What is the role of the telco in the digital economy?

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Michael Sherman, Chief Strategy Officer, BT - The challenge of new economics being that of companies using peoples' data to generate revenue. These ‘free’ services aren’t a problem in themselves, but they do consume vast amounts of data and bandwidth that needs continuous upgrade against a flattening revenue line.
Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum - divided the opportunity into three levels, like climbing a mountain. At the top level there is a great view of everything going on in the digital economy. However, ignoring the steps on the way is disastrous. Building the optimum connectivity environment is critical. If telcos don’t understand the changes in what customers are demanding and focus on the top of the mountain then they may well be left in the middle of the road.
Preeti Nagarajan, Head of Strategy Business Area Networks, Ericsson - talks of consumption patterns across screens opens up opportunities for new services supported by the world of connectivity. New low latency and high bandwidth offerings can only increase these opportunities.
Simon Saunders, Head of Connectivity Partnerships, EMEA, Google - increasingly making available to other parties, such as telcos, the knowledge of how to run a digital business and some of the tools to help do so. This includes virtual functions as well as some of the AI tools to leverage the data.

Featuring:

• Michael Sherman, Chief Strategy Officer, BT
• Preeti Nagarajan, Head of Strategy Business Area Networks, Ericsson
• Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum
• Simon Saunders, Head of Connectivity Partnerships, EMEA, Google

Filmed at: Great Telco Debate, London, December 2019