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Digital Disruption in Telecom

Like so many other industries before, telecom now faces a moment of reckoning as operators come under increasing pressure from new digital-native entrants and evolving consumer preferences. With revenues continuing to decline and digital disruption on the horizon, many MNOs are left with a stark choice: innovate fast or be displaced. Read on to learn about how key digital trends are transforming telecom and reshaping the technology landscape.

"OTT players threaten to cannibalize [traditional telco] staple offerings with innovative, easy-to-use, and even more-attractive messaging and communication services…the telecom industry is on course to becoming unrecognizable within ten years’ time in a “do nothing” scenario.

Over-the-top (OTT) revenue, McKinsey & Co

The Rise of Digital Communication

OTT services like messaging and VoIP see rapid growth and cannibalize MNO revenues. At the same time, consumer spend on communication is projected to decline over the next ten years. 

The mobile VoIP market is expected to grow at rate of over 13% between 2019 and 2025.

Skype In/Out

70%

Growth in March 2020

We Chat

30%

Growth in 2019

Viber Out

25%

Growth in 2019

Zoom Audio

75%

Growth during COVID-19

The Downfall of Traditional Voice

Along with growing competition from digital-native entrants, operators report declining revenues and increased churn. This makes the ability to continually launch new digital services more critical than ever before.

Operator voice revenue to drop 45% by 2024, under a growing OTT challenge.

Telecom voice revenue ($Bln)

The Threat from Within

While the threat to telecom originated elsewhere, the real challenge is very much internal. After years of downsizing product teams and outsourcing roadmaps, many MNOs simply lack the resources, knowledge and culture needed for true service innovate in today’s highly complex technological environment. This is like showing up to a modern battlefield with nothing but muskets and bayonets.

Only 20% of surveyed telecom companies said they had adopted at least one AI technology.

Fighting An Uphill Battle

On top of this, operators must grapple with backwards-looking metrics  and a network architecture that was not designed innovation in mind. This means that when operators do try to innovate, they face an uphill battle. The result is that today most operators offer the same basic set of undifferentiated services, and compete primarily on price.

Digitally Transform Your Network

In order to overcome these obstacles and level the playing field with digital natives, MNOs need modern systems and real-time data. Relying on yesterday’s backwards looking BI reports and arcane tools will no longer cut it.

Telecom Digital Capability Maturity

To thrive in an increasingly connected and digital world, operators need to move up the value curve by injecting networks with new capabilities, which fall into one of five levels:

L1: “Passive” — Real-time insights, call metadata and call completion

L2: “Active” — Control media based on inputs within a call

L3: “Interactive” — Live actions based on speech and/or text

L4: “Connected” — Incorporate 3rd-party service via API

L5: “Intelligent” — Leverage AI & ML to power advanced services

Ready to digitally transform your network?

Sifox helps telecom operators grow revenue faster and retain customers longer by making it easier than ever to build, launch and operate cutting-edge voice, messaging and data services — all without incurring any additional cost or risk.