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James Pearce, TelecomTV (00:05):
Hello and welcome to TelecomTV. I'm James Pearce. I'm in Amsterdam, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Otto-Jan Woltjer, who's from KPN. Thank you so much for joining us today. Let's start off by talking about a new product that KPN's launching around AI voice. What is it? Why are you launching it, and what should we look out for?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (00:25):
Yeah, thank you very much. Yeah, we're launching a new product called Mobile AI, and it's the first product by a Dutch telco where we integrate AI the mobile subscriptions. And you can think of transcription, but also AI voicemail, where we help our customers make their work easier by helping them getting the right priorities, helping them giving their customers the right answers, because that's what we got from our customers, that reachability is very important. If you miss a call with a new order, it can cost you a lot of money as a business. And yeah, with Mobile AI, we are going to help the customer being better reachable on their own setting. So for example, if I'm busy working and I'm not available, my AI agent can handle the call, or it can go directly to my colleague or my business voicemail where I can then later on call the customer back to help them.
(01:20):
So yeah, it's a broad product, but the focus is on AI and reachability when we start with the product. But the nice thing about it, it's not yet done, so we try to develop it more because we really want to help our customers becoming more flexible and efficient.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (01:40):
It sounds really exciting. I can't wait to see what it is and how it works. Let's talk about some of the biggest lessons that you've learnt since taking AI voice from experimentation into a more live teleco environment.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (01:55):
As mentioned, it's testing, testing, testing, because you need to make sure that the quality is right. So we work together with a partner, in this case it's ElevenLabs, but it's important that the quality is right because people are only going to use it when they know it's good enough. So we try a lot of experiments and have a lot of conversations with the AI and check if what we put in, we also get out. So yeah, that's very important to make sure that the quality is on the level that we expect and also in a safe manner, of course.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (02:29):
What are the potential opportunities to make voice strategically important again by using AI to turn conversations into intelligent, actionable data?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (02:38):
Yeah, it's all about now we have a conversation with the phone, it's all about the conversation, but how cool would it be if you can directly react on that? So if you have a conversation that the AI listens and directly, for example, if you say, "Hey, we need to make an appointment next week," boom, AI makes the appointment next week. Or, "Hey, we want an order," or, "Make sure that I know how much it's going to cost." AI can help you with that type of stuff, so it makes it easier for the customer to do their business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (03:14):
Let's talk about the operator's perspective more. How can operators capture value from AI as it becomes more embedded into communications?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (03:21):
Yeah, so I think when you look at operators, where are we good in? We are good in communications. We have the mobile numbers, we have the mobile subscriptions. So we really want, from that perspective, help the customers when they use their device. And when I look at myself, I use my mobile device maybe more than my laptop when I'm working. And also when I'm not working, when I'm in the car or on the weekends, my mobile device is, I think, the most important. I want to be available on there on the right way and help our customers in the right way. So I think this gives value because, for example, I always say if you save 10 minutes because we give the right priority or make sure you know what to do, after 10 minutes a day, what's the value of that? Or one missed call from a potential customer?
(04:13):
Yeah, what's the value of that? It can be the next big customer you need to be profitable. So there's a lot of opportunity and value, especially depends on the price what you are going to ask, but I think we are introducing it for a price that makes it available for everybody to use it. At €7.50, we're going to introduce it, and it's available for everybody when you have a KPN business market subscription. So yeah, that really creates value.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (04:46):
It does sound like a really interesting opportunity. Let's look forward a little bit. What's the single biggest change that you see AI making onto the telecom operator business model over the next three years?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (05:00):
Yeah, I think it's the action. So now, when we start, we have transcription and it sees what we do, but you also want to have the action after, because that really helps you in your work. So I need to make an appointment, or I need to look at the bill or what the customer wants. If you can automate that flow in your business process, then it creates really extra value for the customer. And also our customer, but also the customer of our customer. And it makes it easier. For example, if you call a service desk for questions, you don't want to press one for this, press two... it takes a lot of time. If you get an AI agent and you can ask AI this question and it directly helps you with that, or makes sure that they route you to the right person who can help you, it already helps the customers and also the experience of customers.
(05:54):
So it's also the journey customers are enjoying better in the future. And we're still not there because I think AI is also a little bit scary for a lot of people. So we need to make sure that it's in a safe way and that we are very clear about where we store our data, that we do it on... We also tell our customers and also the people they talk that this voice is transcribed, or that we need to be very clear about that, because that gives trust to a party, and I think that's very important because when you got the trust, you also got the business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (06:32):
In an AI-native world, what is the unique asset or capability that gives telecom operators a sustainable competitive advantage?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (06:40):
I think where we are good and we have a mobile core, we have a mobile subscriptions or networking, we need to embed also AI in that because that's something only we have. That's not what hyperscalers have currently. So everybody can build an app, but not everybody has the backend. So I think that's something where telco can be different compared to other parties.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:10):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That infrastructure is such a legacy thing.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:13):
Exactly. Yeah. Especially for KPN in the Netherlands, having the best infrastructure, one of the best infrastructures. So yeah, that helps also deploying AI.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:25):
So you've already given us a spoiler into the new AI voice product that you're doing. Are there any other developments we should expect to see from KPN in this space over the coming months?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:34):
Yeah. So I think this is after live, it's not done. This is only the beginning. So I always say the sky is the limit with this because we really believe that this is a paradigm shift, just like we had when we went from fixed voice to mobile voice, when we added data to your mobile phone, and now we see that AI is the next big thing. So we really think this is going to shift and help. I think it's the first generation of AI phone calling, but we need to develop it, so we need to add value. So the AI agent, currently we do not have the agent who can do the calling, but we're going to add it. But also the flows. Make sure that you want your email integrated or your agenda, so somebody can see, or the agent or yourself can see, "Hey, tomorrow at 10 o'clock there's still room.
(08:28):
Let's plan a meeting," because this is what the customer wants who called and talked into the voicemail and said, "Hey, can you meet tomorrow?" How good would it be if the AI agent could plan this for you? So that's something that we all want to develop. And I think the nice thing is also because it's so new, we need to experience it with each other and what we need to develop, how we can help customers even more. And this can be something broad, like we experience, hey, this is what customers give back, but can also be a little bit smaller in experience. For example, we need to add a certain language to our platform. So yeah, that's also the great thing about this because it is so new, and it's a new business and a new world that we need to search for new opportunities and do it together with the customers.
(09:28):
So yeah, I think that's great and very interesting and I get energy of that.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (09:33):
I mean, it sounds like there's loads in the pipeline also. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (09:37):
Yeah. Thank you very much.
"""
print("Corrected transcript verified. Length:", len(corrected_transcript))
```
```text
Corrected transcript verified. Length: 9279
```
Here is the corrected transcript formatted in UK English with proper telecom industry terminology, followed by the table of corrections mapped to their exact timestamps from the original audio/VTT transcript.
### Corrected Transcript
James Pearce, TelecomTV (00:05):
Hello and welcome to TelecomTV. I'm James Pearce. I'm in Amsterdam, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Otto-Jan Woltjer, who's from KPN. Thank you so much for joining us today. Let's start off by talking about a new product that KPN's launching around AI voice. What is it? Why are you launching it, and what should we look out for?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (00:25):
Yeah, thank you very much. Yeah, we're launching a new product called Mobile AI, and it's the first product by a Dutch telco where we integrate AI into mobile subscriptions. And you can think of transcription, but also AI voicemail, where we help our customers make their work easier by helping them getting the right priorities, helping them giving their customers the right answers, because that's what we got from our customers, that reachability is very important. If you miss a call with a new order, it can cost you a lot of money as a business. And yeah, with Mobile AI, we are going to help the customer being better reachable on their own settings. So for example, if I'm busy working and I'm not available, my AI agent can handle the call, or it can go directly to my colleague or my business voicemail where I can then later on call the customer back to help them.
(01:20):
So yeah, it's a broad product, but the focus is on AI and reachability when we start the product. But the nice thing about it, it's not yet done, so we try to develop it more because we really want to help our customers becoming more flexible and efficient.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (01:40):
It sounds really exciting. I can't wait to see what it is and how it works. Let's talk about some of the biggest lessons that you've learnt since taking AI voice from experimentation into a more live telecom environment.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (01:55):
Yeah. It's always, as mentioned, it's testing, testing, testing, because you need to make sure that the quality is right. So we work together with a partner, in this case it's ElevenLabs, but it's important that the quality is right because people are only going to use it when they know it's good enough. So we try a lot of experiments and have a lot of conversations with the AI and check if what we put in, we also get out. So yeah, that's very important to make sure that the quality is on the level that we expect and also in a safe manner, of course.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (02:29):
What are the potential opportunities to make voice strategically important again by using AI to turn conversations into intelligent, actionable data?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (02:38):
Yeah. Now we have a conversation with the phone, it's all about the conversation, but how cool would it be if you can directly react on that? So if you have a conversation that the AI listens to and directly, for example, if you say, "Hey, we need to make an appointment next week," boom, AI makes the appointment next week. Or, "Hey, we want an order," or, "Make sure that I know how much it's going to cost." AI can help you with that type of stuff, so it makes it easier for the customer to do their business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (03:14):
Let's talk about the operator's perspective more. How can operators capture value from AI as it becomes more embedded into communications?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (03:21):
Yeah, so I think when you look at operators, where are we good in? We are good in communications. We have the mobile numbers, we have the mobile subscriptions. So we really want, from that perspective, help the customers when they use their device. And when I look at myself, I use my mobile device maybe more than my laptop when I'm working. And also when I'm not working, when I'm in the car or on the weekends, my mobile device is, I think, the most important. I want to be available on there on the right way and help our customers in the right way. So I think this gives value because, for example, I always say if you save 10 minutes because we give the right priority or make sure you know what to do, after 10 minutes a day, what's the value of that? Or one missed call from a potential customer?
(04:13):
Yeah, what's the value of that? It can be the next big customer you need to be profitable. So there's a lot of opportunity and value, especially depends on the price what you are going to ask, but I think we are introducing it for a price that makes it available for everybody to use it. At €7.50, what we're going to introduce it, and it's available for everybody when you have a KPN business market subscription. So yeah, that really creates value.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (04:46):
It does sound like a really interesting opportunity. Let's look forward a little bit. What's the single biggest change that you see AI making onto the telecom operator business model over the next three years?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (05:00):
Yeah, I think it's the action. So now, when we start, we have transcription and it sees what we do, but you also want to have the action after, because that really helps you in your work. So I need to make an appointment, or I need to look at the bill or what the customer wants. If you can automate that flow in your business process, then it creates really extra value for the customer. And also our customer, but also the customer of our customer. And it makes it easier. For example, if you call a service desk for questions, you don't want to press one for this, press two. It takes a lot of time. If you get an AI agent and you can ask AI this question and it directly helps you with that, or makes sure that they route you to the right person who can help you, it already helps the customers and also the experience of customers.
(05:54):
So it's also the journey customers are enjoying better in the future. And we're still not there because I think AI is also a little bit scary for a lot of people. So we need to make sure that it's in a safe way and that we are very clear about where we store data, that we do it on... We also tell our customers and also the people they talk that this voice is transcribed, or that we need to be very clear about that, because that gives trust to a party, and I think that's very important because when you got the trust, you also got the business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (06:32):
In an AI-native world, what is the unique asset or capability that gives telecom operators a sustainable competitive advantage?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (06:40):
I think where we are good in, we have a mobile core. We have a mobile subscription for networking. Yeah, we need to embed also AI in there because that's something only we have. That's not what hyperscalers have currently. So everybody can build an app, but not everybody has the backend. So I think that's something where telco can be different compared to other parties.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:10):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That infrastructure is such a legacy thing.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:13):
Exactly. Yeah. Especially for KPN in the Netherlands, having the best infrastructure, one of the best infrastructures. So yeah, that helps also deploying AI.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:25):
So you've already given us a spoiler into the new AI voice product that you're doing. Are there any other developments we should expect to see from KPN in this space over the coming months?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:34):
Yeah. So I think this is after live. It's not done. This is only the beginning. So I always say the sky is the limit with this because we really believe that this is a paradigm shift, just like we had when we went from fixed voice to mobile voice, when we added data to your mobile phone, and now we see that AI is the next big thing. So we really think this is going to shift and help. I think it's the first generation of AI phone calling, but we need to develop it, so we need to add value. So the AI agent, currently we do not have the agent who can do the calling, but we're going to add it. But also the flows. Make sure that you want your email integrated or your agenda, so somebody can see, or the agent or yourself can see, "Hey, tomorrow at 10 o'clock there's still room.
(08:28):
Let's plan a meeting," because this is what the customer wants who called and talked into the voicemail and said, "Hey, can you meet tomorrow?" How good would it be if the AI agent could plan this for you? So that's something that we all want to develop. And I think the nice thing is also because it's so new, we need to experience it with each other and what we need to develop, how we can help customers even more. And this can be something broad, like we experience, hey, this is what customers give back, but can also be a little bit smaller in experience. For example, we need to add a certain language to our platform. So yeah, that's also the great thing about this because it is so new, and it's a new business and a new world that we need to search for new opportunities and do it together with our customers.
(09:28):
So yeah, I think that's great and very interesting and I get energy from that.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (09:33):
I mean, it sounds like there's loads in the pipeline also. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (09:37):
Thank you very much.
Hello and welcome to TelecomTV. I'm James Pearce. I'm in Amsterdam, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Otto-Jan Woltjer, who's from KPN. Thank you so much for joining us today. Let's start off by talking about a new product that KPN's launching around AI voice. What is it? Why are you launching it, and what should we look out for?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (00:25):
Yeah, thank you very much. Yeah, we're launching a new product called Mobile AI, and it's the first product by a Dutch telco where we integrate AI the mobile subscriptions. And you can think of transcription, but also AI voicemail, where we help our customers make their work easier by helping them getting the right priorities, helping them giving their customers the right answers, because that's what we got from our customers, that reachability is very important. If you miss a call with a new order, it can cost you a lot of money as a business. And yeah, with Mobile AI, we are going to help the customer being better reachable on their own setting. So for example, if I'm busy working and I'm not available, my AI agent can handle the call, or it can go directly to my colleague or my business voicemail where I can then later on call the customer back to help them.
(01:20):
So yeah, it's a broad product, but the focus is on AI and reachability when we start with the product. But the nice thing about it, it's not yet done, so we try to develop it more because we really want to help our customers becoming more flexible and efficient.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (01:40):
It sounds really exciting. I can't wait to see what it is and how it works. Let's talk about some of the biggest lessons that you've learnt since taking AI voice from experimentation into a more live teleco environment.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (01:55):
As mentioned, it's testing, testing, testing, because you need to make sure that the quality is right. So we work together with a partner, in this case it's ElevenLabs, but it's important that the quality is right because people are only going to use it when they know it's good enough. So we try a lot of experiments and have a lot of conversations with the AI and check if what we put in, we also get out. So yeah, that's very important to make sure that the quality is on the level that we expect and also in a safe manner, of course.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (02:29):
What are the potential opportunities to make voice strategically important again by using AI to turn conversations into intelligent, actionable data?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (02:38):
Yeah, it's all about now we have a conversation with the phone, it's all about the conversation, but how cool would it be if you can directly react on that? So if you have a conversation that the AI listens and directly, for example, if you say, "Hey, we need to make an appointment next week," boom, AI makes the appointment next week. Or, "Hey, we want an order," or, "Make sure that I know how much it's going to cost." AI can help you with that type of stuff, so it makes it easier for the customer to do their business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (03:14):
Let's talk about the operator's perspective more. How can operators capture value from AI as it becomes more embedded into communications?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (03:21):
Yeah, so I think when you look at operators, where are we good in? We are good in communications. We have the mobile numbers, we have the mobile subscriptions. So we really want, from that perspective, help the customers when they use their device. And when I look at myself, I use my mobile device maybe more than my laptop when I'm working. And also when I'm not working, when I'm in the car or on the weekends, my mobile device is, I think, the most important. I want to be available on there on the right way and help our customers in the right way. So I think this gives value because, for example, I always say if you save 10 minutes because we give the right priority or make sure you know what to do, after 10 minutes a day, what's the value of that? Or one missed call from a potential customer?
(04:13):
Yeah, what's the value of that? It can be the next big customer you need to be profitable. So there's a lot of opportunity and value, especially depends on the price what you are going to ask, but I think we are introducing it for a price that makes it available for everybody to use it. At €7.50, we're going to introduce it, and it's available for everybody when you have a KPN business market subscription. So yeah, that really creates value.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (04:46):
It does sound like a really interesting opportunity. Let's look forward a little bit. What's the single biggest change that you see AI making onto the telecom operator business model over the next three years?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (05:00):
Yeah, I think it's the action. So now, when we start, we have transcription and it sees what we do, but you also want to have the action after, because that really helps you in your work. So I need to make an appointment, or I need to look at the bill or what the customer wants. If you can automate that flow in your business process, then it creates really extra value for the customer. And also our customer, but also the customer of our customer. And it makes it easier. For example, if you call a service desk for questions, you don't want to press one for this, press two... it takes a lot of time. If you get an AI agent and you can ask AI this question and it directly helps you with that, or makes sure that they route you to the right person who can help you, it already helps the customers and also the experience of customers.
(05:54):
So it's also the journey customers are enjoying better in the future. And we're still not there because I think AI is also a little bit scary for a lot of people. So we need to make sure that it's in a safe way and that we are very clear about where we store our data, that we do it on... We also tell our customers and also the people they talk that this voice is transcribed, or that we need to be very clear about that, because that gives trust to a party, and I think that's very important because when you got the trust, you also got the business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (06:32):
In an AI-native world, what is the unique asset or capability that gives telecom operators a sustainable competitive advantage?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (06:40):
I think where we are good and we have a mobile core, we have a mobile subscriptions or networking, we need to embed also AI in that because that's something only we have. That's not what hyperscalers have currently. So everybody can build an app, but not everybody has the backend. So I think that's something where telco can be different compared to other parties.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:10):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That infrastructure is such a legacy thing.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:13):
Exactly. Yeah. Especially for KPN in the Netherlands, having the best infrastructure, one of the best infrastructures. So yeah, that helps also deploying AI.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:25):
So you've already given us a spoiler into the new AI voice product that you're doing. Are there any other developments we should expect to see from KPN in this space over the coming months?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:34):
Yeah. So I think this is after live, it's not done. This is only the beginning. So I always say the sky is the limit with this because we really believe that this is a paradigm shift, just like we had when we went from fixed voice to mobile voice, when we added data to your mobile phone, and now we see that AI is the next big thing. So we really think this is going to shift and help. I think it's the first generation of AI phone calling, but we need to develop it, so we need to add value. So the AI agent, currently we do not have the agent who can do the calling, but we're going to add it. But also the flows. Make sure that you want your email integrated or your agenda, so somebody can see, or the agent or yourself can see, "Hey, tomorrow at 10 o'clock there's still room.
(08:28):
Let's plan a meeting," because this is what the customer wants who called and talked into the voicemail and said, "Hey, can you meet tomorrow?" How good would it be if the AI agent could plan this for you? So that's something that we all want to develop. And I think the nice thing is also because it's so new, we need to experience it with each other and what we need to develop, how we can help customers even more. And this can be something broad, like we experience, hey, this is what customers give back, but can also be a little bit smaller in experience. For example, we need to add a certain language to our platform. So yeah, that's also the great thing about this because it is so new, and it's a new business and a new world that we need to search for new opportunities and do it together with the customers.
(09:28):
So yeah, I think that's great and very interesting and I get energy of that.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (09:33):
I mean, it sounds like there's loads in the pipeline also. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (09:37):
Yeah. Thank you very much.
"""
print("Corrected transcript verified. Length:", len(corrected_transcript))
```
```text
Corrected transcript verified. Length: 9279
```
Here is the corrected transcript formatted in UK English with proper telecom industry terminology, followed by the table of corrections mapped to their exact timestamps from the original audio/VTT transcript.
### Corrected Transcript
James Pearce, TelecomTV (00:05):
Hello and welcome to TelecomTV. I'm James Pearce. I'm in Amsterdam, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Otto-Jan Woltjer, who's from KPN. Thank you so much for joining us today. Let's start off by talking about a new product that KPN's launching around AI voice. What is it? Why are you launching it, and what should we look out for?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (00:25):
Yeah, thank you very much. Yeah, we're launching a new product called Mobile AI, and it's the first product by a Dutch telco where we integrate AI into mobile subscriptions. And you can think of transcription, but also AI voicemail, where we help our customers make their work easier by helping them getting the right priorities, helping them giving their customers the right answers, because that's what we got from our customers, that reachability is very important. If you miss a call with a new order, it can cost you a lot of money as a business. And yeah, with Mobile AI, we are going to help the customer being better reachable on their own settings. So for example, if I'm busy working and I'm not available, my AI agent can handle the call, or it can go directly to my colleague or my business voicemail where I can then later on call the customer back to help them.
(01:20):
So yeah, it's a broad product, but the focus is on AI and reachability when we start the product. But the nice thing about it, it's not yet done, so we try to develop it more because we really want to help our customers becoming more flexible and efficient.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (01:40):
It sounds really exciting. I can't wait to see what it is and how it works. Let's talk about some of the biggest lessons that you've learnt since taking AI voice from experimentation into a more live telecom environment.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (01:55):
Yeah. It's always, as mentioned, it's testing, testing, testing, because you need to make sure that the quality is right. So we work together with a partner, in this case it's ElevenLabs, but it's important that the quality is right because people are only going to use it when they know it's good enough. So we try a lot of experiments and have a lot of conversations with the AI and check if what we put in, we also get out. So yeah, that's very important to make sure that the quality is on the level that we expect and also in a safe manner, of course.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (02:29):
What are the potential opportunities to make voice strategically important again by using AI to turn conversations into intelligent, actionable data?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (02:38):
Yeah. Now we have a conversation with the phone, it's all about the conversation, but how cool would it be if you can directly react on that? So if you have a conversation that the AI listens to and directly, for example, if you say, "Hey, we need to make an appointment next week," boom, AI makes the appointment next week. Or, "Hey, we want an order," or, "Make sure that I know how much it's going to cost." AI can help you with that type of stuff, so it makes it easier for the customer to do their business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (03:14):
Let's talk about the operator's perspective more. How can operators capture value from AI as it becomes more embedded into communications?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (03:21):
Yeah, so I think when you look at operators, where are we good in? We are good in communications. We have the mobile numbers, we have the mobile subscriptions. So we really want, from that perspective, help the customers when they use their device. And when I look at myself, I use my mobile device maybe more than my laptop when I'm working. And also when I'm not working, when I'm in the car or on the weekends, my mobile device is, I think, the most important. I want to be available on there on the right way and help our customers in the right way. So I think this gives value because, for example, I always say if you save 10 minutes because we give the right priority or make sure you know what to do, after 10 minutes a day, what's the value of that? Or one missed call from a potential customer?
(04:13):
Yeah, what's the value of that? It can be the next big customer you need to be profitable. So there's a lot of opportunity and value, especially depends on the price what you are going to ask, but I think we are introducing it for a price that makes it available for everybody to use it. At €7.50, what we're going to introduce it, and it's available for everybody when you have a KPN business market subscription. So yeah, that really creates value.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (04:46):
It does sound like a really interesting opportunity. Let's look forward a little bit. What's the single biggest change that you see AI making onto the telecom operator business model over the next three years?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (05:00):
Yeah, I think it's the action. So now, when we start, we have transcription and it sees what we do, but you also want to have the action after, because that really helps you in your work. So I need to make an appointment, or I need to look at the bill or what the customer wants. If you can automate that flow in your business process, then it creates really extra value for the customer. And also our customer, but also the customer of our customer. And it makes it easier. For example, if you call a service desk for questions, you don't want to press one for this, press two. It takes a lot of time. If you get an AI agent and you can ask AI this question and it directly helps you with that, or makes sure that they route you to the right person who can help you, it already helps the customers and also the experience of customers.
(05:54):
So it's also the journey customers are enjoying better in the future. And we're still not there because I think AI is also a little bit scary for a lot of people. So we need to make sure that it's in a safe way and that we are very clear about where we store data, that we do it on... We also tell our customers and also the people they talk that this voice is transcribed, or that we need to be very clear about that, because that gives trust to a party, and I think that's very important because when you got the trust, you also got the business.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (06:32):
In an AI-native world, what is the unique asset or capability that gives telecom operators a sustainable competitive advantage?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (06:40):
I think where we are good in, we have a mobile core. We have a mobile subscription for networking. Yeah, we need to embed also AI in there because that's something only we have. That's not what hyperscalers have currently. So everybody can build an app, but not everybody has the backend. So I think that's something where telco can be different compared to other parties.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:10):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That infrastructure is such a legacy thing.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:13):
Exactly. Yeah. Especially for KPN in the Netherlands, having the best infrastructure, one of the best infrastructures. So yeah, that helps also deploying AI.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (07:25):
So you've already given us a spoiler into the new AI voice product that you're doing. Are there any other developments we should expect to see from KPN in this space over the coming months?
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (07:34):
Yeah. So I think this is after live. It's not done. This is only the beginning. So I always say the sky is the limit with this because we really believe that this is a paradigm shift, just like we had when we went from fixed voice to mobile voice, when we added data to your mobile phone, and now we see that AI is the next big thing. So we really think this is going to shift and help. I think it's the first generation of AI phone calling, but we need to develop it, so we need to add value. So the AI agent, currently we do not have the agent who can do the calling, but we're going to add it. But also the flows. Make sure that you want your email integrated or your agenda, so somebody can see, or the agent or yourself can see, "Hey, tomorrow at 10 o'clock there's still room.
(08:28):
Let's plan a meeting," because this is what the customer wants who called and talked into the voicemail and said, "Hey, can you meet tomorrow?" How good would it be if the AI agent could plan this for you? So that's something that we all want to develop. And I think the nice thing is also because it's so new, we need to experience it with each other and what we need to develop, how we can help customers even more. And this can be something broad, like we experience, hey, this is what customers give back, but can also be a little bit smaller in experience. For example, we need to add a certain language to our platform. So yeah, that's also the great thing about this because it is so new, and it's a new business and a new world that we need to search for new opportunities and do it together with our customers.
(09:28):
So yeah, I think that's great and very interesting and I get energy from that.
James Pearce, TelecomTV (09:33):
I mean, it sounds like there's loads in the pipeline also. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Otto-Jan Woltjer, KPN (09:37):
Thank you very much.
Please note that video transcripts are provided for reference only – content may vary from the published video or contain inaccuracies.
Otto Jan Woljer, Portfolio Manager Mobile & UC/Voice, KPN
Otto Jan Woljer, KPN’s portfolio manager for mobile & UC/voice, discusses turning voice into actionable data and how to make it strategically important again. He also explores how to capture value from new services and explains how infrastructure assets can help telcos can gain a competitive advantage in an AI-native world.
Recorded September 2026
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