertaining look at the big ideas of the moment, the company’s vision, and its strategy. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, you can always look for a tech journalist’s summary afterward!
- [Opening Keynote: The New Way to Cloud](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=DEVKEY&utm_source=copylink&utm_medium=social): Tuesday, August 29, 9AM PDT
- [Developer Keynote: What’s Next for Your App?](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=DEVKEY&utm_source=copylink&utm_medium=social): Wednesday, August 30, 10:30AM PDT
- [DEI Keynote: Equity 2.0](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=DEIKEY&utm_source=copylink&utm_medium=social): Wednesday, August 30, 1PM PDT
Here are all the sessions on our list:
## **Telco-specific sessions**
| |
| --- |
| [**The future of telecommunications: How data, AI, and networks are changing the game**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=ITDM202#view-all)
⭐ _DR’s top pick_
This session is my number-one pick because it features Scott Petty, CTO of Vodafone. [I’ve blogged about how](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-clinic-blog/) I think this operator’s data project with Google Cloud is one of the most exciting and visible stories in our industry. I’ve eagerly followed blogs from Google, from the Neuron big data analytics platform, to the Nucleus “single source of truth” for the whole organization, to AI Builder, a scalable, unified AI/ML platform. I’m hoping this session offers new insight into those projects, as well as an update on what Google Cloud is working on now. |
| [**Unleash your customer data and turn improved experiences into revenue**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=CT202#view-all)
_⭐ DR’s top pick_
Unless you’re Vodafone, you know you should be doing more with your customer data. Attend this session to hear about what you can do and why you should do it—get to know your customers and your business better, reduce churn, increase loyalty, and create new revenue streams. For telcos, cleaning up data to get it into a usable state is no small task and will take years to do; maybe this session will inspire you to get going. |
| [**How Google Cloud helps shape and transform Telecom Network deployment and monetization models**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next?session=ARC102)
⭐ _DR’s top pick_
Want to build a killer network? This session is for you. Two technical leaders from Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile will talk about how they’ve collaborated with Google Cloud to manage and modernize their networks for 5G and the future. If you still haven’t chosen a hyperscaler, the speakers at this session could provide some valuable inside information about what it’s like to partner with Google Cloud. |
| [**How AI helps Telcos maintain cost-efficient and sustainable networks**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=AIML120#view-all)
Our industry is responsible for about three percent of global emissions—about 50% more than the aviation industry! We’re not the biggest polluter, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. In this session, speakers from Telefónica and Nokia talk about how they’re working with Google Cloud to build more efficiency into networks to reduce energy consumption and costs. [It’s not easy being green](https://telcodr.com/insights/going-green-with-the-public-cloud-blog/)! |
## **AI and ML sessions**
| |
| --- |
| [**Transform contact center customer experiences with generative AI**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=AIML203#ai-and-ml)
Contact centers are an obvious use case for genAI. This session will cover a lot of ways that technology can improve customer experiences, with input from Google Cloud customers PayPal and GenDigital. My opinion: you should aim to make your contact center 50% more productive than it is today, either by doubling the throughput or requiring fewer people to do the same work. Set an aggressive, audacious, big goal when thinking about AI and the public cloud! |
| [**Enable rich conversational experiences with Contact Center AI**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next?demo=AIPD-106)
Check out this demo session if you want to learn more about how using Google’s conversational AI technologies and genAI can boost your customer experience and contact center. It definitely requires work to nail that natural language visitors expect when interacting with your brand. Put the work in—it’s worth it! |
| [**Demolishing data silos: Empowering enterprises with generative AI**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=AIML105#ai-and-ml)
More ideas for doing more with your data from Deloitte and Google Cloud. Speakers in this session will share details about a project that unlocked siloed data and made it available to workers. Since telcos have TONS of siloed data from all the on-premise applications they have running in their data centers, this is another workshop to listen in on. |
| [**Unleash the power of enterprise AI with NVIDIA and Google Cloud**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=AIML106#ai-and-ml)
AI, ML, and large language models (LLMs) are more accessible now than ever, thanks to the public cloud and purpose-built hardware, like NVIDIA chips. In this session, speakers from NVIDIA will talk about the company’s full-stack platform available on Google Cloud and illustrate potential use cases with real-world customer stories. But good luck getting your hands on an H100 yourself; the public cloud may be the only way to access chips that specialize in inference and training. |
| [**An introduction to Duet AI for Google Cloud**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=DEV102#ai-and-ml)
With engineering talent so hard to find and stretched so thin, I’m loving these AI-powered, code-completion tools that all the hyperscalers are launching. Google Cloud’s version is [Duet AI](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/application-modernization/introducing-duet-ai-for-google-cloud), and it claims to offer more than just code assistance to help teams work efficiently in the cloud. This session will provide an intro to (and demo of) its many features, including assistance with writing and completing code, exploring data, and building simple apps. This is another place to set big goals and see if you can double productivity, either by doubling the throughput of the engineering team or being able to cut the team in half and getting the same output. With AI, you should see RESULTS. |
| [**Build your organization’s future on Google AI and machine learning infrastructure**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=AIML200#ai-and-ml)
In this session, which is geared to technologists, Google Cloud product experts explain their catalog of ML infrastructure: GPUs, TPUs, and CPUs, as well as compute, network, storage, and containers for AI, ML, and LLM workloads. Good session to attend for a general overview of Google’s capabilities. |
| [**Supercharge your generative AI model development with Cloud TPUs**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next?demo=HWV-103)
And if you want to learn more about Google Cloud TPUs, check out this demo session, which covers how they accelerate AI and optimize efficiencies at massive scale. This is a great session to learn more about Google Cloud’s specialized chips, which will play a big part in genAI as I wrote in this blog, “ [It’s all about the chips](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-ai-chips-blog/).” |
| [**From vision to practice: AI applications in financial services**](https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next/session-library?session=ITDM100#ai-and-ml)
Like telcos, financial service firms have to meet data compliance regulations. That’s why it might be interesting to hear from HSBC (a bank) and CME Group (a derivatives marketplace) about how AI is helping them deliver more personalized experiences, identify new business opportunities, and combat risk and fraud. A good practical session that may give you great ideas to apply to telco! |
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Episode 42. Amol Phadke, MD & Gm, Global Telecom Industry, Google Cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 42 – Talking Telco with Google Cloud**\\
\\
\\
Amol Phadke, Google Cloud's MD & GM for the Global Telecom Industry, talks about what the hyperscaler is doing in the telco space.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-42-talking-telco-with-google-cloud/)
[![How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics platform to the public cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Case Study \\
**How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud**\\
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In November 2019, Vodafone announced they were moving their entire data analytics to Google Cloud. TelcoDR wondered: how much were they spending and how much did they save?](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
[![Video thumbnail - Google Cloud's Amol Phadke & Shailesh Shukla: How Telcos are Digitally Transforming & Telcos at the Edge](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Video \\
**Google Cloud: How Telcos are Digitally Transforming & Telcos at the Edge**\\
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\\
Google Cloud execs discuss how telco evolved during the pandemic, the most promising solutions for telco leaders, and how Google Cloud fits into the mix.](https://telcodr.com/insights/google-cloud-how-telcos-are-digitally-transforming-at-the-edge-video/)
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graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Telcos vs Twilio
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-twilio-blog/#main)
Blog
# Think you’ve already lost to Twilio? Think again.
August 29, 2023
Everybody says 5G is going to be about enterprise and B2B use cases. Even GSMA Mats Granryd, [my guest on a recent Telco in 20 episode](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-72-open-gateway-telco-shift/), believes the business-to-business community is the one that will benefit the most, and that APIs are key to success. Communication service providers (CSPs) are on the bandwagon, too. Recent industry moves, including [Proximus Group’s acquisition of Route Mobile](https://www.lightreading.com/aiautomation/proximus-to-buy-cpaas-company-route-mobile-for-$722-million/d/d-id/785690) and [Ericsson’s acquisition of Vonage](https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/ericssons-vonage-outlines-plan-to-share-revenues-with-telcos/d/d-id/783674), are more proof that interest is high.
With all the attention focused on network APIs, why hasn’t the telco industry been able to deliver for developers, unseat software vendors like Twilio, and win back SMS revenue?
At [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, we decided to initiate a comprehensive study to understand the challenges telcos face in the enterprise messaging API market. [Clarity Research surveyed 150 telecoms leaders and decision makers](https://totogi.com/newsroom/press-releases/research-enterprise-customers-twilio-pricing/) in July 2023, including C-suite, executives, and managers in the UK and US.
Our survey found four significant insights:
- Telco leaders believe enterprises are seeking a less expensive alternative to Twilio.
- Telcos currently struggle to meet this demand due to their pricier and more complex offerings, primarily in the form of proprietary APIs.
- Telcos believe that a Twilio-compatible solution could significantly enhance their competitiveness.
- Telcos lack the software chops to develop such a solution themselves.
## **Enterprises are looking for a cheaper alternative**
Twilio’s user-friendly experience comes with a high price tag. A staggering 93% (UK) and 88% (US) of respondents affirmed their enterprise customers are looking for a Twilio substitute, with 91% attributing this to Twilio’s high pricing.
Furthermore, 58% of respondents were optimistic that their enterprise customers would transition to a competitively priced, operator-owned CPaaS offering, provided it’s as easy to use as Twilio. The conclusion? Customers are ready to switch, but only if the transition is effortless and the price is right.
## **The opportunity**
There is a belief among telcos that a solution compatible with Twilio could greatly enhance their market competitiveness. The challenge lies in developing such a solution. Many telcos lack the internal software development capability to do this independently, creating a significant opportunity in the market.
## **The takeaway**
Jeff Bezos once said, “Your margin is my opportunity,” and Twilio’s margin is _telcos’_ opportunity. Instead of chasing new “CPaaS 2.0” use cases (where operators are trying to create market demand to drive product adoption), we should attack the heart of Twilio’s already well-established revenue base: enterprise customers and “simple” SMS code. Twilio’s gross margin sits at 52% as of its [Q2 2023 earnings report](https://investors.twilio.com/news-releases/news-release-details/twilio-announces-second-quarter-2023-results). This means it takes your product—the network—doubles the costs, and sells it to customers. This is where operators around the world could cut into Twilio’s margin in a product area that’s already well established and that has developers already coding with connectivity APIs. Price your offering at 50% of Twilio’s offering, and enterprises would switch in a heartbeat.
The key? It has to be **crazy easy** to flip a Twilio codebase into your APIs. With that simple move, telcos would regain their strategic position with enterprise IT departments, and they could build the developer community they need for their network APIs. With a 100% Twilio-compatible replacement, telcos can reclaim enterprise revenue, capture traffic on their network, and own the developer ecosystem they need for their future.
How are we going to do it? I’ve been working on an idea since March and I can’t wait to share it with you. Stay tuned for [my latest talk, airing on TelecomTV](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/cloud-native/building-apis-is-not-enough-it-s-time-to-take-on-twilio-48197/) on September 5, which will introduce a three-step plan coupled with a new Totogi product that telcos can use to take on Twilio. Are you ready?
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## More from TelcoDR:
READ: [Telco execs, are you jealous of Twilio?](https://www.linkedin.com/signup/cold-join?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elinkedin%2Ecom%2Ffeed%2Fupdate%2Furn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7066928187426918400)
LISTEN: [Can telco compete in CPaaS?](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/)
WATCH: [Mats Granryd talks Open Gateway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCt1nGCLTsk)
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Whoosh! CPaaS Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/whoosh-work-blog/#main)
Blog
# Will Whoosh! work?
September 12, 2023
You’d have to be living under a rock to have missed [my super fun TelecomTV talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjW000-zlFc) announcing the latest product addition to [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), the telco SaaS software company where I’m acting CEO. We’ve just launched a CPaaS offering with **100% Twilio-compatible, Application-to-Person (A2P) APIs**, which are designed to be handed over to telcos to sell to enterprise customers. We believe when operators add this new product to their catalog, they can take on Twilio and _win the strategic position_ they need with enterprise IT departments, along with the loyalty of the developers who are crucial for their burgeoning Network APIs.
The telco industry needs to act urgently on this, as Twilio is expanding its ownership of this valuable position daily. You may know that Twilio’s meteoric rise, driven by its deep developer-centric approach, landed the company with an $11 billion+ valuation. Its ingenious approach to A2P APIs provided easy access, transparent pricing, and rapid innovation that quickly garnered the loyalty of a vast developer base. While it’s a shame telco didn’t pioneer this approach, what if we could adopt Twilio’s strategy and leverage telcos’ position as the owner of the network to outmaneuver Twilio? I think we can.
Enter [_Whoosh!_](https://totogi.com/whoosh/), Totogi’s latest product, designed to entice developers into the telco ecosystem by creating 100% Twilio-compatible APIs. With _Whoosh!_, operators can provide enterprises with an almost invisible transition from Twilio to their platform. By using the carriers’ owner economics, they have the potential to strategically undercut Twilio’s pricing to win enterprise business. I argue telcos should take the shot, and take it now—before it’s too late.
As someone new to the CPaaS space, I’ve already learned that broaching this subject is like touching a third rail. So, naturally I got some initial questions and thoughts from people who think my strategy won’t work. I thought I’d address them head on, so here we go!
#### **Question 1: Twilio is unprofitable, so why on earth would a telco want a piece of that (crappy) business?**
The issue with this question is that it confuses Twilio’s _profitability_ with Twilio’s _gross margin_. Readers are right; Twilio’s profitability is just barely positive. But just because it’s not that valuable doesn’t mean it’s not operating in a valuable space.
Instead, let’s look at Twilio’s gross margin. Twilio’s gross margin sits at 49%, which implies that Twilio buys connectivity from telcos and doubles the price to its end customers. This suggests that telcos can undercut Twilio’s pricing because, unlike Twilio, telcos don’t have to buy the connectivity they already own. This isn’t merely a price war; it’s about leveraging the telco industry’s inherent strength. Telco should use pricing as a weapon against Twilio to win back market share. This is _huge_ for telco.
#### **Question 2: Enterprises don’t want to sign deals with each telco to send messages; they want to sign with just one vendor.**
I 100% agree with this. But this question is anchored in the old approach, where we thought of A2P APIs as being sent only to a carrier’s own native endpoint.
Twilio’s success underlines the market’s hunger for _simplicity_. Telcos can emulate this model, too. Operators should leverage their already established interconnect, roaming, and the forthcoming interoperability agreements being formed for Open Gateway and use them for A2P messages.
Yes, I know, I know—sending a message to an endpoint outside of your own network will cost more than sending a message fully on-network. But these costs are tiny and can be factored into the pricing you extend to your enterprise customers.
By taking this approach, telcos not only offer the same simple approach of Twilio, but also gain ownership of the invaluable developer relationship. Telcos need developers for their network APIs and should bend over backwards to keep developers in their ecosystem. Successful execution of this strategy would give a carrier a huge advantage over its competitors. The telco in each country that gets to market first with this approach would have the first-mover advantage in a winner-takes-all race. If you want developers, this is the way to do it.
#### **Question 3: Telcos have already conceded those “boring” A2P APIs. We are working on CPaaS 2.0, the network APIs, aka the “cool” stuff.**
There’s a misconception here that we should close the door on A2P APIs or that it’s too late. Sure, Twilio has won round one. However, A2P API developers remain pivotal for telcos. It’s the realm where programmable-communications APIs have gained traction and adoption. Innovators like Twilio and Sinch fixed the initial adoption issues developers faced with telco services such as cumbersome purchases, challenging usage, and telcos’ general innovation slowness. Telcos shouldn’t sidestep this foundational aspect while chasing the allure of “5G network APIs.” Both realms are intertwined; embracing A2P APIs bridges the gap with 5G network APIs. It’s crucial for telcos to make strategic moves _now_ to ensure Twilio doesn’t own the entire space. We must strike now for a significant stake before the window of opportunity closes further.
I’m sure more questions will come as we figure out how to take on Twilio. To all those intrigued by this vision of enterprise telco and ready to dive deep into the possibilities that _Whoosh!_ offers, I cordially invite you to join us at [TMForum’s Digital Transformation World](https://dtw.tmforum.org/) in Copenhagen, running September 19 – 21. See a demo and learn more about our new offering. Together, we can navigate this novel approach, reimagine the future of enterprise telco, and carve a path to reclaiming our piece of the pie. Don’t miss this chance to own it for your telco.
See you there!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telcos need a Twilio alternative](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Think you’ve already lost to Twilio? Think again.**\\
\\
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Totogi surveyed telecom leaders about what needs to happen for telcos to recapture enterprise messaging revenue.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-twilio-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 podcast Ep 74 It's time to take on Twilio with Danielle Royston](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 74 – It’s time to take on Twilio!**\\
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The future of enterprise telco lies in network APIs. Here's a three-step plan to take back CPaaS revenue from companies like Twilio, plus a sneak peek at a powerful new Totogi CPaaS product.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telcos-take-on-twilio-cpaas/)
[![Telco in 20 podcast Ep 73 Can telcos compete in CPaaS? With Yesmean Luk, STL Partners](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 73 – Can telco compete in CPaaS?**\\
\\
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Telcos have lost money to companies like Twilio that make it easy for developers to add CPaaS capabilities to products. But the landscape is shifting and there are signs that telcos are ready to take back the CPaaS reins.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-73-telco-compete-cpaas/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Save on AWS Costs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/save-big-bucks-on-your-aws-spend-blog/#main)
Blog
# TelcoDR can help you save big bucks on your AWS Spend
July 3, 2023
I hear how telco execs worry that they’ll be hit with unexpected “sticker shock” when they transition workloads to the public cloud. Some are so anxious about it that they hedge their bets by designing ways to move workloads back on-prem before they even start.
FACE. PALM. 🤦🏻♀️
This is _super_ short-sighted and a fast way to derail true cloud transformation, but what really bugs me is it’s totally the wrong approach. Instead, telcos should build top-notch FinOps and IT practices that are focused on constantly optimizing workloads from the get-go, both financially and technically. There are lots of ways to do this, and there are tons of consultants out there who are ready to help.
But there are also software packages out there, too. There’s a super cool SaaS platform I know of that can quickly find MILLIONSof dollars in savings and AUTOMATICALLY go get them for you—I’m talking about [CloudFix](https://cloudfix.com/). When I learned how it works, I thought it was so awesome that I signed [an exclusive partner agreement with CloudFix](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-cost-savings-telco-press-release/) that’s perfect for telco.
### A new, automated solution from CloudFix
One of the challenges with cloud cost optimization is that while people and software can identify recommendations, 9 times out of 10, the changes need to be made _manually_ (ugh) to realize savings. The problem with that is, your DevOps teams are already busy supporting the business. They don’t have time to research fixes, make sure they won’t screw anything up, and make the actual changes. So a lot of the time, the fixes never get done and savings never materialize.
CloudFix solves this problem. It scans your AWS account, identifies changes that will save money, and once you approve the changes, implements them without your DevOps team having to lift a finger. By seamlessly integrating with AWS environments, CloudFix saves customers an average of 15-20% on their AWS costs. I’ll do that math for you: If you’re spending $100 million per test on AWS, partnering with Telco _DR_ and CloudFix could potentially save you $15-20 million. That’s nothing to sneeze at. You could drop those savings to your bottom line, use them on experimental GenAI workloads, or heck, even spend them with my company, [Totogi](https://totogi.com/).
### How CloudFix works
Today, CloudFix works only on AWS. It actively monitors the 50-plus AWS advisories, or best practice bulletins, that the hyperscaler publishes weekly. Once you finish the 10-minute set up process, the solution scans your AWS usage data and uses machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify all the places you can optimize. Then it provides you with a list of AWS-recommended changes you can make to save money, along with a short description that explains each one.
Don’t worry: CloudFix _scans_ automatically, but won’t _implement_ any changes without your permission. Changes are published to AWS’ Change Manager where they await your review—using the best practices process AWS recommends for making changes to your environment. If you’re good with the recommendations, you accept them and boom! They’re done. A super, no-hassle way to realize savings. Even better, it doesn’t require your team to do the work. You just sit back and watch your spending level magically go down.
It’s fast to set up and super easy to use. It’s a SaaS platform, so there’s no software to install. You start saving immediately, and the longer and more frequently you use it, the more you’ll save.
Think of it like finding money in an old winter coat, but instead of a $5 dollar bill, it’s MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars. The money is already there, just waiting for you to discover it.
Want proof? CloudFix has a customer that used the solution on its $160 million annual AWS spend. Its solution identified $66 million in savings over three years. In this case, there was a little trick CloudFix knew about that the customer wasn’t doing in its environment. CloudFix just had to change one thing—ONE!—and these huge savings just appeared out of nowhere. And no, I’m not going to tell you what the one thing was; you’re going to have to test it for yourself. But this _one thing_ is the reason I JUMPED at the chance to secure an exclusive partnership with CloudFix for my telco buddies, and I’m going to pass this savings opportunity on to you.
### Tailored to telcos spending $20M to $1B
You can buy CloudFix through AWS Marketplace, but [when you buy it through Telco _DR_](https://telcodr.com/cloud-optimization/), you get access to our pre-negotiated discount that helps you save EVEN MORE on your cloud spend. To make it a no brainer to at least TRY, we’re offering a free savings assessment to telcos that want to learn more.
We recommend CloudFix for any telco organization spending $20 million to $1 billion USD with AWS annually (CloudFix recently helped a customer that spends $1 billion A MONTH – yikes!). You can expect at least 15% savings; on a $100 million spend, that’s $15 million. If you’re spending more than a billion dollars with AWS, you probably already have special pricing, so CloudFix may not be as effective. But if you’re within my threshold, I’m your gal!
Ready to learn more? [Shoot me an email](https://x.com/TelcoDR) or DM me on [Twitter](https://x.com/TelcoDR) or [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleroyston/) and we’ll get you some savings ASAP! Let’s do this, telco! Let’s save some bookoo bucks!
* * *
WATCH:
[AWS Made Easy: Cut costs in half by right-sizing AWS EC2 instances](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Wzw9RlWuc)
CloudFix Founder and CEO Rahul Subramaniam offers practical tips on cost optimization and cutting costs by right-sizing AWS EC2 instances.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Press Release](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**TelcoDR and CloudFix Join Forces to Revolutionize Telcos’ AWS Spend with Exclusive Partnership Agreement**\\
\\
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Automated solution can help telcos save an average of 15% on their AWS costs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-cost-savings-telco-press-release/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Michael Kearns, Chief Executive Officer, Virtasant.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 39 – Hacking Cloud Costs**\\
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A cottage industry has popped up to help companies optimize their cloud environment and spending. Find out what you can do to hack cloud costs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
[![How to keep cloud costs under control](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**How to keep cloud costs under control (and what to do if they get away from you)**\\
\\
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When workloads shift to the public cloud, it’s suddenly easy to try new things. The result can be bill shock for finance. Here's how to keep costs under control.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-keep-cloud-costs-under-control-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Save on Cloud Compute
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-save-on-compute-with-spot-instances-blog/#main)
Blog
# How to save 50-90% on compute with spot instances
June 19, 2023
Recently I participated in [TelecomTV’s Telcos and Public Cloud Summit](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/telcos-and-public-cloud-summit/) where an audience [poll](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/telcos-and-public-cloud-summit/the-pros-and-cons-of-a-telco-multi-cloud-strategy-47280/) asked about the main barriers between telcos and the public cloud:
_Source: TelecomTV_
As usual, the risk of vendor lock-in was regarded as the biggest barrier with 52% of the vote (eyeroll); but coming in a strong second was ‘concerns over public cloud pricing and associated costs,’ which received votes from 46% of the audience. [Ray LeMaistre writes](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/telco-public-cloud/fear-of-lock-in-is-main-barrier-to-telco-public-cloud-partnerships-poll-47415/), “It is becoming an increasing worry, and there have long been suggestions that using the public cloud is not always as cost effective and flexible as it might seem.”
Oh, brother! I can already hear the telco execs mumbling from here. Before you go running back to your on-premise data center, hold the phone. You’ll spend more money in the public cloud _only_ if you’re doing it really, really wrong. So, instead of running back to the headache of managing on-premise stacks, how about you learn how to become a cost-optimization ninja instead?
### Optimize your biggest cost: cloud compute
To start, let’s look at what is likely the largest category on your cloud bill: your spend on cloud computing resources. To determine the price of compute resources, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure use these three pricing models:
1. **On-demand instances**: Flexible-but-expensive, pay-as-you-go pricing with no long-term commitment;
2. **Reserved instances:** Discounted rates for committing to specific instance types for a longer period, good for steady-state workloads; and
3. **Spot instances:** Available-by-bid, this is unused capacity at fluctuating prices that prioritize cost savings. Most suitable for flexible or fault-tolerant workloads.
AWS claims that customers can save as much as 90% by using AWS Spot Instances over On-Demand Instances, and 50-70% over its Reserved Instances. Google Cloud says its preemptible VM instances typically cost 70-80% less than on-demand rates, and 50% less than three-year reserved VMs. Telcos should totally optimize their compute usage alongside these pricing strategies, and when they do, they will save a ton of money.
### What’s the difference between reserved and spot instances?
Reserve and spot instances are different in three big ways:
- **Reservation vs. bidding**. Reserve instances guarantee the availability of a specific instance type, region, price, and term in exchange for an advance commitment. Spot instances work on a bid model for unused instances. The price fluctuates based on supply and demand—no commitments from you or your hyperscaler. If you bid higher than the current price, you get access to the instances. When the spot price surges above your bid, your instances may be interrupted and terminated with only a few minutes warning.
- **Cheaper vs. a lot cheaper**. While reserved instances offer significant cost savings over on-demand instances, spot instances are massively cheaper than reserved instances. Because they are unused resources at the hyperscaler, they’re priced to sell. These instances are usually 50%-70% lower than reserved instance pricing.
- **Steady vs. variable**. Conventional wisdom is that reserved instances are best for applications that run continuously or have consistent usage patterns, whereas spot instances are suited for workloads that can handle interruptions or have flexible start and end times, like fault-tolerant batch processing or time-intensive workloads.
### Save money with reserved instances
All three hyperscalers offer the idea of a reserved instance; AWS calls it simply [Reserved Instances](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/reserved-instances/). Azure has [Reserved Virtual Machine (VM) Instances](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/reserved-vm-instances/) and Google Cloud has [reserve VM capacity](https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/reservations-overview). It’s all the same basic idea—if you make a long-term commitment (one to three years) to use a specific instance type from a hyperscaler, you’ll secure the resources and get a discounted hourly rate. The longer the commitment and bigger the upfront payment you’re willing to make, the more money you’ll save. Is it a good strategy? Sure, for a number of reasons, including:
1. **Cost savings:** It’s cheaper than on-demand instances.
2. **Capacity planning:** You’ll have the necessary resources when you need them, guaranteed.
3. **Budget planning:** You’ll have a better idea of your costs in advance.
The downside is that you’re locked into the spend. If your needs change, you may end up paying for capacity you don’t need.
A lot of people think using reserved instances is the safest approach to saving on compute. But is it really the BEST way to save? Not necessarily.
### But save even MORE money with spot instances
AWS’s [Spot Instances](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/spot-vms), Google Cloud’s [Spot VMs](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/spot-vms) or [Preemptible VMs](https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/instances/preemptible), and Azure’s [Spot VMs](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/spot-vms) offer unused compute capacity at significantly lower prices—like 90% lower. Why the steep discount? You can lose them to a higher bidder at any moment, with only a couple minutes’ notice. If you’re willing and able to move your workloads to accommodate this dynamism, you can save big bucks.
Here are some examples that are a good fit for spot instances:
1. You can tolerate interruptions and have fault-tolerant, stateless applications;
2. Your workload has flexible start and end times, or can be scheduled during off-peak hours;
3. You integrate spot instances with auto-scaling and load balancing for elasticity;
4. You have redundancy and fault-tolerant architectures in place; and
5. You can actively monitor and manage spot instance interruptions.
Spot instances come with risks due to price volatility and potential terminations. They may not be suitable for workloads with strict uptime requirements or real-time processing needs. You should consider these trade-offs and assess the suitability of spot instances based on your workload’s characteristics and requirements.
Most telco execs feel spot instances can’t be used for their workloads. But I know of a UK MVNO that kept an open mind on spot instances, figured out how to make work, and is now reveling in the savings.
### giffgaff saves big
Steve McDonald is COO and CTO at giffgaff, a UK mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). In [Episode 68 of my Telco in 20 podcast](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/), Steve shared how giffgaff uses AWS Spot Instances to save big money. He points out ( [at timestamp 12:25](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)) that once giffgaff moved its operation to AWS, it moved its entire production estate to EC2 Spot Instances. To make it work for giffgaff he says, “You have to be in a position where you can build a new server and insert it into the cluster. We do that now about 60-80 times a day.”
How cool is that? 😎
giffgaff tossed conventional wisdom out the window, and refactored its entire production estate so it can run on AWS Spot Instances. You see, most people tend to _overestimate_ the likelihood of preemption of a spot instance and _underestimate_ their tolerance for it. In reality, instance preemption is not as common as you may think in most instance families. By being flexible with different instance types, significant cost savings can be achieved without significant negative impact. With a well-designed spot usage strategy, giffgaff has likely been able to achieve the 50-90% savings Amazon claims. Essentially, by utilizing AWS Spot Instances, giffgaff can take advantage of a market inefficiency with respect to compute pricing while others overspend on elastic compute (EC2) spend. That’s a smart move. Want to learn way more than you ever thought possible about AWS pricing inefficiencies with regard to spot instance? [Read this great blog](https://pauley.me/post/2022/spot-instance-pricing/) from Eric Pauley for more information on this cost optimization strategy.
The telcos and vendors that win big with the public cloud will be those that get really skilled at optimizing the cost of their workloads. Watch out if your teammate or vendor is recommending an exclusively reserved instance to run their workload. Discuss spot instances with them to see if you can squeeze out more savings and make your money go further. By saving on compute, you can stretch your budget and fund all those cool public cloud projects you need to work on, like genAI and, of course, [Totogi](https://totogi.com/)!
Want more clever cost-saving tips like this? We do, too! In fact, TelcoDR is exploring an exclusive deal with software startup [CloudFix](https://telcodr.com/cloud-optimization/) to offer a cloud optimization tool for telcos that will save big money, too. We’ll be announcing it in a few weeks. Stay tuned, and keep on optimizing your cost in the cloud!
* * *
WATCH:
[AWS Made Easy: Cut costs in half by right-sizing AWS EC2 instances](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Wzw9RlWuc)
CloudFix Founder and CEO Rahul Subramaniam offers practical tips on cost optimization and cutting costs by right-sizing AWS EC2 instances.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![How to keep cloud costs under control](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**How to keep cloud costs under control (and what to do if they get away from you)**\\
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When workloads shift to the public cloud, it’s suddenly easy to try new things. The result can be bill shock for finance. Here's how to keep costs under control.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-keep-cloud-costs-under-control-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Michael Kearns, Chief Executive Officer, Virtasant.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 39 – Hacking Cloud Costs**\\
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A cottage industry has popped up to help companies optimize their cloud environment and spending. Find out what you can do to hack cloud costs.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-39-hacking-cloud-costs/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Steve McDonald, Chief Operating & Technology Officer, giffgaff.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 68 – giffgaff is 1,000 times faster with AWS**\\
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In 2020, award-winning MVNO giffgaff went all-in on the public cloud. Chief Operating and Technology Officer Steve McDonald shares the inside story on its courageous move.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-68-giffgaff-is-1000-times-faster-with-aws/)
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## Nokia-Red Hat Deal Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/who-wins-in-the-nokia-red-hat-deal-blog/#main)
Blog
# Who wins in the Nokia-Red Hat deal?
July 17, 2023
A few weeks ago, [Nokia announced](https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2023/06/29/nokia-and-red-hat-announce-partnership-for-new-best-in-class-telecommunications-solutions-based-on-red-hat-infrastructure-platforms-and-nokias-core-network-applications/) that it will offload its Nokia Container Services (NCS) and CloudBand Infrastructure Software (CBIS), plus the 350 employees who support them, to Red Hat.
My initial response was: [WUT](https://slang.net/meaning/wut#:~:text=Wut)?
Tl;dr: I don’t know who’s winning in this deal, but I don’t think it’s either one of them. Let me tell you why.
## **The Deal**
The [joint press release](https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/nokia-and-red-hat-announce-partnership-new-best-class-telecommunications-solutions-based-red-hat-infrastructure-platforms-and-nokias-core-network-applications) says that the companies have agreed to tightly integrate Nokia’s core network applications with [Red Hat OpenStack Platform](https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/openstack-platform), where Nokia will adopt Red Hat’s cloud infrastructure platform for its core network apps. The pair plans to jointly support and evolve NCS and CBIS customers, and will develop a path for them to migrate to Red Hat’s platforms over time. Basically, Nokia will hand over its private cloud infrastructure and container business to Red Hat so it can focus on cloud core applications and software.
The press release coyly says “cloud,” but it’s built on OpenStack and OpenShift, which we all know is Red Hat’s private cloud (#fakecloud) tech. I don’t know which I feel most sorry for: Nokia, for thinking it’s smart to adopt Red Hat’s private cloud infrastructure platform, or Red Hat for getting served a heaping helping of its own dog food.
What’s my beef against private cloud? Well for starters, have you ever thought about what it takes to get a private cloud up and running? Just take a look at this [CNCF Cloud Native Interactive Landscape image](https://landscape.cncf.io/). _THIS_ is why private cloud is a disaster:
As a CTO or CIO of a telco, selecting private cloud as your cloud platform means you are committing the techies in your organization—and probably committees of people—to making over 200 tech selections just to get it up and running. Those 200 decisions consist of all different kinds of products, with different underlying technologies, install processes, and integrations, that your organization is now burdened with maintaining. On top of that, no two private clouds are the same; you are basically 100% on your own. Each instantiation of a private cloud is its own bespoke morass. And that’s BEFORE you get down to supporting your actual work: installing the northbound and southbound applications you need to support the lifeblood of a telco. It makes me tired just thinking about it.
## **OpenStack: Buyer Beware**
Perhaps Nokia sees the RedHat platform as simplifying and standardizing some of those 200 decisions. For the blissfully unaware, OpenStack is an open-source cloud platform that was _supposed_ to give users an alternative to the big public clouds. OpenStack’s several components provide compute, networking, storage, and other fundamentals you need to build your own private cloud.
While a nice idea in theory, the project has been [dying a slow death for years](https://thenewstack.io/bad-news-for-cloud-computing-openstack-use-plummets-and-discounts-dry-up/). Why? R&D of the platform has been _way_ too slow, especially when compared to AWS, which had a head start and a big budget. When Microsoft and Google Cloud got in the game, the idea of public clouds took off, and potential customers realized that OpenStack would _never_ be able to catch up. OpenStack has been relegated to the realm of private clouds, and now is most famous for being impossibly hard to install and deploy.
I’m not the only person who thinks this, either. Gartner’s Lydia Leong, aka [@cloudpundit](https://x.com/cloudpundit) on Twitter, [called it back in 2011](https://www.gartner.com/en/insights), predicting that most users would choose commercial software over the community-built option due to the difficulty of adding features required by large-scale customers in a way that wouldn’t unnecessarily splinter and complicate the solution’s landscape of variations. In a few words: OpenStack is just too hard.
Now, almost every industry has stopped using it—except telco. Red Hat is the leading contributor to OpenStack, so I can conclude only that Nokia decided to give Red Hat its crap back so it can deal with it.
## Why public cloud
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: don’t build your own #fakecloud. Remember, with the public cloud, the platform is maintained and constantly improved for you. All you gotta do is use it. Public clouds like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure have been game-changers, outpacing traditional models and disrupting the industry with their agility, scalability, and innovation. They’ve been breaking new ground, democratizing access to sophisticated resources (like genAI and custom chips), and empowering companies big and small. And they’re not slowing down.
Nokia says its liaison with Red Hat isn’t exclusive. You could still run Nokia’s core applications on, say, VMware or Wind River’s cloud infrastructure, or even on one of the hyperscaler platforms. But this is missing the broader narrative—that the key to these platforms is using the tech of public cloud **natively**. With this deal, Nokia loses because it ties itself to a cloud-agnostic, #fakecloud world, not a public-cloud-native world where all the benefits lie. And that right there is the big miss.
Everyone needs to realize the public cloud giants have already rewritten the rules of the game. With each passing year the hyperscalers’ lead is extended even further; at this point, it’s insurmountable. Vendors like Nokia need to join the #CLOUDCITY Army alongside SaaS vendor [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) and ride the public cloud wave.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Kubernetes - in the cloud?](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Why do people think Kubernetes is cloud native?**\\
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After my blog on the difference between #fakecloud and the real thing, the most controversial turned out to be: why Kubernetes isn’t “cloud native”. So here’s an entire blog to help everyone understand why I think this is a true statement.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-native-kubernetes-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Shaun Whalon, VP of Digital Monetization, CSG.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 47 – Half measures**\\
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CSG's Shaun Whalon and I believe the move to the public cloud is inevitable for telco, and discuss our different ideas about the best way to get there.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-47-half-measures-hybrid-cloud/)
[![Video thumbnail: TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps**\\
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TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps Watch D.R. on TelecomTV explain her top five signs that your vendor’s “cloud-native” product may not indeed be cloud native..! More from TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/)
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## AWS Cost Savings Partnership
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-cost-savings-telco-press-release/#main)
Press Release
# TelcoDR and CloudFix Join Forces to Revolutionize Telcos’ AWS Spend with Exclusive Partnership Agreement
July 3, 2023
## _Automated solution can help telcos save an average of 15% on their AWS costs_
**Austin, TX– July 3, 2023 –** [Telco _DR_](https://telcodr.com/), the leading catalyst in propelling telcos’ transition to the public cloud, today announces a groundbreaking partnership with [CloudFix](https://cloudfix.com/), a leading provider of SaaS-based AWS cost optimization solutions. This exclusive partnership agreement empowers telcos to unlock unprecedented savings on their AWS costs. The partnership will provide exclusive pricing offers to telcos who purchase CloudFix through Telco _DR_.
CloudFix, a trusted solution utilized by CIOs, CTOs, and cloud operations teams worldwide, seamlessly integrates with AWS environments, equipping telcos with a simple and straightforward way for telcos to achieve significant savings. Ideal for organizations with an annual AWS expenditure exceeding $20 million, CloudFix has already delivered impressive results. A recent customer with an annual spend of $150 million with AWS is on track to realize over $65 million in savings over three years, validating the unmatched potential of this cutting-edge solution.
The key to CloudFix’s success lies in its ability to automate complex cost-saving recommendations from AWS that engineering teams can’t keep up with at scale. While other cloud optimization solutions only focus on visibility and visualization, CloudFix actually realizes the savings — using trusted, AWS native tools with least privilege access to automatically fix things like outdated or default configurations that may be costing customers far too much money. Examples are trusted, safe fixes like moving from GP2 to GP3 or turning on S3 Intelligent Tiering (up to the infrequent access tier) to optimize storage costs.
What sets CloudFix apart from other cost-optimization solutions on the market is its unparalleled automation. Not only does it provide recommendations to optimize spend, it also seamlessly applies those recommendations to the customer’s environment. This eliminates the need for manual execution (which is difficult to sustain consistently), enabling customers to swiftly realize substantial savings without investing precious time. And customers still have complete control over recommended changes. In one click, you can configure CloudFix recommendations to automatic implementation or manual approval.
“We are thrilled to offer this exclusive partnership with CloudFix, empowering telco companies to maximize their savings and unlock the full potential of the public cloud,” stated Danielle Royston, TelcoDR’s CEO. “CloudFix’s laser focus on telco’s largest area of spend, compute, generates monumental savings for our customers. By liberating wasted spend, telcos can redirect these savings towards exciting new frontiers in the public cloud, such as our cutting-edge telco SaaS products under the Totogi brand.”
Rahul Subramaniam, CEO, and founder of CloudFix expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “We are delighted to collaborate with TelcoDR to help telcos realize significant savings on their current AWS spend so they can reinvest in new AWS innovations. With TelcoDR’s unparalleled understanding of telecom companies’ needs, and CloudFix’s unmatched ability to find and instantly bank AWS-approved savings, we are confident that this partnership will unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for telcos worldwide.”
CloudFix is available for purchase in the AWS Marketplace. To amplify the benefits of this exclusive partnership, TelcoDR and CloudFix are offering an exclusive pricing offer to telcos who purchase CloudFix.
* * *
### **About TelcoDR**
The telecom industry is on the precipice of a transformational shift – a monumental evolution driven by public cloud adoption – and Telco _DR_ is catalyzing this change, backed by its $1B Telco Transformation Fund. Founded and led by telecom’s leading public cloud evangelist, Danielle Royston, Telco _DR_ has raised significant capital to acquire telco software vendors and catapult them to the public cloud through the [Skyvera](https://www.skyvera.com/) operating unit, as well as through investing in startups like [Totogi](https://www.totogi.com/) that are innovating and building truly public cloud-native technology. When Telco _DR_’s vision for the telecom industry has been achieved, CSPs will realize massive cost savings, drive tremendous business growth, and dramatically improve customer engagement. Follow Telco _DR_ on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/telcodr) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TelcoDR). To learn more, visit [Telco _DR_.com](https://telcodr.com/).
### **About Cloudfix**
CloudFix is nonstop AWS savings. When Rahul Subramaniam needed to cut AWS costs, he developed an automated way to find and fix AWS-suggested savings. Today, CloudFix helps companies slash AWS costs, meet best practices, and ensure ongoing cloud hygiene — automatically. It’s used by hundreds of companies, across hundreds of thousands of AWS instances, to save up to 20% on AWS in a few simple clicks. For more information, visit [CloudFix.com](https://cloudfix.com/).
Media Contact: The Abbi Agency
Email: aureamedia@theabbiagency.com
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## Twilio's Disruption of Telcos
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-execs-are-you-jealous-of-twilio-blog/#main)
Blog
# Telco execs: Are you jealous of Twilio?
June 5, 2023
With a $10 billion market cap, the CPaaS provider has become a category-defining company. With revenue of ~$4 billion, growth of 15% YOY, it took the unsexy work of SMS messaging and turned it into a growth company.
How did it do this?
Easily, and right under our noses.
There are three reasons Twilio was able to build a successful company built on the huge network investment of telco:
**1\. API-driven communication:** Twilio’s cloud-based platform has easy-to-use APIs that allow developers to integrate messaging services into their applications quickly. It did the hard work of integrating to networks around the world and then put an easy to use API layer on top for run-of-the-mill developer to use. This seamless integration has enabled enterprises to create custom communication solutions without complex telecom infrastructure.
**2\. Flexible pricing models:** Unlike telco providers that require long-term contracts and fixed pricing plans, Twilio offered pay-as-you-go pricing, which enables businesses to scale up or down based on their needs.
**3\. Excellent developer experience:** Twilio’s focused on creating a killer developer community with a plethora of easy-to-use resources, including doc, tutorials, and SDKs, making it easy for developers to build and deploy applications.
Telco couldn’t keep up with Twilio’s disruption—at least not on our own. We didn’t have easy to use APIs to offer developers and each telco STILL has its own offering. We aren’t easy to do business with—STILL! And the developer experience BLOWS.
So Twilio was able to swipe big enterprise customers from telco and was able to commoditize messaging services with least cost routing of SMS across the networks of the world. OUCH.
It’s not a surprise that most telco execs talk about Twilio with disdain.
But the grass is not always greener. Twilio has problems of its own. Its gross margin for the main part of the business, messaging, sits at ~45%. “Excellent” SaaS companies sit closer to 80-90%—almost double Twilio’s.
Why is its gross margin so low? In a word: telco wholesale. It still needs to buy all those telco wholesale contracts, upfront, in bulk. This part of its unit cost economics it cannot optimize. But believe me, it wants to. Telco should wake up to the fact that Twilio is trying to figure out how to deliver their product WITHOUT telco networks.
Since Twilio has stolen your enterprise relationships from you and gotten all its code into all of those enterprise applications, once it figures out a way to deliver messages without you, you can wave bye-bye to all that awesome wholesale revenue.
So what are we going to do about it? Is Open Gateway the answer?
[Totogi](https://totogi.com/) wants to help telco take Twilio down. Is all lost, or do we have a shot?
See the original post and discussion on [DR’s LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7066928187426918400/)!
* * *
WATCH:
TelecomTV’s [Unlock your network’s value with Network as Code](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbBdwLfAFw4)
Communication service providers have invested more than $100bn in their 5G networks and are looking for a return on that investment.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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## More from TelcoDR
[![Reclaim SMS revenue](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 164"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Is Open Gateway the answer to telco’s Twilio woes?**\\
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Twilio displaced telcos in the CPaaS space by giving software developers the tools they need to integrate messaging easily, and it commoditized your network in the process.](https://telcodr.com/insights/is-open-gateway-the-answer-to-telcos-twilio-woes-blog/)
[![Executive Voices - Marc Rouanne](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Marc Rouanne, EVP & Chief Network Office, DISH Wireless on rolling out a new, greenfield, 5G network.**\\
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DISH Wireless EVP and Chief Network Officer Marc Rouanne talks about DISH’s cloud-native 5G network, its partnership with AWS, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-44-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
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## Open Gateway vs Twilio
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/is-open-gateway-the-answer-to-telcos-twilio-woes-blog/#main)
Blog
# Is Open Gateway the answer to telco’s Twilio woes?
June 5, 2023
I had a monster post on LinkedIn recently, called [Telco execs: Are you jealous of Twilio?](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7066928187426918400/) And boy, did I hit a nerve.
The post was about how Twilio, the communications platform, managed to displace telcos in the communication platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) space. How’d Twilio do it? It created a growth company by giving software developers the tools they needed to easily integrate messaging (and voice and video) into their apps and services, and commoditized your network in the process.
But telcos aren’t ready to give up the fight—yet. The GSMA announced at MWC23 that the industry is attempting to create its own network application programming interfaces (APIs) with the [Open Gateway](https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-open-gateway/) initiative. There’s a lot of skepticism, but 25 mobile network operators have joined the effort, along with hyperscalers Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. They have API specifications for eight services so far, with more reportedly on the way this year.
In order for Open Gateway to work and for telco to take back revenue from Twilio, three things need to happen:
1. Operators need to build a developer community.
2. The service needs to be easy as shit to use.
3. The price has to be right.
### **Build a developer community**
To monetize these CPaaS APIs, operators need to build a developer community. That’s no small task. [IBM spent $34 billion on RedHat](https://venturebeat.com/business/ibm-red-hat-should-developers-worry-were-headed-back-to-the-1990s/) to acquire, among other things, a developer community. If you don’t buy it, you gotta build it. Here’s what it takes:
1. **Traction:** You have to attract a critical mass of enterprise software developers. Reaching them is a huge marketing challenge. Once you have their attention, you have to convince them that your way is as good or better than the Twilio way that they’re already using.
2. **Low churn:** Once you’ve brought willing developers into the fold, you have to keep them happy, engaged and invested. This means your product and service has to be GREAT. It has to be easy to use, updated regularly, bugs fixed quickly, etc.
3. **Active community:** Once you’ve built your community, you have to nurture it with things like hackathons or meetups, as well as in online spaces where developers can ask and answer questions, share code, and generally support each other.
Building a successful developer community takes time and investment. Twilio was founded in 2008 and went public eight years later, in 2016. You know how many developers were on the platform at the time? ONE MILLION. THAT’S IT! (It now has over 10 million.) Is the plan for Open Gateway that each individual telco will build its own developer community? Or will Open Gateway do it for the telcos, like TMForum has done on its OpenAPIs / ODA? Regardless, some telcos are starting to do this on their own. For example, US MNO DISH launched its [Developer Xperience](https://www.boostmobile.com/) at AWS Re:Invent last year. Telefónica seems to have launched its own [Open Gateway developer website](https://opengateway.telefonica.com/en/about-open-gateway). But both of these sites feel new and unused, and don’t give off the warm fuzzy feeling of being a vibrant community. Clearly, it’s early days for telco in building a developer community.
### **Make it easy to use**
One of the reasons Twilio was able to steal (yes, steal) messaging enterprise revenue from telcos was that it provided a common, easy-to-use API layer, which telcos did not have at the time. Twilio enabled developers to use the same API signature to send messages, regardless of network, to anyone around the world. The effort by Open Gateway to get 25 operators to agree on using the same API signature is a step in this direction. In this way, it’s good.
But I read [the spec for Open Gateway](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/technologies/networks/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-Ecosystem-for-Open-Gateway-NaaS-API-development.pdf) that GSMA released recently, and I still see a problem with it: the code for the APIs still needs to be written. Only _the specs_ of the API have been defined. This means each individual telco in the Open Gateway program will still need to develop, productize and test each API for its network, on its own (it has to actually write “the guts” of the API). How long will this take? Telcos aren’t software shops. Even if they burn the midnight oil and crank out the API code, each telco will implement it with its own variances, so the behavior is not guaranteed to work exactly the same across every single telco. _This_ is the beauty of Twilio: one API, and it doesn’t matter which network executes the SMS. It works the same whether the SMS goes to Brazil, India, or the UK. How will the Open Gateway program guarantee this experience? This is key.
But perhaps the real problem is that in order to monetize this whole thing, we’ve gotta convince 10-million developers to flip over to use our APIs. This will require all those existing customers of Twilio (your target prospects) to change working code: they will need to modify written, tested, deployed code, and swap it over to the Open Gateway APIs. Will that happen? That’s definitely a challenge.
For example, just look at the two snippets of code below.\* (And I swear I’m not trying to turn you into a developer, but hang with me for a sec.) Both API calls create a one-time passcode (OTP) to send to a device. It’s one of the most basic use cases for CPaaS APIs. The first example is for Twilio, and the second is for Open Gateway. It doesn’t really matter what the code says. What matters is THAT IT’S DIFFERENT CODE. So let’s say developers join your dev community, they want to use your APIs, and they want to swap out Twilio code for Open Gateway. In every place in their code, they will have to copy, paste, recompile, and test. The commercial question is, will that happen? Maybe, but only for the right price.
**Example 1:** [Twilio “send a one-time passcode” API via SMS](https://www.twilio.com/docs/verify/api):
**Example 2**: [Open Gateway “send a one-time passcode” API via SMS](https://github.com/camaraproject/OTPValidation/blob/main/documentation/API_documentation/OTP_SMS_API.md):
### **The price has to be right**
Back to why we are doing this in the first place: REVENUE. How will telcos _monetize_ the APIs? On the DISH and Telefónica websites, there’s ZERO information on pricing. There are ways to request more information, but if I’m a developer itching to use awesome, telco-grade network APIs in my app, you want me to … call you? Sign an enterprise agreement before I can access it? I’m not even sure your product will work for my application, and you want me to go through the same process you go through to buy … a car? Um, no, and not even close.
Again, here’s where Twilio kicks our ass. If you go back to the Twilio’s OTP API example above (called the Verify API) and scroll down to the last item in the left-hand menu, there’s a little link for [Verify API Pricing](https://www.twilio.com/en-us/verify/pricing), and I can see it’s $0.05 to call this API, per use. I can read the doc, decide if it’s for me, look at the price, and say, sure, I can spend $5.00 (for 100 API calls) and test it out. Straightforward and simple.
### **The Empire Strikes Back**
I may have taken some wind out of the sails of Open Gateway, but I still think we have a chance. I say that because the time is NOW to strike and take back what’s ours. If you haven’t read the news, [Twilio is under attack](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/twilio-set-to-lose-supervoting-protection-next-month-has-been-meeting-with-activist). Not by telco (though it should be); but by activist investors. Its recently high-flying stock is down, its CEO is under pressure, and the activists are pushing for organizational changes and results. The founder CEO Jeff Lawson may be on the way out, and he’s slated to lose his very powerful “supervotes” at the end of this month. (He has 21.8% of the vote, even though he owns only 3.7% of the stock. When that expires, activists will have more voting power and can apply more pressure.)
This is the _perfect time_ for telco to attack while Twilio is experiencing weakness. But what are we doing? We aren’t launching a competitive attack; instead, we are wasting time, each writing our own implementations of the APIs, which will take years. What a missed opportunity.
Thankfully, I have a telco enterprise software startup called Totogi that’s working on a plan for you. We aren’t ready to announce our plan … yet … but with TelcoDR’s [recent purchase of Kandy](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-american-virtual-cloud-technology-assets-press-release/), we may have some tech that can help telco out. If you’re an MNO looking for a way in, give me a call and let’s go after some of that SMS market share.
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_\\*_ _For nerds like me who are curious to know more about what makes these snippets different:_
_Twilio requires you to configure a template and replaces “FriendlyName” and “code” in the template. So, you simply pass FriendlyName as the parameter._
_OpenGateway requires you to pass in a message template and substitutes in the code. So FriendlyName = Cool App in Twilio, which should result in the same message being sent out._
_Other differences:_
_Twilio uses basic authentication—you pass in account SID and auth token as user/password (that is the last “-u”)_
_OpenGateway uses OAUTH authentication, which means you exchange credentials for a token and then pass it in a header (Authorization: Bearer {token})_
_In OpenGateway those headers say you’re sending JSON and getting back JSON. If you want to delete those, there’s a good chance it will still work._
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Why your AI strategy isn’t working**\\
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Stop treating AI like enterprise software, wasting months on RFPs while models evolve at lightning speed. Instead, start with expensive pain points, build small solutions in production, and iterate daily.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.**\\
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Major US telcos have cut over 140,000 jobs since 2019, yet executives still won't admit AI's role. Dishonesty destroys productivity and trust when transparency could create competitive advantage.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
[![AI Prompt](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 420"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.**\\
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The gap between mediocre and million-dollar AI outputs isn’t in the tech. It’s in how you’re using it. Here are five prompting techniques every exec should master.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Cloud Intelligence in Telecoms
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-9-intelligence-to-cloud-world-video/#main)
## Cloud 9: TelcoDR’s Royston brings drive, intelligence to cloud world
The cloud is changing the telecommunications industry, and Danielle Rios Royston, CEO of TelcoDR, is here to tell you how. In this video, she discusses the benefits and challenges of the cloud for telecoms companies, and she shares her insights on the future of the cloud in this industry.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Justen Burdette, Chief Executive Officer, Mobi.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ep 64 – The cloud-first mindset**\\
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Hawaiian MVNO Mobi built a public-cloud-native, mobile core on AWS. CEO Justen Burdette talks about why it’s so great to work with cloud-first solutions.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-64-the-cloud-first-mindset/)
[![MWC 2022 keynote stage: The public cloud is now.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 768"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The Public Cloud is NOW: Watch the most exciting talk at Mobile World Congress 2022!**\\
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The public cloud is HERE, the benefits are groundbreaking, and ignoring the cloud is not an option. Find out how to turn it into a competitive advantage for your business.](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-public-cloud-is-now-keynote/)
[![Video thumbnail: TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 576"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps**\\
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TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps Watch D.R. on TelecomTV explain her top five signs that your vendor’s “cloud-native” product may not indeed be cloud native..! More from TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/)
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## Optimism in Telco
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/im-optimistic-about-telco-blog/#main)
Blog
# I’m optimistic about telco
March 27, 2023
Who doesn’t love the telco industry? [I came back from Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 totally pumped](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-9-after-mwc23-blog/), with my head spinning with possibilities for the future of our industry and everything it can deliver to the world. [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, had more than 100 meetings with prospective clients interested in our BSS enhancement platform. The path between our space and Amazon Web Services (AWS) was well worn, as the AWS team kept bringing more people to our booth to see our products. To say that the Totogi team is energized and excited about the future is a massive understatement.
Yet the headlines out of MWC told a different story. Sites were filled with [Debbie Downer](https://youtu.be/TfE93xON8jk) articles like “ [What’s the point of telecoms?](https://www.telecoms.com/520384/mwc-2023-recap-whats-the-point-of-telecoms/),” which declared the GSMA Open Gateway initiative [dead on arrival](https://www.lightreading.com/service-provider-cloud/at-mwc-herding-of-cats-continues/a/d-id/783508), and complained that the “ [MWC party goes on amid the rubble of telecom](https://www.lightreading.com/regulatorypolitics/mwc-party-goes-on-amid-rubble-of-telecom/a/d-id/783625)”—an industry in the throes of an identity crisis.
WUT?!?!
The telco industry doesn’t have an identity crisis. It’s really obvious, (at least to me): **telcos build killer networks**. Just because the [hyperscalers go big at MWC](https://www.lightreading.com/aiautomation/did-aws-win-mwc23/a/d-id/783572) does not mean their next move is to build their own networks that put telcos out of business (they want everyone’s enterprise workloads, not telco’s regulation nightmares).
Networks are expensive to build and telcos are stuck in a “prisoner’s dilemma” when facing each new G. At MWC this year I overheard discussions starting about 6G (!), which was mind-blowing to think about when we’re still having ROI discussions on 5G. So before you run off and build the business case to the board about why you need to build a 6G network, I suggest you pump the brakes for a half second and do two things first:
1. **Figure out how to build killer networks for less.** Explore EVERY IDEA OUT THERE to lower the CapEx investment and cost per bit required to build your network. Really stretch yourself and think as out of the box as possible, starting with free ideas like OpenRAN and the public cloud (ahem). Every new G can’t be a megalithic capital expenditure.
2. **Find ways to _technically_ leverage the network to create new monetization streams**. Use APIs that can integrate directly to your network and to public cloud software services (ahem again) so enterprise IT and other software developers can easily access and use the network with their code. Set those devs free!
Telcos need to step up to the challenge—NOW. Put all your fear, uncertainty, and doubt on the back burner for a moment (as well as your fever dream that the tech companies will fund your network build out), and imagine that I’m right and the public cloud isn’t the worst idea ever. Imagine that Mats Granryd is on the right track with his MWC keynote announcing GSMA Open Gateway with 21 MNOs around the world collaborating on CPaaS APIs. Just maybe.
Because you know what? I’m so optimistic about the future of APIs in our industry that I returned from MWC and bought a bankrupt CPaaS company.
### Trick or treat: I bought Kandy
Yes! In case you didn’t hear the news, Skyvera, an affiliate of TelcoDR, [acquired substantially all assets of American Virtual Cloud Technologies, Inc.](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-american-virtual-cloud-technology-assets-press-release/) (AVCT), including [Kandy Communications](https://skyvera.com/kandy/). Kandy provides global, carrier-grade, white-label cloud communications services, including communications platform as a service (CPaaS), unified communications as a service (UCaaS), and a rich portfolio of real-time communications APIs and supporting functions. It has great customers, such as Etisilat (e&) and AT&T.
To start, let’s talk about its CPaaS offering. Generally speaking, a CPaaS platform is offered as a cloud-based service that enables enterprises to add real-time communication services (RCS) like SMS messaging, voice calling, and video conferencing to business applications through APIs. The key to this software getting marketing traction is to provide an easy way for software developers to add real-time communication features into existing business systems, apps, and websites.
[Twilio](https://www.twilio.com/en-us) is probably the most famous and successful CPaaS provider. Over the past 15 years, it has done the hard work of integrating to networks around the world to make it easy for devs to add connectivity to any application. It began as a start up in 2008 and turned into a company now valued at $12 billion. But there’s no reason why telcos can’t have a CPaaS offering, too. This is a great example of _technically leveraging and monetiz_ ing your network (#2 above!). With efforts such as GSMA Open Gateway and companies like Kandy, the ideas are out there and some—such as Twilio—are 100% working. Telco just needs to give it a shot, too.
Remember: you build the killer network, telcos. I can’t help you with that. I will tell you that you have to do it cheaper than you have been doing it, and you have to find new ways to monetize it. With so much talk at MWC—in the keynotes, in the halls, over coffee—about monetizing networks to pay for the 5G investment, you need to try out new ideas such as Kandy’s (and now Skyvera’s) CPaaS to create new revenue streams.
Your 2030 business model is going to be WAY different from your 1975 business model. Shush the little voice in your head that keeps telling you that you can’t do it—rip up the old model and give it a go. Want to get started now? Then [give me a shout](https://telcodr.com/contact/), I’ll be waiting for you over here in the new public cloud world.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![On Cloud 9 after MWC23](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**On Cloud 9 after MWC23**\\
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Did you miss any of the exciting haps around the public cloud and telco at MWC23? Don't worry, I’ve got you covered in my latest blog.](https://telcodr.com/insights/cloud-9-after-mwc23-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Ben Baker, Senior Director, Cloud Marketing & Business Analysis, Juniper Networks.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 62 – Running your network on the public cloud with Juniper Networks**\\
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Ben Baker from Juniper Networks talks about whether the hyperscalers are technically ready to support network workloads.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-62-running-your-network-on-the-public-cloud-with-juniper-networks/)
[![Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 61 – SUPERCHARGE your MVNO with personalization**\\
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MVNO’s can delight customers and grow ARPU by using carrier-grade, public cloud-native SaaS software (like Totogi!) to gain real-time insights and deliver superior subscriber experiences.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-61-supercharge-your-mvno-with-personalization/)
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## Going Green with Cloud
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/going-green-with-the-public-cloud-blog/#main)
Blog
# It’s easy being green with the public cloud
April 10, 2023
Earth Day 2023 is upon us, and the race is on to reduce the telco industry’s carbon footprint. Achieving better sustainability goals not only helps Mother Earth, it also has an intrinsic benefit: it lowers operational costs. How, you may be wondering, can you upgrade to 5G ( [with its expected 160% increase in energy consumption](https://www.datacenter-forum.com/datacenter-forum/5g-will-prompt-energy-consumption-to-grow-by-staggering-160-in-10-years)) and provide the increasing bandwidth customers are demanding, while reducing your emissions and costs at the same time? I have an answer for you: it’s … wait for it …
The public cloud! (Did you see that one coming?)
### What telco is doing about sustainability
The GSMA’s Climate Action Taskforce has a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (according to the [Mobile Net Zero report](https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/external-affairs/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Moble-Net-Zero-State-of-the-Industry-on-Climate-Action-2022.pdf)), but some telcos aren’t waiting to get a jump on this goal: [per ABI Research](https://www.abiresearch.com/press/deutsche-telekom-telefonica-vodafone-and-kpn-are-leaders-in-abi-researchs-telco-operators-sustainability-index/), industry leaders like Deutsche Telekom (DT), Telefónica, and Vodafone have goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Each has already accomplished 50% renewable energy; DT and Telefonica have already achieved 100%. Woo hoo!
Net zero is a great goal to have. That’s because, on average, more than [90% of a CSP’s operational carbon footprint](https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/7781316-a-telco-sustainability-reality-check/) is from electricity used to power its networks. Why so high? Well, most telco network systems today sit in on-premise data centers, built on legacy systems from the last century. In order to handle peak use, capacity is over-provisioned for compute needs, and under-utilized most of the time. But as my faithful readers know, you can get off the hardware provisioning treadmill and move to elastic scalability (and more!) by using the public cloud.
### How does the public cloud reduce emissions and boost sustainability?
The public cloud can drastically reduce your carbon emissions because it gives you many ways to _reduce, reuse, and recycle_ for your infrastructure and software needs. In this [Accenture report from 2020](https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/insights/strategy/green-behind-cloud), there’s a great chart that shows how much “CO2 intensity” each superior aspect of the public cloud is likely to save you.
For example:
| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Item** | **Savings** |
| Power and cooling efficiency reduces carbon emissions | 10-20% |
| Hardware efficiency reduces CO2 | 10-15% |
| Compute utilization reduces CO2 | 35-45% |
| Sustainable software engineering reduces CO2 | 5-10% |
| Cloud native app arch reduces CO2 | 5-10% |
| Carbon free energy and hardware circular economy reduces CO2 | 15-20% |
SOURCE: ACCENTURE, [_THE GREEN BEHIND THE CLOUD_](https://www.accenture.com/gb-en/insights/strategy/green-behind-cloud), SEPTEMBER 2020
Obviously, the Big Three hyperscalers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—are laser-focused on achieving maximum efficiency. As you would imagine, each has its own initiative and goals—I’ve linked them here to help you out [(AWS](https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/products-services/the-cloud?energyType=true), [Microsoft Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/explore/global-infrastructure/sustainability/?cdn=disable#carbon-benefits), [Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/sustainability)). Of course, they are doing it for the environment; they’re all green-minded companies that get a lot of heat for their energy use. But like you, they also do for their bottom line. The more efficient their data centers are, the higher their profits. So, they’re making serious efforts to use less energy, and to use green energy wherever possible. They also have more options and deeper pockets than most telcos, so they can afford to make investments. They have aggressive sustainability goals, and they’re meeting or beating them. By using the public cloud, you get to stand on their efforts to achieve your sustainability goals, too. I guess it’s like going “OTT” on sustainability.
Below, I pulled some examples of ways to reduce energy consumption, how the public cloud helps you with reuse, and a cool example of a retail company that recycled its data center hardware.
### Ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Reducing your compute needs is the single biggest way to reduce your CO2 consumption, and this is an area where the public cloud SOARS. It allows you to purchase compute BY THE MINUTE and elasticity for scale up and scale down for “compute bursting.” Just think of all that unused capacity you’ve reserved for your network applications “just in case” something happens. With the public cloud and smartly written software applications, you can recoup all that CapEx spend and get off the treadmill of constantly having to refresh your infrastructure. Want to start reducing hardware in your on-premise data centers today? Start by getting rid of your zombie servers that aren’t doing any useful work. [This article shares detection techniques](https://www.infoq.com/news/2023/03/stop-cloud-zombies-qcon/) to kill off these electricity-eating, carbon-belching monsters.
The public cloud is also more efficient because of the circular hardware economy that exists at the hyperscalers. You use (and pay for) only what you need at any given moment; if your application is designed to be super efficient, you don’t even use the SAME servers from one day to another. When you need more, you get more—on demand. When you need less, your bill goes down and someone else can use that capacity—and the servers. Let that sink in for a moment, because I think people still don’t get this about the public cloud. Contrast that idea with using your own captive hardware, where a lot of your equipment is reserved for specific applications, or where over-provisioned extra capacity sits idle between traffic spikes. The hardware at the hyperscalers is getting maxed out and refreshed much faster than your team can do it. The hyperscalers are squeezing every possible usable minute out of their machines. Your team doesn’t have a prayer of matching that utilization.
The other amazing thing about the public cloud is the custom chips that also help with reducing energy consumption. You’ve heard me bang this drum before— [the AWS Graviton family of chips](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/graviton/) has been delivering serious cost and energy savings for years. For the Graviton2 release, AnandTech did a great comparison between Intel and AMD chips and validated the [40% performance improvement](https://www.anandtech.com/show/15578/cloud-clash-amazon-graviton2-arm-against-intel-and-amd/9); Graviton3 (the current version) improved upon it more. To take advantage of this benefit, you’ll need to shift your workloads to Graviton machines, which will take at least a recompile and a test before you release them into the wild; AWS has even put together a handy Graviton [migration “fast start” guide](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/graviton/fast-start/) that promises to get your workloads migrated in as little as four hours. Users all over Twitter have reported that migration was easier than expected and confirmed the performance improvement independently. Sweet!
But my favorite TELCO example was the DoCoMo and NEC project where they shared the phase-one results of their proof-of-concept with AWS to test running NEC’s 5G core in a hybrid-cloud environment using end-to-end, cloud-native network architecture. Phase one was about testing energy efficiency and performance of Graviton2 processors. [The trial demonstrated an average 72% reduction in power consumption](https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2022/0929_00.html) against incumbent x86 processors. Wow, right? As Ishwar Parulkar of AWS [recently told Silverlinings](https://www.fierce-network.com/5g/aws-builds-redundancy-docomos-5g-core), “It’s a very, very cost-effective way of building redundancy and backup.” BOOM.
Already moving to the public cloud and have a bunch of zombie servers you want to jettison? Then do what Wayfair, the US home furnishings retailer, did after it decommissioned its data centers. It [donated 2,000 of its discards to two university programs](https://cloud.google.com/blog/transform/wayfair-server-donation-mass-open-cloud-rit-student-innovation-johonnot). It helped out other organizations that deeply needed computing resources and got a tax write-off in the process. So, what are you waiting for? It’s [easy being green](https://youtu.be/WHxyt-UHrdw) with the public cloud, and Happy Earth Day to you! ❤️🌎
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
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## More from TelcoDR
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**Ep 54 – Bye-bye, private cloud; hello, public cloud**\\
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In this paper, I talk about the power of the public cloud for telcos and lay out the four clear steps you need to take to trigger your transformation. As you’ll discover, it’s not about transition…](https://telcodr.com/insights/time-to-go-public-cloud-whitepaper-download/)
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## Skyvera Acquires AVCT Assets
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-american-virtual-cloud-technology-assets-press-release/#main)
Press Release
# Skyvera to Acquire American Virtual Cloud Technology Assets
March 8, 2023
## _Kandy.io assets to be managed by an affiliate of TelcoDR_
[Skyvera](https://skyvera.com/) announces its successful bid to acquire substantially all assets of American Virtual Cloud Technologies, Inc. “AVCT” (Nasdaq: AVCTQ) and specified affiliates (including, without limitation, [Kandy Communications, LLC](https://skyvera.com/kandy/)). AVCT, via its Kandy business unit, provides global, carrier-grade, white-label cloud communications services. These include Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), Microsoft Teams Direct Routing as a Service, as well as a rich portfolio of real-time communications APIs and supporting functions.
The purchase of the AVCT software assets is Skyvera’s 10th acquisition, establishing the company’s position as a “carve-out” specialist and emerging global acquirer of telecommunication software businesses. The transaction is expected to close no later than March 31, 2023, and to be effectuated by way of a sale under 11 U.S.C. §363, subject to the entry of a sale order by the presiding court.
The Kandy CPaaS offering is a cloud-based platform that allows enterprises to add communication features such as SMS messaging, voice calling, and video conferencing to their existing business applications. By enabling on-demand, secure and controlled exposure of network capabilities to software developers via APIs, operators can transform their mobile network into a service enablement platform that facilitates application-to-network integration, creating new monetization opportunities for the operator.
Kandy’s UCaaS is a cloud-based suite that offers a variety of communication and collaboration applications and services, such as enterprise messaging, presence technology, online meetings, team collaboration, telephony and video conferencing. Kandy’s white-labeled solution allows operators to offer a UCaaS suite to their enterprise customers that gives the end customer the ability to customize with their own branding.
The acquired assets will be managed by Skyvera, an affiliate of [Telc](https://telcodr.com/) [o](https://telcodr.com/) [_DR_](https://telcodr.com/) that provides communication service provider (CSP) customers with the software offerings they need to support their businesses. Acquired products are refactored and modernized for use with the public cloud, assisting CSPs on their public cloud journey.
“We are excited about the acquisition of AVCT and the Kandy business, as the UCaaS and CPaaS functionality strongly aligns with our public cloud strategy. These offerings will enable us to enhance network access and service monetization through open APIs, benefiting new and existing customers,” said Jeff Moyer, CEO, Skyvera. “We look forward to welcoming AVCT’s customers to the Skyvera family and continued investment in the products.”
* * *
### **About Skyvera and TelcoDR**
The telecom industry is on the precipice of a transformational shift – a monumental evolution driven by public cloud adoption – and Telco _DR_ is catalyzing this change, backed by our $1B Telco Transformation Fund. Founded and led by telecom’s leading public cloud evangelist, Danielle Royston, Telco _DR_ has raised significant capital to acquire telco software vendors and catapult them to the public cloud through the [Skyvera](https://skyvera.com/) operating unit, as well as through investing in startups like [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) that are innovating and building truly public cloud-native technology. When Telco _DR_’s vision for the telecom industry has been achieved, CSPs will realize massive cost savings, drive tremendous business growth, and dramatically improve customer engagement. Follow Telco _DR_ on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/telcodr) and [Twitter](https://x.com/TelcoDR). To learn more, visit [TelcoDR.com **.**](https://telcodr.com/)
Media Contact: Telco _DR_ PR Team
Email: amedia@telcodr.com
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## Skyvera Acquires STL Software
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/skyvera-acquires-telecom-products-software-business-from-stl-press-release/#main)
Press Release
# Skyvera to Acquire Telecom Products Software Business From STL
January 31, 2023
## _Telecom software assets to be managed by affiliate of TelcoDR_
**January 31, 2023 – Austin, TX** — [Skyvera](https://skyvera.com/) today announced that it has agreed to acquire the business support, monetization, networking, and analytics solutions business from STL (Sterlite Technologies Limited [\[NSE: STLTECH\])](https://stl.tech/). The divestiture includes telecommunication software capabilities in BSS, monetization, and analytics for communications service providers worldwide. The purchase of the STL telecom products software assets is Skyvera’s 9th acquisition, establishing the company’s position as a “carve-out” specialist and emerging global acquirer of telecommunication software businesses. The transaction will occur via Skyvera’s Indian subsidiary and is expected to close subject to customary closing conditions.
Skyvera, led by CEO Jeff Moyer, is an affiliate of [Telco _DR_](https://telcodr.com/) and provides communication service provider (CSP) customers with the software offerings they need to support their businesses. Acquired products are refactored and modernized for use with the public cloud, assisting CSPs on their public cloud journey.
Commenting on this transaction, Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, STL said, “As we accelerate our focused growth in this decade of network creation, our efforts and capital allocation will be fully aligned towards boosting growth in Optical and Global Services businesses. We will continue to rebalance our portfolio to enhance profitability, increase shareholder value, and drive toward our purpose of transforming billions of lives by connecting the world. We are proud of the value that we have created through our Telecom Products Software business and wish Telco _DR_ and Skyvera the best for the future.”
Today, the acquired STL telecom software products serve over 60 customers across Asia, Europe, India, Africa, and the Middle East, including Vodafone Idea (India), Emirates Integrated (UAE), Mauritius Telecom (Mauritius), and YTL Communications (Malaysia).
“We are excited about the acquisition of STL’s Telecom Products Software business. The product suite and customer base is a great fit for Skyvera. Its long-term customer relationships and software products will complement our telco software ecosystem,” said Jeff Moyer, CEO, Skyvera. “We look forward to welcoming STL’s customers to the Skyvera family and serving them as they transition towards the public cloud.”
* * *
### **About Skyvera and TelcoDR**
The telecom industry is on the precipice of a transformational shift – a monumental evolution driven by public cloud adoption – and Telco _DR_ is catalyzing this change, backed by our $1B Telco Transformation Fund. Founded and led by telecom’s leading public cloud evangelist, Danielle Royston, Telco _DR_ has raised significant capital to acquire telco software vendors and catapult them to the public cloud through the [Skyvera](https://skyvera.com/) operating unit, as well as through investing in startups like [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) that are innovating and building truly public cloud-native technology. When Telco _DR_’s vision for the telecom industry has been achieved, CSPs will realize massive cost savings, drive tremendous business growth, and dramatically improve customer engagement. Follow Telco _DR_ on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/telcodr) and [Twitter](https://x.com/TelcoDR). To learn more, visit [TelcoDR.com **.**](https://telcodr.com/)
**Media Contact:**
Telco _DR_ PR Team
email: media@telcodr.com
### **About STL – Sterlite Technologies Ltd:**
STL is a leading optical and digital solutions company providing advanced offerings to build 5G, Rural, FTTx, Enterprise and Data Centre networks. The company, driven by its purpose of ‘Transforming Billions of Lives by Connecting the World’, designs and manufactures in 4 continents with customers in more than 100 countries. Telecom operators, cloud companies, citizen networks, and large enterprises recognize and rely on STL for advanced capabilities in Optical Connectivity, Global Services, and Digital and Technology solutions to build ubiquitous and future-ready digital networks. STL’s business goals are driven by customer-centricity, R&D and sustainability.
Championing sustainable manufacturing, the company has committed to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2030. With top talent from 30+ nationalities, STL has earned numerous ‘Great Place to Work’ awards and been voted as the ‘Best Organisation for Women’. [Read more](https://stl.tech/about-us/) [. Contact us.](https://stl.tech/contact-us/) [stl.tech](https://stl.tech/) \| [Twitter](https://x.com/STL_tech) \| [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/sterlite-technologies-ltd-/) \| [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFZ0whG9iCj6GErP3hrtBw)
**Media Contact:**
Khushboo Chawla, Head, Communications – STL
khushboo.chawla@stl.tech
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## AWS re:Invent 2022 Recap
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/reinvent-2022-recap-blog/#main)
Blog
# TelcoDR’s re:Invent '22 recap
December 6, 2022
The Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent event was bigger than ever this year, with 50,000 people at the in-person shindig in Las Vegas, and about 300,000 more online, taking in more than 2,300 sessions. Massive! I attended in person, and being there felt like coming together to create a small city at the center of the public cloud universe. It was thrilling to see everyone talking about the public cloud, how to use the AWS stack, and what’s next.
You could feel the excitement in the room on Tuesday morning when AWS CEO Adam Selipsky took the stage to deliver his keynote. Despite criticism that the announcements lacked luster—more integrations and fine-tuning than game-changing new products—there are still plenty of things for telcos to get excited about.
Attending AWS Re:Invent 2023? Meet you there! [**Book a meeting with Totogi →**](https://www.totogi.com/event/aws-reinvent/)
My biggest observation is the role that our industry played in the conference. My [re:Invent preview blog](https://telcodr.com/insights/aws-reinvent-2022-telco-experience-blog/) lists some of the sessions telcos presented about how they’re using AWS. We heard from DISH, Spark, Swisscom, Telenet, Verizon, and Vodafone. We also heard about partnerships with a division of Deutsche Telekom, Telenor and Telefónica. We’ve never seen this level of participation from telco before, and I expect it will only grow over the next few years. YAY!
Beyond that, AWS announced a lot of technology improvements that are good news for telcos. Here are the best bits.
## Data and analytics FTW
The night before his keynote, Selipsky tweeted that going into re:Invent, we should look for “the end-to-end data story.” It wasn’t hard to find, nor that surprising as he is the ex-CEO of data analytics firm Tableau (acquired by Salesforce in 2019). Data was a major focus all week. The amount of data organizations create and need to manage is growing across industries, which is especially true in telecommunications. To manage it right, Selipsky says, you need the scale of the AWS cloud. And he put his money where his mouth is, making a slew of announcements about products and integrations that make it easier to organize, manage, and share data.
I particularly enjoyed hearing from Cedrik Neike, CEO of Digital Industries, Siemens. His organization is working to help industrial clients wrestle the terabytes of data they produce every month into something useful, like business insight to help with innovation. Telcos should listen to this use case; what he described on-stage is exactly what we’re building for telco with [Totogi](https://totogi.com/), where I’m acting CEO, using all the same AWS tools.
### DATA WAREHOUSING: AMAZON REDSHIFT
AWS made a bunch of [improvements to its data warehouse, Amazon Redshift](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-for-amazon-redshift-simplify-data-ingestion-and-make-your-data-warehouse-more-secure-and-reliable/), to simplify how you can get data into it, and ensure better security and reliability once it’s there, so you can put it to good use. A good first step in moving to the public cloud is moving your data up and into the cloud, and we are seeing several telcos around the world starting with this as a first project.
### A DATA LAKE SERVICE: AMAZON SECURITY LAKE
A data “lake” is a repository where you can keep your structured and unstructured data, and access it for processing, analytics, and machine learning. The [newly announced Security Lake](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/preview-amazon-security-lake-a-purpose-built-customer-owned-data-lake-service/) automates the management of security data specifically, supporting quick responses. And it can wrangle on-premise, AWS, and third-party data. [The preview is available](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2022/11/amazon-security-lake-preview/) in three regions in the US, two in Asia Pacific, and two in Europe.
### AMAZON DATAZONE
The [new DataZone](https://aws.amazon.com/datazone/) is a data management service that helps organizations catalog, share, and govern data. Like Security Lake, it operates across AWS, on-premise, and third-party sources. The idea is to provide a single service that “sets data free,” balancing strong governance controls with streamlined access to make it easy for every employee to find and organize data, and put it to use.
### FOR SENSITIVE DATA: AWS CLEAN ROOMS
Concerns about safeguarding sensitive data may be one of the stumbling blocks keeping telcos from using the public cloud. [The new AWS Clean Rooms](https://aws.amazon.com/clean-rooms/) can help you analyze datasets and collaborate with other companies more securely, without revealing underlying data. This is brand new and still in preview. I’m super curious about it because it seems like it will really simplify things as telcos share data with vendors like Totogi to help them gain deeper, more valuable insights into their data.
And that’s not even half of it! For a complete list of the announcements about analytics (and everything else), see [this blog by Jeff Barr](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/top-announcements-of-aws-reinvent-2022/), Vice President and Chief Evangelist at AWS (whom I met by happenstance! How amazing was that!).
### Chips ahoy
AWS’s chips are a huge differentiator among the Big Three hyperscalers. No other cloud comes close to these hardware innovations.
The preview of [Graviton3](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/graviton/) was [announced at last year’s re:Invent](https://telcodr.com/insights/recap-reinvent-2021-time-to-ride-the-dragon-blog/), and it’s now generally available. It’s 25% faster than Graviton2, which was already the fastest chip around. Graviton chips power a bunch of AWS compute services:
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which has some newly announced [Inf2 instances in preview](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2022/11/aws-announces-amazon-ec2-inf2-instances-preview/) and [several more types are in the works](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ec2-instance-types-in-the-works-c7gn-r7iz-and-hpc7g/), with each instance designed for a specific kind of workload
- AWS Lambda ( [now with SnapStart](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-accelerate-your-lambda-functions-with-lambda-snapstart/))
- AWS Fargate
- Amazon ElastiCache
- Amazon OpenSearch Serverless ( [just announced and in preview](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/preview-amazon-opensearch-serverless-run-search-and-analytics-workloads-without-managing-clusters/))
- Amazon Aurora
The [Nitro System](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/nitro/) is powering the next generation of EC2 instances, where AWS is continuing to innovate for even faster, better, and cheaper performance.
AWS’ custom chips are one of its strong differentiating features over the other hyperscalers. It’s something AWS invested in years ago, and one way customers can save a lot of money by reducing their overall compute needs. NTT Docomo has discovered this already and wrote up findings for its 5G Core where it saw a reduction of 72% in power consumption; read about the results in [this announcement](https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2022/0929_00.html).
### Shout out to call centers
There’s huge potential to improve call centers, and customer experiences in general, through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). It’s one of the main areas where telco data can do the most good. Amazon Connect, a “cloud contact center,” [has two new ML-powered updates in general availability, and two more new capabilities in preview](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-connect-new-ml-powered-capabilities-for-forecasting-capacity-planning-scheduling-and-agent-empowerment/).
Amazon Connect already makes it easy to set up a contact center in the cloud, analyze voice conversations in real time, help agents find relevant information, and authenticate customers by the sound of their voice. The new stuff:
- Forecasting, capacity planning, and scheduling (generally available)
- Conversational analytics for chat (generally available)
- Automatically scored evaluation forms for agent performance (in preview)
- A step-by-step experience to guide agents through resolving issues (in preview)
There’s a lot of room for improvement in contact centers, and a lot of opportunity to do it with better data analytics, AI, and ML. I often say that the main benefit of moving to the public cloud is all the services you get access to. Contact center software that keeps getting better via cutting-edge innovations from the world’s best technologists is a great example, and since telcos still have some of the largest call center organizations in the world, maybe this is something for them to watch more closely. By adopting the AWS contact center technology, you can rapidly add more features, faster than you can with your existing on-premise legacy system. Avaya, watch out.
### A few final observations …
Sustainability was another theme at this year’s event. Lots of telcos are setting goals around reducing their carbon footprint and reporting on their progress annually. Public cloud vendors have been getting a bad rap for years about the amount of energy they consume, so it’s nice to see such a strong focus on efficiency and on reducing consumption and waste. For enterprises, the public cloud’s elasticity can really help in this regard, as it allows you to scale up and down to use only what you need at any given time.
Also, IMHO, Adam Selipsky had a big miss when he glossed over growing concern around managing costs. He touched on it briefly with a story about Airbnb, but especially with the recent high-profile repatriations to on-premises, he missed an opportunity to share how much Amazon really wants you to save money with this move. I’d love to see all of the hyperscalers really help customers to manage their cloud spend with best practices; when you do it right, you can reduce your spend by 50% each year.
But all that aside, it’s clear that AWS is still the leader among hyperscalers, largely due to its head start and massive scale. It now has 30 launched regions in 21 countries (plus five more in progress) and 96 availability zones (with 15 more in progress). It offers more than 200 services that it constantly improves, and offers over 100,000 APIs. All in all, AWS is hard to beat.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
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![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
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Chivas Nambiar, director of worldwide solution architecture, AWS for telecom, talks about how the hyperscaler is working with our industry, how cloud software is changing the landscape, and the future of telco in an AI-driven world.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-70-unleashing-telco-potential-with-aws/)
[![DISH network APIs](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**Coding with connectivity: Using the new DISH network APIs**\\
\\
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DISH Wireless has a new open network API platform that anyone can use to add connectivity to anything with unfettered access.](https://telcodr.com/insights/coding-with-connectivity-using-the-new-dish-network-apis-blog/)
[![Executive Voice: Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 408 230"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Interview \\
**Ferry Grijpink, Partner, at McKinsey & Company talks about boosting ARPU through personalization.**\\
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Telco leaders have been scratching their heads about how to monetize their 5G network. One of the world’s top think tanks, McKinsey & Company, has opinions on this topic—and research to back them up.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-45-increase-arpu-in-telecom-with-mckinsey/)
[![LinkedIn Live with Mobile World Live and DR, Acting CEO of Totogi](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Video \\
**How to launch subscriber offers in days with Totogi Marketplace**\\
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Danielle Rios Royston and Justin Springham chat and answer questions about ways to accelerate your growth with your subscribers in a short 20-minute LinkedIn Live interview.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-launch-with-totogi-marketplace-video/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## DISH Network APIs
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/coding-with-connectivity-using-the-new-dish-network-apis-blog/#main)
Blog
# Coding with connectivity: Using the new DISH network APIs
November 21, 2022
When was the last time a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) let you freely code with its connectivity? That’s right: NEVER.
DISH Wireless CNO Marc Rouanne has a vision to change that by creating an open set of Network APIs that lets anyone—from a single developer or startup all the way to large enterprises—add connectivity to anything, for any reason, with unfettered access. It plans to monetize its network by charging by the API call. Sound familiar?
We’re doing the same thing at Totogi. Creating smart, telco-specific APIs that deliver valuable services, all charged by the use. We think it’s a great idea to create new services, open new revenue streams, and deliver more value to DISH Wireless.
There will be many new ways to “code with connectivity” and a great place to start is in the health industry. Recent years have seen significant growth in both innovation and investment in this field, giving rise to new digital healthcare solutions, platforms, services, and artificial intelligence (AI) to solve medical problems and improve patients’ lives.
[Analysts expect better collaboration](https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/building-health-tech-advantage) between CSPs and the health tech ecosystem to accelerate this growth and fuel new healthcare products and services through, in part, the network programmability enabled through API exposure.
Historically, this has been difficult to achieve; while network APIs are not new, they’ve been closed, requiring a big commitment from the buyer to get direct access to the network. Another problem has been concern that a buyer might “go wild” on the network, disrupting the quality of service of the network for other subscribers. As such, it’s made it nearly impossible for developers or startups to add connectivity to a device or service easily. DISH Wireless is looking to change that.
This article details what information these new network APIs expose and how application developers can use them. It also illustrates a healthcare use case where network APIs improve both provisioning and daily usage.
### **Network programmability features**
Some of the most important features becoming available through APIs are service provisioning, location reporting, session quality management, and enhanced monetization and cost controls. Let’s look at each one in turn.
#### **Service provisioning**
Activating a new device on a carrier network, or service provisioning, may seem like a basic capability, but it hasn’t been easy to do. Enabling provisioning dynamically through APIs will give application developers much greater flexibility than they would otherwise have, such as:
- **Subscription management**: The ability to activate, update, or disable a subscription can be used to manage accounts dynamically, and save account balance by provisioning the subscription at a specific time. For example, if a remote monitoring device uses a cellular subscription, the device can be enabled only when it is activated for an end user.
- **Subscriber profile management**: With the ability to retrieve information related to a user profile, an application can make better logic-based decisions. Available information might also include SIM, device, or number management.
- **Network coverage**: This type of information can be very relevant to application providers that need connectivity with the end user device at specific times—a critical app that needs constant connectivity, for example. App developers can use information about the network coverage in specific locations to facilitate decision-making or route planning.
#### Location reporting
Healthcare application developers use location reporting to link a location with the measurements taken by remote monitoring devices, such as oxygen monitors or glucose monitors, or to retrieve the last-known location for unreachable patients.
Additionally, services could be dynamically adapted based on a device’s location. For example, if a patient wearing a health monitoring device left a designated area, the movement could trigger a notification to caretakers, or different behaviors in the device itself.
An application could take health measurements more often when outside of a patient’s home because their situation could be considered more at risk. Subscribing to the network’s location reports, rather than installing a global positioning system (GPS) chip in the device, simplifies the hardware architecture, saves energy, and keeps costs low.
#### **Session quality management**
Many use cases in health tech require reliable network connectivity with low latency and some minimum throughput requirements, i.e., anything involving a live procedure, such as taking measurements and instructing specific actions. A standard connection might not meet these conditions, especially in crowded urban areas. Network APIs would allow health tech service providers to programmatically adjust the priority of their connections via an API call. CSPs have the ability to insert quality-of-service profiles that adjust speed and latency at a device or subscriber level. The new APIs put this control into the hands of developers, which they’ve never had before.
#### **Monetization and cost controls**
New connected devices are being bundled with the network connectivity required to deliver service, and some developers are metering usage on each device for accounting purposes. Carrier networks use charging engines to track usage of network resources attributed to devices and subscribers. Health tech developers interested in metering network usage at a device level based on the plan their customers have subscribed to should look for charging APIs, like the ones offered by Totogi, that enable them to add charging to their account. Once in place, developers can configure different data plans, assign customer devices to the plans they’ve purchased, and offer differentiated plans for additional revenue streams.
### **A real-life scenario: remote glucose monitoring**
To illustrate the benefits of using network APIs, let’s consider a real-life scenario. Remote patient monitoring has increased dramatically in recent years due to advancements in technology and the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common devices are blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, scales, and glucose monitors. Remote monitoring services are now more accessible to the general public and are also part of medical reimbursement programs around the globe.
For this example, we’ll focus on continuous glucose monitors, as they’re increasingly common for diabetes, obesity, and weight-loss management. Tracking glucose levels and having real-time results gives both patients and medical providers the information they need to assess the body’s response to different activities and treatments. We’ll also use a 5G-enabled device to better illustrate how having data from the network can make these devices easier to provision and use.
#### **Bluetooth devices versus 5G-enabled devices**
There are two types of solutions for connecting the device to the internet and the health tech application that manages the remote monitoring.
- **Bluetooth devices** must be paired with a patient’s smartphone and use the phone’s connectivity to send data. Usually managed through a mobile app installed on the smartphone, these devices have benefits and drawbacks. On the plus side, they can add information from the smartphone, such as location information, along with measurement data. Conversely, provisioning the device and app in the smartphone often isn’t straightforward and might prove difficult for elderly or disabled patients.
- **5G-enabled devices** have their own connection to the cellular network and should have a SIM or even better, an eSIM, making them essentially ready to use immediately after patients receive them. Having an independent measurement device makes it easier to use and allows you to send measurements to an app even when the smartphone battery is dead. By using network programmability features, health tech application providers can mirror some of the advantages of Bluetooth devices and even build on them to offer more complete services.
_Scenario:Jane is an elderly woman suffering from type 1 diabetes. Her healthcare provider has ordered a continuous glucose monitoring device for remote monitoring._
#### **User onboarding: Easy, cost-effective provisioning**
For our purposes, we’ll make the healthcare application provider the owner of the mobile subscription for the glucose monitor. This setup allows the company to offer “monitoring as a service” with instant availability for the patient. Subscription activation is a very good example of how, by using the available APIs, the healthcare application can optimize both the customer experience and overall costs.
_Jane visits her healthcare provider and receives a glucose monitoring device with a SIM, onboarded to the healthcare app for her by the healthcare provider. By using network APIs, the app provider can include subscription activation as part of the patient onboarding process, saving costs by not having to activate the subscription any earlier than necessary. The app provider can also update or disable the subscription easily from the healthcare app._
Let’s look at the flow of the provisioning process.
First, the application will need to authenticate with the API gateway (GW). Applications usually authenticate by using the application ID information and a secret key generated by the API GW during app registration. After authentication, the API GW sends an access token to the app that it can use to authenticate the subsequent API calls.
For the provisioning call, the app sends the API request for activating the subscription together with parameters like subscriber ID, application ID, the products to be activated, and, of course, the access token for authentication and authorization.
Next, the API GW authenticates the request, verifies that the app is authorized to send the request for that specific subscriber, and forwards the request to the business support system (BSS). The BSS transparently manages the subscriber’s activation and then confirms it to the API GW, which sends the confirmation to the application.
#### **Daily usage: Adding location information via a network API**
After provisioning, the application will be able to interact with the network to retrieve information relevant to the service. Since our example uses a cellular-enabled device that is not tethered to a smartphone, there’s no way to augment the medical data together with the location information from a nearby smartphone’s GPS. Adding a GPS tracker to the device would solve the problem, but that upgrade would also add to the cost and battery consumption needs, making it bulkier and more expensive.
A network API can elegantly solve the dilemma, securely offering this important location reporting to an app—a new, potentially life-saving feature—without adding cost or weight.
_Part of the onboarding includes entering Jane’s home address, so that the app can subscribe to a location report and receive a notification each time Jane goes out. The app can remind Jane to “grab a banana—you’re looking low” or “remember your insulin—you’re trending high” as Jane leaves her home. Or if the measurements warrant immediate medical attention, Jane’s emergency contacts can be alerted with her current location, regardless of her phone’s battery state._
The flow for requesting location reporting is similar to the one for provisioning.
* * *
_If you want to learn more about the DISH Wireless network API offerings, [sign up for the DISH Wireless Alpha Developer Engagement Program](https://www.boostmobile.com/) to take them for a test drive!_
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
## More from TelcoDR
[![Case study: 1&1 vs DISH: a tale of two Open RAN networks](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Case Study \\
**1&1 vs DISH Case Study**\\
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In 2021, major announcements were made about greenfield networks being built on Open RAN technology. In this case study, we look closely at two examples.](https://telcodr.com/insights/1-and-1-vs-dish-open-ran-case-study-download/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Marc Rouanne, Executive Vice President & Chief Network Officer, dish wireless.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 56 – Best of 2022: DISH, The Telco Pioneer**\\
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DISH Wireless’ Marc Rouanne brings home the gold! His episode of Telco in 20 was the most listened to AND WATCHED of 2022. Tune in to hear him talk about DISH’s new 5G network, open APIs, and more.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-56-best-of-2022-dish-the-telco-pioneer/)
[![Ep 30 – What’s up with Totogi? Achieving Feature Velocity with the Totogi APIs](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 30 – Achieving Feature Velocity with the Totogi APIs**\\
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Totogi APIs can help CSPs bring new features to market fast, and boost customer satisfaction and ARPU in the process.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-30-whats-up-with-totogi-achieving-feature-velocity-with-the-totogi-apis/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Refactoring After Cloud Migration
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/why-refactoring-after-cloud-migration-is-best-blog/#main)
Blog
# The double bubble is NOT double trouble: Why refactoring after migrating to the cloud is the best approach
July 18, 2022
A while ago I wrote about the “ [double bubble](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-minimize-costs-when-moving-to-the-cloud-blog/),” and discussed issues around the additional cost of transitioning workloads to the public cloud. As a reminder, the “double bubble” is my cute little name for the period of time when you’re paying for the operations of your on-premise solution (for example, paying data center fees and operational costs) while also paying for the public cloud version that isn’t live yet. It’s temporary, unavoidable, and super sucky.
In talking to telco executives, I see too many organizations adjusting their approach to the move to the public cloud because of this double bubble. Maybe they think they can’t afford the additional costs. Maybe they think they can optimize their spend by timing the move _juuuuuust_ right. But what they _really_ can’t afford is the missed opportunity for massive savings and increased business agility that comes with the public cloud.
### Two paths to the public cloud
There are two schools of thought I see telcos using when it comes to moving workloads to the public cloud:
- **Approach 1**: Refactor workloads “where they are today,” and THEN move to the public cloud; or
- **Approach 2:** Move the workload to the public cloud first, and then refactor it.
Which way is best? It’s a hotly debated topic. For example, some companies gravitate to Approach 1 because they feel their systems are so intertwined that they can’t move just one application without pulling the whole spaghetti mess with it. Others are eager to try Approach 2 and look for low-risk workloads to move first, and then apply learnings to move more.
A few weeks ago, I hosted [BT Chief Architect Neil McRae](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-43-telcos-pinball-wizard-neil-mcrae/) on the Telco in 20 podcast, and we talked about how BT is planning to take the first route (at 7:00). The biggest benefit of this approach is that you will minimize your double bubble costs, as well as avoid moving any “trash” into the public cloud. It allows you to be sure, application by application, that moving each workload is part of your long-term strategy, and leads you to a point when you’ll be ready to turn off the production instance in the old data center and go-live with the public cloud version. It is perhaps the most cost-optimized way to initially move workloads to the public cloud … or is it?
The reason I question this approach is because of two key downsides. One issue is that it eliminates the ability for your team to use public cloud software in the design of the workload. It forces the team to make technical selections that are platform-agnostic: all tools and subsystems used for the workload will need to be available on premise \*and\* in the cloud. But one of the key benefits of using the public cloud is to use not only the infrastructure, but also the software – and you’ll completely miss this boat. You may even end up having to refactor the workload AGAIN once it’s in the public cloud.
There’s another drawback: the HR impact. This way of moving to the cloud means you will move more slowly, and more importantly, you will miss out on experiential benefits, [like exposing your employees to the ways of the public cloud](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-factor-cloud-migration-blog/), or working with the finance team to help them learn how to manage variable cloud costs. By immersing the entire organization in the public cloud, you force them to live and breathe the change. The leadership team has to make decisions about the governance model, data policy, security issues, cost management. The technical teams have to learn all the tools, software, and pricing of the public cloud. There’s no room for foot dragging. You’re changing the work and making it stick.
When I work with telco execs, I encourage them to use Approach 2 as much as possible: pick up and move, aka the “ [lift and shift](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/)” method. The upside: you will move all your people to Cloud City, and plunge them into learning right away. You’ll also be able to refactor applications with purely public cloud technology. As you use more and more of the public cloud, the flywheel of change gets going and ideas flow through the organization around all the ways the business can be improved with this new, enabling technology.
The downside is, of course, the double bubble, plus the risk that it may take longer than expected to refactor your systems for the cloud. With this approach, there’s a clock ticking over your head to get the cost-optimization plan implemented and the technical teams refactoring. This is not a small task, and if you don’t have a good plan for how you’re going to refactor, you’ll be deep shit, fast.
For this approach, I advise having a total cost of ownership (TCO) reduction plan sketched out; optimized for easy wins that are both low risk and high savings to make sure you make your business case. There are a bunch of consultants (and hyperscaler teams) who would love to help you throw your workloads into a Kubernetes container, move it to the public cloud, charge you a pretty penny, and call it a day. Instead, make everyone stick around, roll up their sleeves, and begin the hard work. If done right, this approach will maximize your savings, dramatically reduce your source code footprint, and set you up for operational agility.
I obviously prefer this approach over the other.
* * *
**Approach**
**Refactor, then move**
**Pros**
- Avoid the “double bubble” of paying for redundant systems
- Won’t move “trash” components
**Cons**
- Can’t use public cloud components in your design
- Will potentially need to refactor workloads \*again\*
- Move is slow, and at risk of not happening at all
- People don’t “feel the change” and the project can lose momentum
- In-house learning and skill building may lag faster moving competitors
* * *
**Approach**
**Move, then refactor, aka “lift and shift”**
**Pros**
- Can use public cloud software in your design
- Forces teams to live and breathe public cloud
- Forces change and makes the change “stick”
- Builds institutional know-how quickly
**Cons**
- Double bubble costs
- Delays in refactoring slows cost savings
- Potential to never refactor
* * *
### Double bubble success stories
I like the “lift and shift” approach because it’s part of [the change management](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-start-your-move-to-the-cloud-blog/) a company must go through to get to the cloud. It drops people into a new environment and makes it clear that the transition is inevitable and will require new skills. In my experience, the double bubble is a small price to pay for reaping huge rewards quickly. Examples:
- **Moved all IT to public cloud**. A company I was working with was spending $15 million per year on ten data centers covering 56,000 sq. ft. of space. With the help of [Pythian](https://www.pythian.com/), it migrated 3,500 machines to the public cloud in under four months, helping the company become more agile and reducing costs. The IT spend shrank to $1.5 million and the project cost only $650,000, paying for itself in just eight months. Boom.
- **Closed data centers and moved all IT to the public cloud**. Another company I worked with was spending $5 million per year on five data centers to support two SaaS products. By moving to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and optimizing heavily, we reduced spend by 90% to $500,000. The double bubble cost was roughly $300,000 and the project paid for itself in six months. Phenomenal!
Don’t let the double bubble cloud your judgment (haha, pun intended!) and stop you from forcing your team to understand the public cloud, move some workloads, and refactor them quickly. If you’re confident about the way forward, the project can pay for itself in a matter of months.
Regardless of the path you take, always start with the easiest workloads. Leave your most valuable, crown-jewel critical systems for later, after you have a skilled and confident team. Start small, pick something easy, set a goal, and get going! The time to move to the public cloud is NOW. Don’t know where to start? [I can help](https://telcodr.com/contact/)!
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![How to start your move to the cloud](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**How to start your move to the cloud**\\
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More and more telco execs are ready to make their move to the public cloud. Now, they're asking how to get started. Here's where to begin …](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-start-your-move-to-the-cloud-blog/)
[![Ready, set, cloud.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**Ready, set, cloud: How to prepare your people for a move to the cloud**\\
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Let’s take a look at staff, and the role they play in the massive organizational change to get ready and set in the cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-factor-cloud-migration-blog/)
[![The double bubble](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 512"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The double bubble: How to minimize costs when moving to the cloud**\\
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5G investments got you down? ROIC calculations not looking so good right now? Here are four ideas for saving coins along with tips for managing the double bubble. What's the double bubble? Read on …](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-minimize-costs-when-moving-to-the-cloud-blog/)
[![How to keep cloud costs under control](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Blog \\
**How to keep cloud costs under control (and what to do if they get away from you)**\\
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When workloads shift to the public cloud, it’s suddenly easy to try new things. The result can be bill shock for finance. Here's how to keep costs under control.](https://telcodr.com/insights/how-to-keep-cloud-costs-under-control-blog/)
[![Telco in 20 podcast. Featured guest: Forrest Brazeal, Senior Manager, A Cloud Guru](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 3 – Lift Off: Telcos moving to the public cloud – beware of lift and shift**\\
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Using a lift and shift strategy for public cloud migration demands clear vision around what’s waiting on the other side. Cloud architect Forrest Brazeal explains what you need to know and why.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-3-public-cloud-lift-and-shift/)
[![Featured Guest - Neil McRae, Managing Director & Chief Architect, BT. Telco in 20 podcast.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Podcast \\
**Ep 43 – Telco’s Pinball Wizard: Neil McRae**\\
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BT Chief Architect Neil McRae talks about the company's digital transformation and strategies for working with hyperscalers … and pinball, of course!](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-43-telcos-pinball-wizard-neil-mcrae/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Public Cloud Storage Pricing
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/public-cloud-variable-data-storage-pricing-blog/#main)
Blog
# Another great reason to use the public cloud: Variable data-storage pricing
May 10, 2022
It all started on LinkedIn. When I [shared my last newsletter](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6924688184589123584/), Jeroen van Bemmel commented: “Could you talk about the economics of Telco data storage in the cloud?” Yes, I can, Jeroen. Thanks for asking!
Jeroen referenced a blog post from Dean Bubley, [Telcos should focus on “connected data” not just “edge computing](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/telcos-should-focus-connected-data-just-edge-computing-dean-bubley/?trackingId=VSHZluiwRxCrNFNoneLI0g%3D%3D)”, which talks about a lot of things, including mentioning [Totogi](https://totogi.com/) as a disruptor for telcos’ internal operational and billing systems. (Disclaimer: I serve as Totogi’s acting CEO.)
So let’s talk about storage and pricing. As I highlighted in my [recap of AWS re:Invent last fall](https://telcodr.com/insights/recap-reinvent-2021-time-to-ride-the-dragon-blog/), all three hyperscalers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP)—offer different levels of data storage at different prices. The economics are simple: you’ll save money by storing data in the public cloud.
## The public cloud’s variable pricing
Variable storage costs are one more advantage of the public cloud over an on-premise solution. With on-prem, you’re paying the whole hog for everything—licenses for databases, on your hardware, in your racks, in your facilities. There’s only one kind of storage in this situation, and it all costs the same. There’s so much variability out there on the cost of on-premise storage, but reading through a few [blogs](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10586-020-03141-y?) pegs the price of one terabyte per month at roughly $3,000/month.
In the public cloud, you have more options. You pay more for data that you need faster and more often, and less for data you don’t access much or need quickly—like archives you have to hold for a certain number of years per local regulations.
All three hyperscalers offer multiple tiers for object, file, and block storage. (Need a primer on these types of storage? Here’s [a good one from Storage Wars](https://www.arcserve.com/blog/storage-wars-file-vs-block-vs-object-storage). Here’s [another from NetApp](https://www.netapp.com/data-storage/storagegrid/what-is-object-storage/).) Highly available, or “hot” storage, is the most expensive, and best suited for data that’s accessed frequently and needs to be available quickly, such as data related to online transactions. Then there’s “warm,” “cold,” and “archive” storage that offer cheaper options that are harder to access. What you pay (and how much you save) depends on how “at the ready” you need your data to be.
To take advantage of the variable pricing, you’ll have to catalog all the data you store and group it by how often you need it. As you might imagine, the real savings comes from taking archive-level data out of hot storage.
To get your feet wet, I recommend reading more about the hyperscalers’ various offerings. Here’s [a thorough run-down from A Cloud Guru](https://www.pluralsight.com/resources/blog/cloud/storage-showdown-aws-vs-azure-vs-gcp-cloud-comparison). I also like the comparison chart on [this post on Business 2 Community](https://www.business2community.com/cloud-computing/cloud-storage-cost-comparison-aws-vs-azure-vs-google-02191119), but it’s a few years old. TechTarget also has [a nice round-up](https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/feature/AWS-vs-Azure-vs-Google-pricing-and-features-compared).
We put together a very simple table of pricing for one terabyte of storage in one region, for one month, at the different frequencies of access for each of the cloud providers. This is for a US-east region (the pricing calculators are linked in the table column titles). Obviously, your pricing may vary depending on your usage, access patterns, commitment levels, region, and redundancy requirements. One thing to note, Azure’s cool pricing looks wonky—so much so that I checked it three times!—so if I got it wrong, my apologies.
Finally, pricing changes frequently; the cloud providers introduce new tiers of storage and even ways to optimize storage often, so you’ll want your team to stay up to date on the changes and be ready to adjust your storage strategy to save money.
| | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | [**AWS**](https://calculator.aws/#/createCalculator/S3) | [**Azure**](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-au/pricing/details/storage/blobs/) | [**GCP**](https://cloud.google.com/storage/pricing) |
| **Hot** | **S3**
$23.55/month | **Blob Storage**
$20.80/month | **Cloud Storage**
$20.00/month |
| **Cool** | **S3 Glacier Instant**
**Retrieval**
$4.10/month | **Blob Storage**
**Cool Tier**
$15.20/month | **Coldline Storage**
$4.00/month |
| **Archive** | **S3 Glacier**
$1.03/month | **Archive Storage**
$0.99/month | **Cloud Storage**
**Archive**
$1.20/month |
_Table 1: Comparative storage pricing of the three main hyperscalers as of May 2022_
## Making the switch
Of course, cataloging your data takes time and effort, and porting it to AWS, Microsoft Azure or GCP will take time, effort, and money. You’re going to pay ingress fees to import your data, which you don’t pay with an on-prem solution. But, you’ll end up paying so much less in storage fees that you’ll be way ahead in the long run. It’s totally worth it. Don’t wait to make this move.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s [a great case study about Dropbox using AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/dropbox-dynamodb-case-study/). The collaboration platform was outgrowing its on-prem data storage system and had two employees and about two years to find and implement a new solution. With the help of managed services from AWS, it did it in a year and reduced the cost of storage more than 5x. Part of the challenge was designating data as “hot” or “cold” depending on how frequently it got used.
Maybe the most important thing to know about all these choices: it quickly becomes complicated, especially if you’re new to the public cloud. I recommend working with a consultant—like [TelcoDR](https://telcodr.com/contact/), [The Duckbill Group](https://www.duckbillgroup.com/) (AWS-specific), or our podcast friend [Virtasant](https://www.virtasant.com/)—to help navigate all the options and find the most efficient path for your company’s specific needs.
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast. Tune in.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Ep 4 – Lift Off: Right-size your public cloud spending**\\
\\
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Find out how telcos can control public cloud spending and avoid leaving money on the table. Featuring cloud economist and snark-master Corey Quinn.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-4-right-size-your-public-cloud-spending/)
[![Video thumbnail: Michael Kearns, Virtasant - Getting Control of Cloud Spend](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Getting Control of Cloud Spend**\\
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Watch the interview to discover the steps every organization can take to keep the cloud spend under control and make the most of the public cloud.](https://telcodr.com/insights/getting-control-of-cloud-spend-virtasant-video/)
[![Recap of re:Invent: It’s time to ride the dragon](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)**Recap of re:Invent 2021: It’s time to ride the dragon**\\
\\
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AWS had lots of news to share during re:Invent 2021, but the biggest headline for telco was the announcement of its new AWS Private 5G offering.](https://telcodr.com/insights/recap-reinvent-2021-time-to-ride-the-dragon-blog/)
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## Telco to Techco Insights
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-to-techco-blog/#main)
Blog
# So, you want to be a tech-co?
June 7, 2022
Last October, UK-based Vodafone [announced](https://www.vodafone.com/news/technology-news/7000-new-software-engineers) that it was planning to hire 7,000 software engineers by 2025, almost doubling the 9,000-person staff of software engineers it had at the time. The move was part of a strategy to transform from a telecommunications company to a “new generation connectivity and digital services provider.” In other words, a tech company or a “tech-co.”
Vodafone is not the first to try this; it won’t be the last. It’s the approach _du jour1_ to revitalize telco revenue. Lots of telecom companies are in the same boat, looking to juice their revenue and thinking that pivoting to be a tech company is the way to go. Before your executive team decides to do this, take a hard look at what’s in front of you.
## How Vodafone saved nearly 70% by moving analytics to the public cloud.
What happens when Europe’s largest CSP moves its data analytics to the public cloud?
[Download the case study to find out.](https://telcodr.com/insights/vodafone-public-cloud-case-study-download/)
How do I know what I’m talking about?
Before becoming telco’s leading public cloud evangelist _2_, I spent 30+ years working for software companies. I spent a decade of that time in human resources (yes, \*that\* HR). I did almost everything, but most notably, I ran a killer recruiting group—both university and industry hires—and I ran all of compensation. For three years I was in charge of global and executive compensation for a 29,000-person, publicly traded semiconductor company in Austin, TX, Freescale (the Motorola fab spinoff, now NASDAQ: NXPI). I guess what I’m saying is, I know a thing or two about tech-cos, working at big companies, and what it takes to get top technical talent to work for you.
And so, I’m going to say it: telco, you have your work cut out for you. To attract the best technical workers—I’m talking the Computer Science majors from top universities like Stanford, MIT, and Harvard who get offers coming out of their ears from Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon—you’re going to have to raise your game in three key areas: your culture, the work you offer them, and the overall compensation package.
### First: Your culture
To attract the thousands of software workers you need, you’re going to have to start by changing your culture. When I ran tech recruiting, I learned how much top talent cares about the work environment and culture of the company they’ll be joining. Once they have a job offer, invariably the discussion turns to, “what is it \*really\* like to work here?” Culture is so much more than offering great kitchens and foosball tables; it’s about the day-to-day life inside the company and the type of people who work there.
Smart tech workers want to be part of a brilliant team that solves important, hard problems. They are usually attracted to smaller start-ups because of the impact they can have as an individual; conversely, accepting a position at a big, old company is decidedly Not Cool. Big companies are known for their bureaucracy and slow pace. It’s where you go to retire, not where you go to start your career.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what some of the world’s biggest telcos are: old companies that move slowly and are adverse to risk. This approach kills the _esprit de corps1_ that young kids want. They want the freedom to experiment and innovate! They don’t want to be part of a company that has a culture of fear. So in order to successfully out-recruit the big tech companies, telcos are going to need to change their culture, moving from being overly cautious to being experimental and willing to take calculated risks.
### Second: Give them cool stuff to work on
Next, you gotta excite your new hires with the cool stuff they’ll be working on. Unfortunately, the telco industry does not have a reputation for having a plethora of cool jobs. Telco companies are known to be filled with super boring, legacy, client-server tech. Some applications are still running on mainframes! When you hire kick-ass tech talent and tell them their day-to-day job will be end-to-end testing 50 crappy closed systems that were built and installed before they were born, that’s not fun \*or\* cool. It’s a total buzzkill.
The best and brightest technologists want to work on Big Ideas. They want to change the world!They want to work on cool shit. Recent grads from Indian Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, and other computer science powerhouses want to work on cutting-edge technology, like (wait for it) public cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data. So in order to get the software talent you need into your telco, you have to design cool projects to work on and give the work to your new hires.
Yes, you read that right. Give the cool, new, strategic stuff to your new hires. If you put your new talent on the boring stuff, while giving your cool work to your senior tenured folks, well, it’s going to be really hard to get those Stanford grads to say yes to your offer. If you want the best, you have to both actively embrace new technology and give it to the newbies. You might upset the apple cart with your more senior engineers, but they’re already in your company (and while they might complain, they probably won’t quit over it). To get that hot new hire, you gotta entice them with your cool work.
### Third: Competitive pay
The last thing you need to lock in that smartie-pants CS grad is a compelling compensation offer. To lure first-rate technologists away from the big tech companies, you’re gonna have to [show them the money](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFrag8ll85w). If changing your culture wasn’t hard enough, and giving all the cool work to the new hires didn’t cause a revolt inside your company, jacking up new hire pay will be the _pièce de résistance1._
Why? Because telco pay isn’t even close to tech-co pay. Let’s compare a typical offer from a telecommunications company with a typical offer from a tech company, both in total amount and in structure. We’ll assume a position for a newly minted computer science graduate from a top-tier university.
Compare:
- Glassdoor has [new grad software engineer salaries at Alphabet](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Software-Engineer-New-Grad-Salaries-E9079_D_KO7,33.htm) at an average base pay of $132,000, with an additional ~$18,000 cash bonus and $40,100 stock bonus ($190k total compensation, not accounting for growth in equity).
to:
- Glassdoor lists a [“typical” Vodafone software engineer salary](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Vodafone-Software-Engineer-Salaries-E5775_D_KO9,26.htm) at a base pay of $56,810. No mention of bonus or equity components.
- Deutsche Telekom, maybe a better comparison because most positions are in Europe, has a median package of [$63,000 in salary with no stock or bonus](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/deutsche-telekom/salaries/software-engineer).
- Singtel is coming in at [$59,000 salary, no stock and $7,000 bonus](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/singtel/salaries/software-engineer); total compensation of $66,000.
Just for fun, take a look at the [Levels.fyi page for Alphabet engineers’ salaries](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/google/salaries/software-engineer).
Ignoring the 2-3x difference in cash compensation, the key component to focus on here is _equity_ _compensation_ (usually given as a stock option or restricted stock unit grant). That’s where most top grads look to level-up their pay. The equity component of the offer is the huge opportunity to grow their wealth.
Not only do telcos forego equity as a component of pay, even if they did include it, the next problem is that their stock growth is headed in the wrong direction. I’m not advocating to start including equity in your offers; it would be a waste of money and wouldn’t entice anyone to accept your offer. See Picture 1, a comparison of Alphabet stock vs. Vodafone Group (and sorry to pick on Vodafone; I could pick pretty much any telco stock and it’s probably a similarly shaped graph).
**Picture 1: Alphabet vs. Vodafone Group, last 5 years’ performance**
Market summary of Alphabet performance between 2018 – 2022Market summary of Vodafone performance between 2018 – 2022
For telcos to be competitive (since you don’t have exciting stock graphs to attract top talent), you’re going to have to shift more of the compensation to cash, and you’re going to have to increase it by 3-4x! Ouch.
Making this change will throw your comp structures out of whack with your current team, but if you keep offering what you’re offering today, you’ll get second- or third-tier talent. If you decide to go for it, it will likely require a change in your compensation structure across your company, which will get very expensive, very quickly.
### It’s not going to be easy
Did I totally depress you? That wasn’t my intent. I am trying to make sure you realize that calling yourself a tech-co and hiring thousands of software engineers might be harder than you think.
At the DSP Leaders World Forum I spoke at recently, we talked about this issue in the “ [Clouds on the Horizon](https://www.telecomtv.com/content/dsp-leaders-forum/clouds-on-the-horizon-44477/?utm_source=TTV&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=DSPLWF2022_TwitterLI)” panel at about the hour-and-fifteen-minute mark. Darrell Jordan Smith, senior vice president, TME and Industries at Red Hat, shared stories of operators hiring talent with cloud skills and paying them triple that of existing staff, only to have them recruited away by tech companies after six months for a 100% higher salary. The war for talent is real and it’s nuts.
What can you do about it? Upskill your current technologists through innovation centers and classes that teach cloud development skills. Check out offerings from hyperscalers, Red Hat, and other organizations. They want to educate people to speed adoption and push the technology forward. Or better yet: use the hyperscalers’ technology, which gives you access to their talent via their work.
It’s not going to be easy to out-recruit Amazon, Microsoft, and Google to get the tech talent you need. If you’re ready to embrace a culture of innovation, to leverage all the latest cloud technology, and you’re willing to pay for the best and brightest, you can compete. Good luck!
_1 I may have been watching too much French Open lately._
_2 A title I gave myself, admittedly._
**Recent Posts**
1. [Why your AI strategy isn’t working](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-strategy-for-telcos-blog/)
2. [AI will cost jobs, lots of them. Stop lying about it.](https://telcodr.com/insights/telco-layoffs-and-ai/)
3. [AI doesn’t suck. You suck at AI.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ai-prompts-for-telco-execs-blog/)
4. [MVNOs don’t need MVNEs (and MVNEs’ loss will be MNOs’ gain)](https://telcodr.com/insights/mvno-without-mvne-blog/)
5. [The green paradox of AI](https://telcodr.com/insights/the-green-paradox-of-ai-blog/)
* * *
* * *
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 66 66"%3E%3C/svg%3E)Get my FREE insider newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.
## More from TelcoDR
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Kamal Ahluwalia, President, Eightfold.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 538"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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Telcos need to hire a gazillion people with cloud skills. How can CSPs cultivate the talented teams they need? Good news – there are new workforce management strategies and AI tools that can help.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-40-new-ways-to-build-your-future-ready-workforce/)
[![Telco in 20 Podcast - Featured Guest: Troy O’Brien, Cloud Evangelist & Global AWS Practice Leader, DXC Technologies.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 536"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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The HR Series, Part 1: If telecoms are going to survive the inevitable move to the public cloud, they need to start focusing on people – retraining, hiring, and yes, letting some workers go.](https://telcodr.com/insights/ep-7-hr-series-telcos-workforce-transformation/)
[![Go get 'em.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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**The HR transformation framework I swear by**\\
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Follow this framework for moving to the public cloud to have the best shot at driving a successful transformation.](https://telcodr.com/insights/hr-transformation-framework-blog/)
graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube
## Guide to Cloud Native Apps
[Skip to content](https://telcodr.com/insights/guide-to-true-cloud-native-apps-video/#main)
## TelcoDR’s Top 5 Guide to True Cloud Native Apps
Watch D.R. on TelecomTV explain her top five signs that your vendor’s “cloud-native” product may not indeed be cloud native..!
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[![Video thumbnail: TelecomTV’s DSP Leaders World Forum '21)](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 330 180"%3E%3C/svg%3E)\\
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graphic-curve-bluegraphic-curve-orangeicon-angle-bracketicon-arrow-orangeicon-arrowicon-closeicon-copyEmail Iconicon-facebookicon-instagramicon-link-new-tabicon-linkedinicon-pinteresticon-play-largeicon-play-videoPlay iconicon-quoteicon-searchicon-twittericon-youtube