LIVE FROM MWC25 BARCELONA: The CEOs of operators from three very different markets offered some common approaches in terms of the journey from telco to tech-co during a keynote, a shift driven by a drop in demand for traditional connectivity or a market imperative.

Hatem Dowidar, CEO of e& (pictured), KDDI chief Makoto Takahashi and Ralph Mupita, CEO with MTN Group, noted a common theme for their businesses was a need to adapt to changing times or provide services which enabled more than connectivity alone from the outset.

Pipework
The e& chief summarised the situation facing many operators globally, with the rise of OTT alternatives to traditional money-spinning services including SMS and voice reducing many to “being a pipe of packets, just carrying data across the networks”.

It was an unsustainable prospect given the “huge cost structure” and “massive investments” operators made.

The operator’s strategy was one of decentralisation under a fresh brand, enabling it to move into new verticals while still benefitting from the synergies of the existing organisation’s technology and reach.

Dowidar compared the new structure to an airport because e& is able to do “different things at the same time”, through a series of vertical businesses which “operate with flexibility, with accountability”.

He explained the perception of the company was more of a challenge than the technology aspect because e&’s previous name literally meant telecommunications and so it had to carefully manage its shift while still maintaining core connectivity services.

It was about “really putting cutting edge tools and tech in the hands of our customers, empowering them to go forward”.

Transcending outer space
KDDI is taking a similar approach, with vertical units occupying the same orbits but still being free to operate independently within a broader whole.

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Takahashi (pictured, left) explained technologies including 5G, data and AI are at the heart of KDDI’s orbital strategies, the sun around which its other services revolve.

The first orbit covers sectors including finance and energy, with another path encompassing healthcare; Web 3 and metaverse; mobility; sports and entertainment; and space connectivity.

KDDI is already employing Space X’s Starlink service for rural backhaul and maritime connectivity, among others, but Takahashi noted the collaboration is also proving invaluable in “emergencies and disasters”, along with highlighting how partnerships are proving essential in enabling operators to move beyond traditional connectivity.

Agile Africa
Mupita acknowledged operators have more to offer than just connectivity, but highlighted they do not all have the same resources available.

The typical ARPU available to Mupita’s operation is in the $2 to $3 range, meaning the company must be more imaginative and creative than players booking figures in the double digits.

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Mupita (pictured, left) noted connectivity had been the heart of MTN’s mission since its foundation in 1994, but explained this is as much about enabling access to connectivity as providing the networks themselves, along with focusing on enabling people to use various services.

The connectivity gap in Africa is now less of a barrier than the usage gap, which Mupita said still stands at around 50 per cent when it comes to data services.

MTN is widely known as a driver of financial inclusion through its mobile money services: Mupita noted the group employed technology to enable “people who previously did not have financial services to benefit from what all of us sitting here in this room have, which is the dignity of being able to transact”, send money and “create and drive micro e-commerce businesses”.

Mupita laid bare the scale of the achievement, stating MTN now has “more than 60 million subscribers actively using our mobile money solutions”.

The service is arguably an example of how MTN has always been more tech co and less pure telco, but Mupita noted there are still opportunities to build its credentials in the former, highlighting private 5G as one.

He used the mining industry as an example, explaining MTN is using network slicing to enable it to create private networks for specific operations.

Like Takahashi, the MTN chief believes partnerships are necessary to advance its service strategy and ensure the operator is “having a real impact”.

The CEO said MTN is “truly inspired by Africa’s potential”, pointing to the “agility of this youthful continent” and the potential to provide it with “its own position as the relevant continent that it’s going to be” by 2050.

“We truly believe in Africa”, Mupita said, explaining MTN the tech co “can give our people dignity, hope and opportunity”.