The Platformization Imperative: Redefining Telcos in the Cloud and AI Era
A common misconception in telecom is believing that simply having APIs equates to creating a platform. However, offering functions is not the same as fostering ecosystems.
In an earlier discussion, we compared Microsoft's shift from a perpetual software vendor to a cloud leader. This change was less about battling competitors and more about securing its future. Allowing emerging clouds like AWS to host core products such as Windows Server, Office, and Dynamics would risk losing control over its foundational business.
Microsoft's team in Redmond made a decisive choice: the cloud was the new platform, and Microsoft needed to become it.
Today, telecommunications executives face a similar strategic crossroads. For decades, telecom operations were shaped by regulation, vendor dependencies, and strict capital expenditure cycles, creating structural inertia. Telcos focused on spectrum, network coverage, and efficiency—advantages in the past era.
But in the current software-driven platform economy, these strengths have turned into limitations. This reflects a classic Clayton Christensen paradox: industry leaders make logical decisions to serve core customers and protect margins, yet these choices prevent them from embracing the next wave of innovation.
As value shifts from transmitting data to monetizing intelligence, telcos risk optimizing for outdated priorities. While the market has evolved from networks to platforms, many operators continue to operate under old paradigms.
Summary
The telecom industry must embrace platform thinking beyond APIs to remain competitive, as old strengths become constraints in the cloud and AI-driven economy.