Can open-source projects (re-) shape the SDN/NFV-driven telecommunication market?

Telecom network operators face rapidly changing business needs. Due to their dependence on long product cycles they lack the ability to quickly respond to changing user demands. To spur innovation and stay competitive, network operators are investigating technological solutions with a proven track record in other application domains such as open source software projects. Open source software enables parties to learn, use, or contribute to technology from which they were previously excluded. OSS has reshaped many application areas including the landscape of operating systems and consumer software. The paradigmshift in telecommunication systems towards Software-Defined Networking introduces possibilities to benefit from open source projects. Implementing the control part of networks in software enables speedier adaption and innovation, and less dependencies on legacy protocols or algorithms hard-coded in the control part of network devices. The recently proposed concept of Network Function Virtualization pushes the softwarization of telecommunication functionalities even further down to the data plane. Within the NFV paradigm, functionality which was previously reserved for dedicated hardware implementations can now be implemented in software and deployed on generic Commercial Off-The Shelf (COTS) hardware. This paper provides an overview of existing open source initiatives for SDN/NFV-based network architectures, involving infrastructure to orchestration-related functionality. It situates them in a business process context and identifies the pros and cons for the market in general, as well as for individual actors

Dynamic Approach to Competitive Intelligence: Case Studies of Large-Scale Swiss Telecom Firms

The research aim is to understand how the competitive intelligence (CI) process in large-scale Swiss telecom companies contributes to management decision-making. Studying CI activities of the Swiss large-scale telecom firms (Swisscom, Sunrise, Orange/Salt, Cablecom) in a dynamic European context offers useful insight into the critical challenges that service firms now face when developing intelligence in disruptive market contexts where aggressive competitive behaviour is evident. In considering CI theory, this study has reviewed perspectives drawn from research on the CI process, studies on knowledge management and work on systems thinking. In extending the predominant modular view of CI to include elements of systems thinking, this study has added to our academic understanding of CI at firm level. An Integrative CI Activities framework was developed that enables a more holistic perspective of CI to be adopted, taking account of operational, organisational and strategic perspectives. A diagram representing the range of CI analysis methodologies has also been generated, that differentiates between internal/external orientation and static/dynamic forms of CI analysis. Such frameworks can be used by CI researchers in other market contexts. The methodology for this study drew on a pragmatist philosophy, using a case study strategy that adopted mixed methods in data collection, including semi-structured depth interviews with top CI Analysts in each firm. Findings have shown differences in the scope of CI Activities that link to stages of CI development (developing, developed) and variation between headquarters-centred and firm-centred approaches to CI planning and implementation. The adoption of query based, flexible analysis approaches in firm-centred settings differ from more structured CI analysis techniques in headquarters-based firms. Evidence from this study suggests that networked communication, strong feedback mechanisms and the adoption of more flexible CI analyst roles link to more effective CI processes and to greater potential for direct CI contribution to decision-making. Key contributions emerge through the three lenses of analysis adopted (operational, organisational and strategic); in terms of operational CI processes, the study identifies a complex integrated system at work in firms that implement CI effectively. In studying the link between organisational structure and CI analysis, the study has mapped organisational support patterns and how they shape the CI process at firm level. With respect to the strategic lens, following a detailed worked study of predictive analysis in one case firm, findings have identified adaptiveness in CI design as essential to address disruptive market change. Managerial consideration include a need for a) greater flexibility in CI implementation at firm level to adapt to turbulent markets, b) acknowledgement of the importance of the CI analyst role further and c) more dynamic CI content to be generated by CI analysts

Unmaturing the telecom industry

Conducted between June 2019 and January 2020, the present report studies the intrinsic value of AT&T Inc.’s share price as part of an investment decision. The report underlines the importance that developing 5G will have not only in the firm, but in the telecommunications industry as a whole, along with the importance of AT&T being able to diversify in terms of its business combination to present positive and strong growth prospects, while inserted in a mature industry. The report thoroughly mentions the advantages and concerns around the disruptive addition of Warner Media to the firm’s business, the use of data analytics and a wide consumer base to develop and introduce new advertising solutions and, the innovation of its traditional mature industry with the 5G development. After quantifying the mentioned characteristics of AT&T and the segments it operates in, measuring the risk and required return on the company, and applying the Discounted Cash-Flow method (DCF), the following report concludes that the future prospects for AT&T’s business justify a BUY recommendation for its stock, as part of an investment decision

Analysis of WIMAX/BWA Licensing in India: A real option approach

Indian Internet and broadband market has experienced very slow growth and limited penetration till now. The introduction of Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) is expected to aid in increasing the penetration of internet and broadband in India. The report sheds light on the guidelines and procedure used in 4G/BWA spectrum auction and presents comparative analysis of the competing technologies, providing the information about suitability of each technology available. Recently held 4G/ BWA spectrum auction saw enthusiastic participation by the industry and even saw some new entrants in Indian broadband market. Government benefited by Rs, 385bn that it earned as revenue from the auction of the spectrum and projected it as successful auction. However, the question remains if the auctions were efficient and whether they led to creation of value or will it prove to be burden to the telecom operators and will depress their balance sheet for years to come. The report uses both traditional valuation methods such as Discounted Cash Flow as well as Real Option approach to answer such questions. Using DCF analysis, the broadband subscribers have been forecasted to grow from present 13.77mn to 544mn by the end of 2025. The wireless subscribers are forecasted to be 70% of the total broadband subscribers after 5 years of roll out as it will be difficult to replace all wireline subscribers with wireless subscribers in India due to the high cost of wireless broadband and new technology. WiMAX is expected to increase its presence with time and reach 90mn subscribers from meager 0.35mn subscribers by 2025. Using industry wide cost of capital as 12.05%, the Net Present Value has been found Rs 221bn aggregate with an IRR of 17.1%. Using Real option approach, the value of license has been calculated as Rs 437bn which is 13.5% more than the spectrum fees paid by the operators. This mismatch, between the auction value and the correct value that should have been discovered by supply-demand dynamics, can be due to limited participants in BWA spectrum auctions and companies such as TATA and Reliance opting out of the auction process midway as well as uncertainty about acceptance of new technology with Indian subscribers.WiMAX, broadband, 3G spectrum, 4G,broadband wireless access, valuation, licensing, real option

Assessing the Role of Marketing at Earnings Announcement: Stock Market Response to Marketing Metrics Surprises

The explanatory power of earnings per share (eps) is on the decline as firms are focusing more on intangible assets and are disclosing more marketing metrics when they announce their earnings (e.g., subscribers for the telecom & media industry and monthly active users for social media industry). However, the performance of these marketing output metrics beyond market/analysts’ expectations (i.e., surprises) requires marketing resources, which may reduce current profitability but may also signal a higher future cash flow. Therefore, building on information economics, we assess if there is information content in marketing metric surprises, and how the stock market reacts to such surprises. Further, we argue that the information content of marketing metric surprises varies under different information signals by firms (strategic emphasis) and screening cues by investors (marketing expenditure). We also investigate the temporal variations in the effect of marketing metric surprises and also examine the relative importance of marketing metric surprises as compared to earnings surprises across multiple industries. We test the claims using an event study methodology around earnings announcement on S&P 1500 firms consisting of firms disclosing industry-specific marketing metrics and non-disclosing firms. We account for sample selection bias and correcting for potential endogeneity concerns of surprises marketing metrics. Our findings suggest that (1) although an increase in marketing metric surprise affects the stock market returns positively, (2) this effect is strengthened when firms signal strategic emphasis on value appropriation relative to value creation whereas (3) it is attenuated when investors screen for firms with higher unanticipated marketing expenditure, (4) the effect of marketing metric surprises increases over time whereas it decreases for earnings surprise, and (5) the effect of marketing metric surprise is higher in the telecom and media industry as compared to earnings surprises. The study helps to improve marketing accountability at the time of earnings announcement by improving the overall earnings quality of firms

Panel III: Implications of the New Telecommunications Legislation

We present a method that employs a tree-based Neural Network (NN) for performing classification. The novel mechanism, apart from incorporating the information provided by unlabeled and labeled instances, re-arranges the nodes of the tree as per the laws of Adaptive Data Structures (ADSs). Particularly, we investigate the Pattern Recognition (PR) capabilities of the Tree-Based Topology-Oriented SOM (TTOSOM) when Conditional Rotations (CONROT) [8] are incorporated into the learning scheme. The learning methodology inherits all the properties of the TTOSOM-based classifier designed in [4]. However, we now augment it with the property that frequently accessed nodes are moved closer to the root of the tree. Our experimental results show that on average, the classification capabilities of our proposed strategy are reasonably comparable to those obtained by some of the state-of-the-art classification schemes that only use labeled instances during the training phase. The experiments also show that improved levels of accuracy can be obtained by imposing trees with a larger number of nodes

How to Restructure and Optimize a Mid-Market IT Department for Aqilitv

Mid-market IT departments must operate in a lean manner while providing top-notch support and administration to the business units, all while being agile to keep up with new technologies. Too often, these IT departments are under-staffed or staffed in a manner that is mis-aligned with business needs. Therefore, customer service suffers in the form of lengthy wait times, a loss of trust and respect for the IT organization and the emergence of shadow IT. This paper will detail how one mid-size enterprise restructured its IT department to provide better service and alignment to business units, while keeping staffing levels the same. It will show how moving people to positions that rely on their strengths, and streamlining like tasks under one department results in better customer service and transitions the IT department from reactive role to a proactive solution provider for the business units. It will also show how a restructuring can open up career paths and growth opportunities to staff members. Surveys will illustrate the increase in employee engagement since the restructuring has taken place