By Adam Janota, Director, Global Networks, Equinix
Capacity Europe kicked off earlier than usual on Tuesday. At around 7:00am, 40 bleary eyed delegates hazily swiped at their snooze buttons and hit the streets of Amsterdam. The reason – they’d signed up for the Telecoms Sans Frontiers 5KM run.
Considering the after parties that took place the night before, I doubt many personal bests were broken. But with the funds raised providing emergency infrastructure in war torn countries or disaster zones, I don’t think anyone will be too concerned! Well done to everyone that took part.
Day two started with more of the same slightly over-dried pastries before moving straight into the first keynote with Matt Carter, President Wholesale Solutions & Emerging Markets at Sprint.
Matt used a very poignant phrase during his presentation – “To Know, Innovate and Grow”. Aside from being a punchy slogan, he had a point, which echoed the theme of change from the first day at Capacity Europe.
In a market where voice revenue is under threat, Telco’s are turning to data to redress the balance and fill the revenue void. Others are going a step further, moving away from being pure play connectivity providers, and instead focusing on delivery of complete end-to-end platforms, verticalising them and moving up the value chain.
The revenue theme continued in SVP, Deutsche Telekom, Holger Magnussen’s keynote looking at the future of the internet and the way OTTs and Telco’s work together. Or don’t as is the case with most.
While both agree that customers need quality services, neither seem able to agree on a way of dividing the revenue spoils in a manner which both are happy with.
Based on this impasse, Holger’s suggested model for OTTs and Telco’s to work together is visionary. However, although the framework seems sound, it requires agreement from both sides on how the revenue pie should be divided.
Ultimately, the OTT versus Telco issue is one that’s far from resolved and although each was sympathetic to the others point-of-view, it was not going to see resolution at Capacity Europe.
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