Where are telcos on the journey to cloud native? A considerable technical transformation is required to just put many telcos on the road, says Andrew Coward, who maintains that most are currently engaged in plate spinning for 5G - desperately rushing about just to keep their networks coping with the demands being put on them. You have to make everything - cell towers, optical connection and so on - cloud native. Then the network can be properly automated. “Everything has to be dragged along with the new technology.” As for whether the new infrastructure can generate the extra revenues for telcos to justify the outlay for cloud native and automation? The pay-off comes at three levels: First, cloud native and open software means you can plug in different vendors and on a much shorter time scale. That enables telcos to strike better deals. Ker-ching! Operational savings then become the next target. More automation, fewer people looking after the systems, greater responsiveness, improved customer satisfaction, etc. Ker-ching! But ‘agility’ is the real end game. That’s where the paydirt is located. It enables you to intercept opportunities and come up with services you would never have thought of before. Ker-ching! “It’s the agility that really pays the bills.”

Filmed at: London, The Great Telco Debate, December 10, 2019