Case Study: How Vodafone Germany Became A Convergent Operator

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 others come into their space (such as Google and Amazon.com). Vodafone Germany is a case study on how to address the opportunities created by convergence. Vodafone Germany succeeded by starting with strategy, integrating management, and then moving on to deal with networks, systems, service, and devices. As a result, the performance of Vodafone Germany has improved markedly. Vendor strategists can learn four lessons from Vodafone Germany: 1) Convergence is here, so you need to respond; 2) convergence is good for business; 3) to become a convergent operator, start with strategy; and 4) convergence is more than just networks and services.