PARTNER FEATURE: There are few industries that touch as many people’s daily lives around the globe as the telecommunications industry, particularly when it comes to mobile devices.
Today, consumers are faced with a barrage of new digital and AI-based services reshaping the digital landscape as well as an onslaught of the latest devices. At the same time, mobile operators are working at a furious pace to advance their networks beyond legacy systems to keep up and enable those new services and applications.
The challenges for operators also include financial and competitive pressures, misaligned agendas and evolving customer expectations as the new devices and services are rolled out.
For telcos, finding simple solutions to complex problems has never been more important as they work to meet customers’ demands while also driving profitability and sustainability.
During a recent panel at MWC25 Barcelona, industry leaders and experts discussed the impact of taking small steps to enable impactful changes across the telecoms industry.
Panel moderator Ben Wood, Chief Analyst and CMO at CCS Insight, set the stage by asking Kingfisher CEO Georgiann Reigle about the challenges of making meaningful changes across the sector.
Reigle said competing priorities, the perception that all changes are difficult, and legacy systems are hindering the industry from moving forward.
Focus on quick wins to build momentum
Accenture’s Jefferson Wang, Chief Strategy Officer, Cloud First, agreed with Reigle about competing priorities being a problem for operators, and added they create a natural tension across the business, operations and technology sectors.
“There’s a common misperception that transformation always requires a big bang approach—but in reality, many of the most successful transformations happen progressively. By breaking complexity into manageable pieces, starting small to create momentum, experimenting in controlled environments to unlock resources, and iterating quickly to scale fast, organizations can drive transformation without being overwhelmed,” Wang said.
“This approach not only accelerates transformation but also eliminates competing priorities along the way,” he added.
Orange’s gold medal performance
Orange’s Karine Dussert-Sarthe, managing director regional Paris, stated the Paris Olympics last year was an example of how the operator took small steps to affect big changes.
Orange had many accountabilities from broadcasting, connectivity and ticketing. Prior to the Olympics, Orange carried out several trial events using other sports venues to test its ability to change the way that it operates ahead of the big global showcase.
“I would say that test and learn and being customer obsessed are my two key pillars to make things happen,” she said. “I think it brought the team confidence that such a level of traffic could be handled by our network.
“So that gives us like a superpower of thinking that ‘Yes, we can do this.’”
Kingfisher creates a circular economy for devices
Wood noted 1.4 billion mobile phones will be sold in 2025 and that the industry needs to take a more responsible approach on what happens to them going forward.
He asked Reigle how Kingfisher is taking small steps to create a big impact for the industry and the environment
“We are trying to work towards a future of one-to-one, where anytime you get a new phone, you’re bringing that old phone back in.” she replied.
There are several key components for creating a circular ecosystem for returning mobile devices, according to Reigle. The first is making the return process as frictionless as possible, both online and in stores.
Operators need to set the expectation that when they sell phones to customers, those customers will return them, which creates a more linear business model.
Changing consumers’ expectations about returning their phones is also key. Orange’s Dussert-Sarthe stated that while 50 per cent of Europeans want to have a second-hand device instead of buying a new one, less than 10 per cent of the operator’s customer base is doing so.
Carriers can help manage customer expectations by providing pre-determined monetary values for the devices, and then sticking to those amounts instead of offering less when it’s time to trade them in.
“By setting those expectations with the consumer, making that trust with the customer that we are going to ensure that you get that value for their phone, you’re bringing that customer back into your store when they’re ready to buy their next phone. It extends that customer lifetime value,” Reigle said.
“Ultimately, that ends up being a win-win”.
A Katalyst for change
Kingfisher is transforming the mobile ownership experience through its Katalyst Circular Operating Platform.
Designed to maximise device lifespans, the Katalyst one-to-one device exchange model enables operators to offer customers flexible options for repairs, replacements, trade-ins, and upgrades at any time while ensuring 100 per cent of the devices are returned, repurposed or recycled.
It does so without requiring operators to make major operational changes to their systems.
The platform allows operators to respond to consumers’ changing ownership preferences when new devices are released while also improving satisfaction scores, generating new revenue streams and achieving sustainability goals.
“Our Katalyst circular operating platform is purpose-built for the mobile community. It enables telcos to capture the value of emerging tech, respond to the new wave of consumers and do better for the environment, all without risking major disruptions to core operations,” Reigle said. “We can manage every aspect of that to help operators launch projects with less time and less investment on their side.”
Kingfisher, which was founded in 2016, was acquired in 2024 by Allstate Protection Plans, which is a division of US-based insurance company Allstate.