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I do hope to attend it on  February 18, 2016, 12pm EST - http://www.telcotransformation.com/radio.asp?doc_id=720609 

Platinum

Good subject for the Feb. 18 for the next radio show...

Steel

Thanks again everyone. 

Author

Great question LightRay. As mentioned, I'm interested in hearing what small to midsize service providers are doing. 

Author

Hey, just a shout out that we have a contest going at http://www.telcotransformation.com 

Author

Looking forward to the next show!

And as a last question - does anyone have a suggestion for a telco that has transformed itself and doing great things that is maybe an 'unsung hero' that we should go talk to?  

Author

thanks Mike, Iain and Ray for a great show. Bye all. Till next time.

Platinum

NewlPLiz- Agreed.  And I believe it will be a differentiator.

Platinum

Everyone, thanks again for taking the time listen and participate today! Not cutting anyone off but I know some people have to jump off. So don't forget to tune in Feb. 18 for the next radio show. 

Author

analytics play into everything, CEM, IT, security -- 

Platinum

oh we didn't talk about analytics

Platinum

Yes, absolutely - having a kick-ass analytics platform and skilled people who know how to get meaningful data from it is gong to be a differentiator, in my view. But I know that 'data scientists' are the 'unicorns' of the current comms market...

Author

LightRay - In other words a "Smart" System - which then includes the analytics.

Platinum

I agree Mitch! and if its frustrating to use they'll go elsewhere. Gee, I hope I'm not the guy defending Comcast!

Author

LightRay - CRM systems need to also give the customer service reps visibility into all the times a customer has contacted the organization. Many companies have customer service silos. 

Mike Robuck - No matter how great the product is, it still has to be put into customers' hands!

Customer service models, yes -- the old way of doing things is redundant. An integrated real-time system that enables a customer service rep to see everything about a customer and undrstand not only what their situation might be but how that customer can be helped and even up-sold is vital.

Author

@lightray culture impacts everything after all...

Platinum

NewIPLiz - When technology reaches the adoption stage, discussion of standards takes a back seat to implementation practicalities. 

Ray, good point. X1 rollout was initially hurt by lack of boxes to install. So I guess it didn't matter how cool the UI, etc. were.

Author

LightRay - Here Here!

Platinum

@mikerobuck is it just me or has the standards issue fallen a bit by the wayside in terms of hype? Maybe its gone into the trough of disillusionment now?

Platinum

Digital partnerships - a MASSIVE opportunity if only all parties could get theirs heads out of their backsides and strike some symbiotic deals instead of always trying to land the lion's share

Author

Mike - is X1 about dealing directly with customers? I have no doubt that Comcast is great at developing and delivering new services but if that service, for whatever reason, doesn't work properly, a customer wanst to be treated as a valued customer.... I think Comcast has a reputation for not being g reat at that and PERCEPTION counts for so much

Author

@lightray you are right there about anyone could be a customer anytime  -- the move to digital partnerships will make a huge impact there

Platinum

LightRay, So it's customer service models as well as the service itself.

Platinum

@LightRay Ooh, nice point Ray on everyone as a potential customer, even if only briefly.

Gold

What's everyone's take on SDN/NFV standards?

 

Author

Pacnet move very interesting from Telstra's perspective and they are developing that offering all the time - http://www.lightreading.com/carrier-sdn/sdn-architectures/telstra-launches-new-sdn-services/d/d-id/720485  

Gold

Also on customers --- that's another thing that has to cjhange. Telcos have to start thinking about how ANYONE could be a customer, even if only for 1 hour

Author

NewlLightRay,  That is interesting- will be anxious to see the outcome.

Platinum

Customer experience management is something you could put at the pinnacle --- that's where all these efforts have to have an impact 

Author

@NewIPLiz On the question of vCPE, there are advantages to keeping networking communications local in some cases and not always connecting back to the Internet. Sometimes it's about security, sometimes bandwidth or latency.

Gold

understanding the customer journey, mapping it out ... especially as customers move into things like ordering their own services on demand is going to be a chjallenge

Platinum

@LightRay so you don't think X1 adds value? It's Comcast, you will be assimilated! 

Author

DHagar - if yo are asking about Telstra, I think the way they took something of a gamble with the acquisition of Pacnet and are now developing that acquisition to fight their way into the global enterprise and wholesale comms sector in a bigger way than they had ever done before is really really interesting

 

Author

@lightray yeah, customer experience management is something you didn't talk about on the show but that is so important

Platinum

msilbey: Sounds like a good model!

Platinum

It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out and whether Deutsche Telekom can do what it says it wants to do, but in the words of DT's CEO - "In the future there will... be the option of booking a service with assured quality in exchange for a few euros. This would be a fair contribution for the use of the infrastructure."

Gold

Re Comcast - ha, OK, and I think this is going to be a major challenge for a lot of operators. AT the end of the day everything they do has to end up with delivering great services that are PERCEIVED as delivering value for money alongside great customer service - if you suck at customer services badly and don't fix that then the other efforts are to a large part wasted

 

Author

LightRay,  Why?  What are they doing that has put them in the lead?

Platinum

@LightRay This is already happening with companies like Verizon and Comcast building wholesale services for other media distributors. I'd say that trend is supported at least in part by new IT systems.

Gold

@lightRay i think we are only seeing the beginning of wht telstra is going to do

Platinum

Iain, Interesting.  So that is still unchartered territory?

Platinum

@msilbey that's funny

Platinum

Great call on telstra actually - that is a compmany that is starting to impact the global comms scene in a much bigger way

Author

What I'm really looking forward to discovering is how traditional operators are able to create new business cases and opportunities through the development and introduction of new IT systems

 

Author

Hi DHagar. Yes, net neutrality is a big deal in Europe and they seem to have taken less of a hardline stance on this than the US, which is why Deutsche Telekom thinks there are still opportunities to charge OTT players for assured-quality services. 

Gold

Verizon, AT&T, Masergy, CenturyLink, DT, Colt, Telefonica -- those would be my top 6. Telstra is starting to move into SDN  with the pacnet acquistion

Platinum

Ha, I combined @LightRay and @NewIPLiz. That was for @LightRay

Gold

Lots of questions to get to! I know it's hard to believe, but Comcast has undergone a cultural transformation of its own, but maybe it didn't have customer service first!

Author

Thanks Mike, Ray and Iain.  Mark your calendars now!  Feb. 18th with TM Forum's Carl Piva. 

Steel

@NewRay Yes, that Comcast. I didn't say they'd successfully transformed everywhere. (ahem)

Gold

comcast - is that the Comcast that is known for truly appalling customer service?

Author

Verizon is also making quite some inroads in this transformation.

Steel

Is there an equivalent Net Neutrality in other countries, or what is the regulatory environment and affect internationally overally?

Platinum

@LightRay Don't know that I can pick one, but I do think Comcast doesn't get as much credit as it should for the transformation it's executed over the last five years. Comcast has been a champion of open source, dev ops and software-driven services. That's a huge change from how the company used to approach its business.

Gold

@msilbey vCPE make so much business sense -- what kind of backlash are you imagining? Maybe based on security issues or something else? 

Platinum

any examples of small service provider?

Author

Is Huawei leading across each of those markets or competing in each differently?

Platinum

Spaniard Telefonica - it´s tacking big steps

 

Steel

Are we likely to see a backlash at all against virtualized CPE? I'm thinking of the investments taking place now in in-home hubs and gateways on the residential side. There seems to be a bit of a push-pull dynamic.

Gold

Different regulations in each country, and different cultures.

 

Steel

@dhagar I think the us is leading in some cases but following in others. 

Platinum

@lightRay that's a tough question to answer because each has a different approach -- 

Platinum

Will the US lead, participate, or follow?

Platinum

I want to ask everyone - which telco is, in your view, the most advanced in transforming itself and adapting to the new world?

Author

Who do you see as the drivers?  Not just leading the market, but reforming the platform?

Platinum

Sky unfortuately tries to keep everything proprieritary, which stifles innovation.

Steel

@LightRay def think its a combo of both -- 

Platinum

Is there a likelihood of more collaboration between traditional network operators and newer web-scale companies?

Gold

Hi, I agree as well.  Technology has opened the door but our cultural systems and new designs have not taken place.

Platinum

More questions for online chat, please!

 

Author

@aduran that's an interesting angle I hadn't considered -- might be cheaper to outsource skills but that could actually hold up change

Platinum

this is very interesting - culture and business model looks to be the most favored responses!

Author

Yes, that´s why it´s so hard to change culture and move to next step, outsourcing lower cost in operation but limits improvement

 

Steel

Agree, Culture. Tradition

 

Steel

@aduran so they are just outsourcing?

Platinum

Feel free to add to your vote, why did you vote for "culture" or any of the others? Thanks

 

Author

How much new opportunity do you see for traditional infrastructure companies in the media space? I'm seeing a lot of bulking up on media processing and delivery capabilities, particularly as systems migrate to IP.

Gold

Cultural - biggest issue for most operators to address; once that is determined the rest is technology & implementation.

Steel

Neither education or skills are important for the present employees, LATam Industry just switch to a new subcontractor with knowledge and less people to do the job. It´s just money must have to be representative in the implementation.

 

Steel

I think business model

Steel

Vote: business model

Platinum

agreed @msilbey

 

Platinum

Netflix is going to put even more OTT pressure on operators now that its footprint is virtually global.

Gold

Masergy is also pretty advanced in virtualization which brings me to my question, does size matter for telcos and transformation?

Platinum

The C level sometimes is hard to get them going.

Steel

printing out their emails....ha

Platinum

Retraining and skill upgrades indicate a company which may actually value their employees. Rare in the IT industry.

 

Steel

education and skills are important, but as long as managers incl. C-level are present who are still printing out their emails, cultural change and "digital attitude" will be slowed down. It's more about attitude.

Steel

mobile money is an interesting move for european telcos in europe.

Platinum

in the forefront of reskilling? or in terms of overall transformation?

Author

AT&T is in the forefront

Steel

Great point Carol - let's come back to that point in the audio Q&A

Author

WELCOME TO ANYONE JUST TUNING IN NOW!  Remember to turn up your volume on the computers.  Be sure to post your questions, comments and thoughts on the message boards and Ray, Iain and Mike will join us on the chat post audio stream. 

 

 
Steel

On the culture side, it's interesting to see that AT&T is investing heavily in retraining its folks -a skills pivot - versus trying to hire talent. Does that approach make more sense and can you get employees to really change their mindset for how they work along with their skills?

it may be cold where you are but this topic is HOT!!

Author

AT&T is really pushing hard on the reskilling front...

Platinum

culture change is huge!

Platinum

BSS/OSS has really come back to the forefront with the whole transformation...

Platinum

-12 sounds really cold....need to do the math to convert it to F

Platinum

It is minus 12 degree celsius at Ottawa

Steel

what is the biggest challenge to change in the major telcos? is it the mindset? Some are really trying to address that now but it's got to be a huge undertaking

Platinum

depends who you listen to - 6 in, 12 in, 2 feet if you believe some of them...

Steel

how much are you going to get? 12-14? the snow is frozen into a tundra in chicago

 

Platinum

It is sunny and very cold at Ottawa, Canada.

Steel

waiting for the SNOW in NYC!

Steel

cold and clear here in Chicagoland

 

Platinum

welcome to all our guests! 

Author

Hi everyone. Loooking forward to today's chat!

and to the questions!!

Author

Alan, cable, mobile, OTT, Facebook, Google, etc. Ask Ray and Iain hard questions

 

Author

Good morning. Looking forward to an interesting discussion today.

Gold

looking forward to the great discussion today!

Platinum

The show will be archived and available immediately after we finish the live interview.

 

Author

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone!  Remember to turn up your volume on the computers.  At the top of the hour an audio player will pop up on your screen.  If you don't see it, try to press F5 to refresh your screen. Remember, there's no slides for this it's just a discussion, so be sure to post your questions, comments and thoughts on the message boards and Iain and Mike will join us on the chat post audio stream.   Looking forward to this inaugural event!!

Steel

Mike, I'm curious about what telcos are doing to transform themselves into better competitors on the small business front? Cable operators are making big gains against them there.

Steel

Will you be talking about cable operatorsat all too?

 

Steel

Good morning, Mike. Congrats on your first show. Looking forwared to your special guests.

 

Steel

Good morning! Thanks for joining.

Author

should be interesting, hope to attend 

Platinum
Someone needs to design a cell phone that connects up to obsolete analog devices. Like Samsung and Apple. And without price gouging customers.
Steel

should be interesting hope to attend :) 

Platinum

looking forward to this

Steel

Looking forward to this discussion

Steel

Thank you and looking forward to it!

Steel

Hello..Interested in the concepts and contents

Steel

Looking forward to the discussion.

Steel

Thank you and looking forward to it!

Steel

Thank you and looking forward to it!

Steel

Greetings from Sunny Los Angeles

Steel

looking forward to it

 

Steel

Looking forward  to attend Telco Transformation session. Thanks.

Steel

Good afternoon y'all. This should be good stuff.

Looking forward to finding out more about Telco Transformation! Should be a great show.

Platinum


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