One of the most striking outcomes of the New Digital Economics EMEA Brainstorm  last week in London was the massive degree of internal change that telcos need to accomplish to transform to be successful in their rapidly changing market environments.

Over 90% of EMEA delegates thought telcos needed ‘dramatic’ or ‘significant’ changes to Skills, with changes needed to Business Systems & Processes (89%), Organisational Structures (86%) and Management Incentives (79%) rated close behind.

We will be publishing more on these findings and their implications in the next year, looking at case studies of business model change and how it’s working out for some of the major players. In the meantime, all the presentation slides are available to delegates and subscribers, and we’ll soon be publishing our analysis and charts of the key votes. To subscribe, please email mailto:contact@stlpartners.com.

Personal Data: how to make it a viable customer-centred industry

For the Personal Information Economy to develop there needs to be a global, cross-industry approach that empowers and protects consumer users, enables businesses, and that has scope for appropriate governance. This is a summary of the significant progress towards this aim made by the World Economic Forum 'Tiger Team', facilitated by STL Partners, and including senor execs from Google, Microsoft, MIT, AT&T, Vodafone, and Orange among others, at meetings in March in San Jose and in London in June 2012 (More)

Digital Arabia will take place in Dubai from 6 & 7 November. Part of the New Digital Economics Executive Brainstorm & Innovation Series, it will build on output from recent events in San Francisco, Singapore, London, New York and new market research and analysis and will focus on new business models and growth opportunities in digital commerce, content and the cloud. (More)

Strategy 2.0: Lessons from Vodafone's success in European SMB Comms

Vodafone have been quietly stealing a march in the European SMB communications market with a well executed strategy centred on its OneNet cloud-based product. We look at how, including comparisons with BT, Telenor and others. (More)

HTML5: Market impact & telco strategies

HTML5 will have a profound impact on consumers' and businesses' interaction with the web in coming years. In particular, HTML5-compliant smartphones may lead to a reduction in the power of closed app platforms such as Apple iOS and Google Android. While this seems broadly positive for telcos, there may also be negative side-effects of the increasing capability of standardised (and often free) Internet capabilities. (More)

Mobile TV: going 'Round The Side' of telco networks?

Dyle TV, a new mobile TV broadcast network (supported by Fox), was presented at the Silicon Valley Brainstorm against the backdrop of Cisco's VNI (Visual Networking Index) research on forecast growth in mobile video traffic. It was argued that Dyle's model can both take the pressure off mobile operator data capacity by taking video traffic 'round the side' and make good use of TV Broadcasters' spectrum. Could this model work, not only in the US but elsewhere around the world? (More)

Silicon Valley report: the money's moving, but are telcos?

It was exhilaratingly clear at the Silicon Valley brainstorm that critical inflection points are being reached in many key areas of the digital economy: the challenges are increasingly well defined, and the intellectual, practical and economic resources being employed to solve them have the quality, power and resources to succeed. The tantalising question for all was "how do we position ourselves and implement strategies that will enable our business to be one of those to profit from (or at least survive) these changes?" (More)

Strategy 2.0: Google's Strategic Identity Crisis

Google's shares have made little headway recently despite its dominance in search and advertising, and it faces increasing regulatory threats in this area. It either needs to find something else or start paying out dividends, like Microsoft (or indeed, a telco). Overall, this is resulting in something of a strategic identity crisis. A review of Google's strategy and implications for Telcos. (More)

Mobile Broadband 2.0: the top disruptive innovations

Key trends, tactics, and technologies for mobile broadband networks and services that will influence mid-term revenue opportunities, cost structures and competitive threats. Including: LTE, network sharing, WiFi, next-gen IP (EPC), small cells, CDNs, policy control, business model enablers and more. (More)

Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Skype - dealing with the disruptors

Our new 284 page strategy report, launched and previewed at our EMEA event in London, has attracted massive interest. It's our most important report yet, dealing with the players that some leading telcos are now calling their 'real competitors'. It includes a concise executive summary, in-depth analysis of the player's business models, and strategies for dealing with each. Here is an updated extract of the analysis and further details of the report. (More)

The Roadmap to New Telco 2.0 Business Models

This Strategy Report plots the transformational path that telcos need to follow to achieve the $375Bn p.a. 'Telco 2.0' opportunities. It describes the six growth opportunity areas for the Telecoms industry, identifies new categories of operators, benchmarks the primary strategies needed by each to evolve and thrive in the new industry environment, and highlights leading examples of telco business model innovation. It has 284 pages, including a 13 page Executive Summary and a detailed index. (More)

'Under-the-Floor' Players: threat or opportunity?

The telecoms industry often puts so-called OTT (over-the-top) players like Google and Facebook at the forefront of its concerns, as they pose new competition for services and applications. But what about encroachment of companies "underneath" the telcos, displacing them from their core asset, the network? Telco 2.0 examines the strategic threats and opportunities from wholesale providers, outsourcers and government-run broadband networks. (More)

Telco 2.0: how to accelerate the implementation of new business models

Our new, in-depth research among senior execs in 'upstream' industries (e.g. retail, media, IT, etc.) and telcos shows that poor communication of 'Telco 2.0' value propositions and slow implementation by operators is frustrating upstream customers and operators alike. This new, free report identifies strategic customer segments for telcos building new 'Telco 2.0' business models, key obstacles to overcome, six real-world implementation strategy scenarios, and strategic recommendations for telcos. (More)

The Telco 2.0 Challenge and SAP's vision

Telco 2.0 have reviewed SAP's vision for telcos to 'operate at internet speed' against our Roadmap strategy principles in this white paper, and challenged SAP to build a Proof of Concept implementation of a complex multi-sided business model with a leading European mobile operator within one month. We can't share the confidential details but we were impressed with the results. We're now looking for more operators who'd like to set a new Telco 2.0 challenge - to find out more please email us at contact@telco2.net.

The value of "Smart Pipes" to mobile network operators

Regardless of business strategy, the development of 'Smart Pipes' - more intelligent networks - will be a key driver of shareholder returns from operators. Smarter networks will also benefit network users - upstream service providers and end users, and operators, and their vendors and partners, will need to compete to be the smartest. What are they, why are they needed, and what are the key strategies employed to develop them?. (More)

How to Spot a "Business Model Problem"

What is a 'business model problem'? How can you tell when you've got one? What are the key business model challenges faced by telcos today, and how should they address them? (More)