Telco versus Techco: Operators' Role in Shaping Cellular Innovation and 3GPP Standards

Price: Starting at USD 3,000
Publish Date: 19 Oct 2023
Code: AN-5922
Research Type: Research Report
Pages: 39
Telco versus Techco: Operators' Role in Shaping Cellular Innovation and 3GPP Standards
Actionable Benefits

Actionable Benefits

  • Help operators plan and prioritize The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) involvement.
  • Identify successful patent strategies and the key innovators in the market.
  • Understand and learn from successful standards and patent strategies.
  • Correlate between operator techco initiatives, standards involvement, and patent ownership.
Critical Questions Answered

Critical Questions Answered

  • Which mobile operators are leading in terms of standards developments and patent holdings?
  • How does patent ownership and standards involvement correlate with strategic transformation to techco?
  • What do standards involvement and patent initiatives tell us about techco transformation in the current market?
Research Highlights

Research Highlights

  • China Mobile and NTT DOCOMO are the leading operators, both in standards and patent developments and techco transformations.
  • Other operators, including Vodafone, are investing in market-led innovations, rather than standards and patents.
  • Despite standards and patent developments being led by Tier Ones, smaller operators may be more nimble and niche to transform to a techco.
Who Should Read This?

Who Should Read This?

  • Decision makers within operators and vendors who are planning standards and patent strategies.
  • Innovation leaders for Mobile Service Providers (MSPs) who need to understand who will likely innovate in standards and hold the most patents in the future.
  • Planners within telco organizations who need to chart a path forward to identify future technologies and concepts.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Why Operators Need to Become Techcos?

Enabling New Service Opportunities with 5G
5G Data Traffic and Subscriptions Soar, Yet Revenue Growth Remains Flat

How to Become a Techco as a Mobile Operator?

5G-as-a-Service
Invest in Vertical Ecosystem
Digitalization to Free Resources
Cellular Innovation and Standardization

Mobile Operators’ 3GPP Activity Summary

3GPP Working Groups
5G Releases
Regional Analysis
Top 10 Active Mobile Operators

SEP Declarations

Challenges

Digital and Software Capabilities
Low Vertical Involvement in 3GPP
Business Challenges

Key Examples

China Mobile
NTT DOCOMO
Telefónica

Key Takeaways and Recommendations