Telepocalypse

Telco 2.0: Ready to roll

It’s been a whole lot of midnight oil, but I’m ready to announce something new and good: The Telco 2.0 initiative.

I’m working with my colleagues at STL Partners, who presently publish IMS Insider newsletter and IMS Insider blog (a.k.a IMS Skeptics’ Weekly). We are creating a new consulting business, primarily aimed at network operators and suppliers hitting the telecom menopause and needing some business model hormone therapy. Together, we’ve got a depth of insight, experience and passion for the area I don’t think anyone else can match. My personal goal/mantra: Deliver the sector-specific advice that McKinsey can’t give you.

As you might expect, we’ve got a blog, inventively named Telco 2.0. It’s a group blog, written Economist style without individual attribution. If I ever get time, I’ll tell the story of how hard it is to put together a commercial blog using off-the-shelf tools, and integrate email marketing, change management, branding, security, privacy policy, operational information, feedback management, contact management, etc. In a word: horrendous. None of the out-of-the-box solutions came close to meeting my requirements, so I integrated it myself. Heaven help anyone with a business bent who doesn’t have a technical background but wishes to go beyond basic “message & link” blogging. There are still some rough edges, please be patient as we work through them.

We’ve also launched a Manifesto for Telco 2.0. We believe that there is a need to succinctly describe the issues and solutions in a format that is accessible to an operator and vendor audience. Most people don’t read blogs (sadly — their loss) and need a simple link that can be mailed around between people and isn’t tied up with the blog mechanics. I really must slap on that Creative Commons license some time… another to-do.

I look forward to getting your feedback — one of the many to-do items is to make comments and updates for the manifesto easier and add trackbacks/search engine backlinks.

Naturally, we’re aiming to make a living, so there’s an overtly revenue-based bit. We’ve got a reassuringly expensive report based on oodles of research and insight. And a Telco 2.0 Industry Brainstorm event in October. Not quite a traditional conference, too structured to be an unconference. Target audience is senior execs concerned their business model has a “best before” date printed in fuzzy letters on the underside.

Why “Telco 2.0”? Is this stepping on a tired Bandwagon 2.0? I think not, and here’s why:

• Web 1.0 was about enabling a Internet user interface on pre-Internet systems and business models. Web 2.0 is an Internet native. Likewise Telco 2.0 is about an all-IP world.
• Web 1.0 was about systems, transactions and technology like brosers. Web 2.0 is people and relationships. Likewise Telco 2.0 is about connecting people in new ways.
• Web 1.0 disrupted a few information-centric industries quickly, whereas Web 2.0 is about a deeper change to patterns of data exchange and interaction — beyond the hyperlink. Likewise, Telco 2.0 means finding new value networks.
• Web 1.0 was built on narrowband and relatively puny computers, whereas Web 2.0 assumes everything comes in abundance. Likewise, Telco 2.0 is about ending the 1950s rationing and scarcity mentality.

I could probably go on finding more and weaker analogies, but I think you get the idea. The “2.0” buzzwords like social media are equally applicable to telcos with their massive installed telephony base (like it or not) and forays into the world’s favourite narcotic, television.

So, what about this baby, Telepocalypse? Four kids: two girls, two blogs. I think I deserve a bigger family tax break. Telepocalypse most definitely carries on: much of what I want to write about is too speculative, controversial, personal or off-topic for Telco 2.0. Plus I like the clean separation of my personal passions from my commercial ones. Telepocalypse isn’t here to sell you anything. Telco 2.0, most pleasingly, is.

I think you can fit another subscription into your news reader, don’t you?