Telecom operators are no longer alone in selling services to their customers. Several large internet players, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, reason that they are not required to create a relationship with today’s operators in order to reach their end-users. Furthermore, these players may even argue that operators hamper their efforts to provide attractive end- user services. Consequently, there is currently a strong trend for developers of services and applications to bypass operators and target end users directly.
But telecom operators need not stand idly by and watch as new players shoulder their way into the game. They have a strong hand that, if played right, can be used to develop very attractive end-user services.
By making resources available to application developers, telecom operators can create an ecosystem for new services, and by choosing to cooperate among themselves and act together they can both reclaim lost ground and reach additional value chains. Later, with the help of yet new enablers, they can stake out completely new markets.
To successfully establish this ecosystem, telecom operators should work together with a broker (a trusted partner or aggregator) who can guide them through the transition from a one-operator/one-device paradigm to an all- operators/all-devices ecosystem.
Therefore, telecom operators have a choice: they can simply sell mobile broadband services on top of their data offering or they can become enablers of services.
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