What is the future role of the telco? From the many conversations I’ve had with people in the industry, it is clear that the telcos would rather not be just a “bit pipe”, though it has to be said that there’s plenty of money to be made in pipes, so long as you have many of them and pump a lot through. Bit transportation does not generate a lot of revenue by itself, and the presence of pipes does not necessarily encourage people to fill them. I believe one possible bright future for telcos lies in being intermediaries to manage the delivery of high-value bits.

Take, for example, the telco’s position as a “trusted” party. They are already facilitating e-commerce [click title to read more…]