For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Changing Face Of Telecom Wholesale

Telecom Wholesale: From Regulatory Mandate To Customer Demand

by Mike Cansfield, November 3, 2009

Last year we said that the wholesale sector in telecom was at an inflection point. This study shows that the changes we detected last year accelerated with market forces driving change in what customers want from their wholesale suppliers and in the business-to-business . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: How AT&T Is Helping The Williams F1 Racing Team Become More Competitive

by Mike Cansfield, September 22, 2009

AT&T is the title sponsor and exclusive telecommunications services provider of the Williams Formula One (F1) motor racing team. Like any other business, F1 is a relentlessly competitive environment. AT&T is more than just a sponsor of the team; . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Recession Insights: What's Up, What's Down, And What It Means To The Communications Sector

Telecom And Network Spending Shows Some Bright Spots

by Mike Cansfield, August 20, 2009

The recession rumbles on, and, although summer has arrived (for the Northern hemisphere at least), the economic winter looks likely to be a long one. Forrester's research shows some metrics falling but also other indicators that show there are bright . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: How Vodafone Germany Became A Convergent Operator

Four Lessons In Strategy Implementation

by Mike Cansfield, June 24, 2009

Convergence is happening today in the communications sector at multiple levels. This creates opportunities for telecom companies — notably in information and communications technology (ICT), entertainment, solutions, and services — but also threats as . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Lessons In Planning The Biggest Show On Earth

How ICT Will Be The Heartbeat Of The London 2012 Olympic Games

by Mike Cansfield, May 14, 2009

Regardless of whether you are a sports fan or not, the Beijing Olympic Games were one of the highlights of 2008. In 2012, it is London's turn to host the summer Olympic Games. Information and communications technology (ICT) is a key enabler in making . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Farewell To The Traditional Telecom Ecosystem

How Vendor Strategists Can Win With Customer-Led Ecosystems

by Mike Cansfield, May 7, 2009

Until as recently as 2000, it was pretty clear what the telecommunications sector was all about. Customers — consumers at home and firms at work — bought calls and lines from telcos, which in turn purchased the technology components required to create . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

New Business Models Emerge For Telcos

How Telecom Vendor Strategists Can Seize Big Opportunities

by Mike Cansfield, April 24, 2009

The traditional one-size-fits-all business model in the communications sector is breaking down. New ways to do business are emerging, and as a result, vendor strategists in telcos have hard choices to make as they break out of the unsustainable status . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Telecoms And The Economic Recession: Some Silver Linings Exist

ICT, Public Sector, And Connecting Objects All Offer Growth

by Mike Cansfield, March 27, 2009

The current economic recession is the sharpest and deepest many of us have seen in our lifetimes, and it has the potential to be far more prolonged. The telecom sector is not immune from this, although the reported sector revenues of telcos in Q1 2009 . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Telstra's Telecom Marketing Excellence

by Mike Cansfield, March 26, 2009

Telcos today don't just compete with other operators; they also compete with premier brands such as Apple, Sony, and Microsoft. To be successful, they need to be top-notch marketers, yet traditionally, telcos are poor at this. Telstra, the Australian . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

From Financial Crisis To Economic Recession

What Should The Telecoms Sector Do?

by Mike Cansfield, December 24, 2008

Despite the efforts of governments and regulatory bodies, the financial crisis rumbles on and has yet to be fully resolved. As feared, it has spread like a contagious virus from finance and banking into other sectors of the economy including communications. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: How Telenor Jumped To The Big League

A Model Lesson In Strategy Implementation

by Mike Cansfield, December 1, 2008

Over the past seven years, Telenor — the incumbent telco in Norway — has transformed itself from a small operator with limited opportunities in a tiny country into a major global telecommunications group. How? By leveraging repeatable strategic methodologies . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2009: What's In Store For The Telecom Industry?

by Mike Cansfield, December 1, 2008

2008 has been a year of great flux, with the financial crisis, wildly fluctuating oil prices, and sky-high food prices. 2009 offers the prospect of more of the same in the financial sector but with the addition of the first recession in more than six . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Telefónica Invigorates Its Multinational Corporation Pitch

by Mike Cansfield, October 24, 2008

Telefónica is the fourth largest phone company in the world by market capitalization, and yet it has struggled in the past to attract multinational corporation (MNC) business. A new approach in the way it sells to this customer set is changing this and . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: The Reinvention Of Deutsche Telekom

Lessons In How To Strategically Realign A Telco

by Mike Cansfield, October 17, 2008

Over the past 18 months Deutsche Telekom (DT) has lifted itself up off its knees to again stand tall as a leading telco. It has done so by developing and articulating a clear and concise strategy and then implementing it without losing sight of the need . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview: Telcos Go Green

Internal And Customer-Facing Green Initiatives Will Rise

by Mike Cansfield, October 15, 2008

With concerns over the environment — and climate change in particular — going green has emerged on the agenda of governments, enterprises, and citizens alike. While the information and communications technology (ICT) sector accounts for 2% of overall . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

What Telecom Strategists Should Do In The Wake Of Financial Market Chaos

by Mike Cansfield, October 9, 2008

The media is obsessed with the earthquake going on in the financial sector — and with good reason. Assuming the initiatives taken by governments and central banks work, and the banking sector recovers, then they will have solved one problem. But the earthquake . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Tech Trends: The Wholesale Communications Market Comes Of Age

How To Capture Share In The Expanding Wholesale Market

by Mike Cansfield, August 14, 2008

The wholesale market was created by the liberalization of the communications sector — a process that began in the mid-1980s in the US and the UK and has since spread across the globe. For 20 years, this initial phase of the market met most of the needs . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Access Structural Separation And Regulation Gain Traction

How The UK Experience Can Help Your Strategy

by Mike Cansfield, May 22, 2008

Despite the success of the liberalization of communications markets that began in the early 1980s, near-monopolies still exist in many countries at the access layer (from the street cabinet to the customer's premises). In 2005 in the UK, the regulator . . .