There’s a clear sense of urgency woven through operator strategy conversations at MWC in Barcelona this week.
Since last year’s show, the telco community has tried to develop over-the-top (OTT) services to counter the revenue pressure caused by independent OTT players. They have experimented with initiatives such as the Wholesale Applications Community. Overall, results have been underwhelming.
Talmon Marco, CEO of Viber and a prominent OTT voice, gave a candid assessment on stage: “These services are simply not taking off,” he said, acknowledging the industry’s struggles.
Yesterday, Turk Telekom CEO Hakam Kanafani described what he calls the “Marilyn Monroe syndrome,” a metaphor for the state many operators find themselves in. Once the hottest and most desirable players in the market, operators now feel older, slower and less glamorous, while facing relentless competition from nimble, youthful rivals.
Subscriber growth in mature markets is slowing sharply, he noted. Voice services have been devalued by ongoing price wars that have drastically squeezed margins and conditioned consumers to expect communication and data services to be cheap or even free.
Telcos must adapt, he argued. The industry needs to shift focus away from pure market-share battles and toward improving margins. Operators also need to deliver more than just connectivity—useful data-driven services that genuinely enhance the user experience are essential.
How should that change happen? Much of the conversation centers on whether telcos should fight the new OTT entrants or find ways to collaborate with them.
“Are we going to fight OTT or are we going to find a way to partner?” asked David Thodey, CEO of Australian operator Telstra. He suggested that partnership is the preferable path, although developing the right pricing strategy remains a difficult challenge.
“We’ve got to take ownership of the issue,” he said.
Mats Granryd, CEO of TELE2, which runs mobile networks across Northern and Eastern Europe, argued that it would be unwise for operators to take a confrontational stance against OTT providers. “It’s okay to be a pipe,” he said, “but you have to be a clever pipe. Monetize data, make speed your killer app, build sticky applications and back them up with excellent customer service.”
That message resonates across the industry. Telcos have made transformative contributions worldwide, improving lives and reshaping multiple industries through mobile technology. Yet their popularity with users does not always reflect that impact.
Telstra’s David Thodey admitted that operators may not have always delivered as well as they could have in recent years. He said the situation is changing: Telstra has become more customer-centric, and that shift is driving rising satisfaction and lower churn.
Marilyn Monroe’s later life was marked by personal turmoil, poor choices and an inability to adapt—an outcome operators want to avoid. At MWC this week, discussions about big challenges and bold plans are ongoing, and there is broad agreement that, to succeed, operators must learn to evolve gracefully rather than stumble down the same tragic path as the iconic starlet.