Moving on “Beyond Telecom”
Mark Hukill, Member – PTC Advisory Council

The theme for PTC’07 ‘Beyond Telecom’ was not just a catchy phrase for promotional purposes.  True to PTC’s mission as an open forum for the exchange of information in the telecommunications and ICT domains in the Pacific hemisphere, the theme encapsulated a rich blend of concepts, strategies and opportunities. 

This year’s speakers and participants engaged in discussions that moved us beyond the usual chatter of what is the next set of systems and services provided by carriers and operators.  While carriers and operators continue to strategize over service offerings on their networks that provide ‘solutions’, customers and consumers are beginning to show that the use of IP networks allow them to engage in the activities they want using the means they prefer.  If what starts on IP, stays on IP, as one speaker said, the dynamics of networks change toward increasing personalization, whether individuals or enterprises.  Not a surprise then to hear many telcos stating that they need to become consumer-driven organizations.

What we are beginning to witness is the very challenging notion that 
the convergence of systems and services on IP may be spawning a divergence away from network provider’s services toward network activities enabled to capture what users want to do and how they want to do it.

Some carriers at the conference talked about becoming media companies with content becoming the major play. Others claimed that they were becoming IT companies.  Not surprisingly at this still early stage, they did not really define what that meant.  Still others offered a view toward becoming a carrier’s carrier in “a last man standing” strategy and importantly in peering worldwide for mobile networks.  Not without irony, the move toward interconnectivity in mobile networks worldwide is being met with regulatory concern for content carried on such worldwide networks due to restrictions that many countries will want to impose. And that will be content provided by the carriers as part of their network and business strategies in becoming media and IT companies.  No doubt regulation will continue to be a challenge in providing fair and open markets while necessarily adapting to social, cultural and political pressures in specific country cases.

Many were concerned with how to respond to business needs and having the networks adapt to those needs, not the other way around.  And all were very concerned with the continuing transition to an all IP environment and how to effectively manage that transition.

Voice especially remains a key concern as well as the continued expansion of VoIP in its many forms.  One operator at PTC’07 claimed that voice was still their “killer app”.  The challenge is the broader implication when users select network activities that incorporate voice, video and data services as background technological means to allow for various forms of communication rather than subscribe to a separate service to conduct those activities as they do now.  Networks, as a result, must become much more adaptable to changing needs. 

Mobile network providers seemed not to be too worried.  Should they be concerned in the evolving IP environment?  Kids (of all ages) after all seem to adore their mobile phones.  At least for now.  In many developing countries, mobile networks and subscribers are growing fast and have already well out-paced development of fixed-line service. There are now 33 phones per 100 population in Vietnam with two-thirds of those being mobile phones. (source: ITU World Telecommunications Indicators Database) The increasing deployment of wireless capacity and use is having a positive impact on economic development.  Already in Bangladesh for example, nearly a quarter million so-called “phone ladies” provide services in communities by buying a mobile phone on micro-credit from the Grameen Bank and Foundation.

In the developed world, many mobile network providers are adapting to changes in carriage of information for multi-function IP devices.  But, to the extent that providers may not see how the change to IP is placing pressure toward integrated applications not services, then there is real concern.  Is this a threat to their operations?  Only if the challenge of re-strategizing how their network technology is used is not met.  What will operators do when voice is simply a feature across a multitude of platforms and devices rather than a separate service?  

At PTC’07, we heard many speakers address aspects of these ideas but most were rather vague about what to do in general or what they will do in particular.  We also heard much of interest from the provider perspective but have yet to hear more from a user’s perspective.  And investors are concerned as well in the face of much uncertainty in this evolving arena even as regulators call for new investment to provide access where it is still needed. 

And what about new convergent systems and services such as IPTV and mobile TV?  Still in an evolving stage, we heard everything from specific business cases that hold some promise in particular markets to claims that IPTV will commoditize broadcasting.  Certainly the latter is yet to be seen. What is more important at this stage is to understand how the major entertainment world’s networks and distribution methods are also evolving in a user dominated environment and how that evolution will play an increasingly central role in the dynamics of telecommunications and ICT. 

So now comes the real work in thinking beyond telecom over the course of the coming year leading to PTC’08.   There is certainly no shortage of important issues to discuss as well as the manifestation of those issues in both developed and developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region as we embark into the new ICT arena.

Here’s wishing everyone a successful year ahead leading to the milestone 30th annual conference at PTC’08.

The views expressed reflect those of the author only and not necessarily PTC as an organization.