“Analyst predicts emergence of more shared networks, sees operators separating infrastructure from retail businesses.
Major telecoms operators will in future make the decision to separate their network operations from the retail side of the business.”
Mary Lennighan quoting John Strand here.
Not exactly ground-breaking news, but certainly an interesting concept nonetheless. As noted here almost a year ago, some major telcos are already planning the cleaving of the two distinctly different business models that they are often comprised of:
- The traditional CAPEX intensive Telco asset (eg cables, ducts, towers, easements, etc) operators vs
- The more modern DSP (Digital Service Providers) that trade on content, applications, etc.
They could equally be described as the wholesale vs retail models that are already regulated in various parts of the world. They have different operating models and different investor expectations.
Perhaps there’s even a third business model – asset owners (REITs), DSP, but then also the third-party network operations? There’s also the fourth option – for DSPs to sell services on networks they don’t own.
Existing OSS architectures don’t tend to easily support these structural separations as OSS are required to maintain the wholesale assets as well as manage the retail services. The ecosystem OSS described in recent posts would appear to provide a clearer demarcation between wholesale and retail though.
Can you see a structural separation looming in the future of your organisation? If so, how easy will it be to cleave your OSS?