7 things we learnt from Carriers World

With Carriers World now in the rear-view mirror we take a reflective look back at some of the key things learnt from the outstanding two day conference. 


1. Voice is not Dead!
While many OTT players are incorporating voice into their applications, this is not to say that the voice industry is dead (even though still a disputed topic this week). Rather wholesale carriers must look at how voice traffic is being moved forward towards VoLTE and HD Voice, and recognise that it is (see point 2!)

2. Quality over Quantity
While there is still a market in voice, the consumer is becoming more and more driven by quality and hence wholesale carriers must keep this in mind, when launching new services such as VoLTE and HD Voice. 

3. This is a big world… …and undoubtedly getting bigger. With data increasing at an exponential rate (and one that will certainly become bigger as more connected devices come on board) the horizon is set to widen for a lot of wholesale carriers.

4. We all love a good buzzword
And the word of this week: hyper connectivity. While we cannot ignore phrases such as M2M and WebRTC, it will be interesting to see how such innovations will affect the traditional wholesale market. 

5. Keep your friends close
… and your enemies closer! While inviting Skype to a traditional wholesale carrier conference may seem like a rather uncouth idea, the discussions had onsite seemed to imply that your greatest alley can be found in the strangest places. Wholesale carriers must recognise the disruptors and find a way to work alongside them.

6. We all need a little help from our friends 
Reiterating the words of Nellie Kroes last week, the traditional model for wholesale carriers is one that holds a precarious position; instead wholesale carriers need to invest in partnerships that will allow them to move with the times and facilitate for them to be more than just a “dumb pipe”. 

7. Opportunity can be found in the most unorthodox of places
APIs may not exactly spring to mind as something to talk about at such a conference, however speakers from Twilio, Deezer, and Amazon Web Services demonstrated that there are opportunities in new and exciting places. Giving the carrier a chance to once again get closer to the end user.