A multi sided marketplace platform for telco enabled products, Werner Eriksen

Video and Slides

Outline

A multi sided marketplace platform for telco enabled products

Werner Eriksen, CTO WorkingGroupTwo

Why has there been so much more innovation in the web- and mobile than other industries? One reason is that the internet and the two major mobile platforms have been great at enabling third party developers to build a wide range of products, as well as offering a great distribution channel towards end-users.

We believe this multi sided marketplace approach is the next step for the telecom industry as well. WGTWO has created a programmable mobile core network, built as a platform, API’ed and delivered as-a-service, along with marketplaces where operators, developers and end-users interact.

This enables 3rd party developers to create great products that people love – helping operators to start using and redistributing these products – and allowing subscribers to find, add, and manage extra products on top of their price plans.Making this a reality is not straightforward.

Let us share our journey, where we started – where we are right now – and the direction we are heading.

Review

Its great Werner is back to share his insights from WG2. Here are some of Werner’s previous presentations at TADSummit over the years:

2019: Some (Surprising) Discoveries in Applying the as-a-service model in Running a Mobile Core Network, by Werner Eriksen, CTO Working Group Two (WG2).

2018: From Lego to Plasticine. Molding a platform for product development.

2016: A report from the kitchen; running a mobile core in the cloud, samples served.

2015: Building a Programmable Telco Core Network.

2020: Here is an interview with Werner’s boss, Erlend Prestgard, the CEO of WG2.

Mobile networks have unique value, we’re all connected by them. However, mobile networks are complex, with a strict division between build and operations, a conservative culture, an innovation cycle of one decade, and few APIs. So the value remains locked within the network.

Comparing the Enterprise Value of a few programmable communication and telecom providers, shows the benefits of API exposure to a business.

Werner reviews some interesting data points on mobile applications, with a claimed $1T in value creation by 2023, and 2 and 3 million apps in the Apple and Android app stores respectively.

He then shows how WG2 are attempting to ‘square the circle’ in rebuilding a mobile core so it can easily expose APIs. But that is not enough, he then reviews how they are creating an ecosystem for innovation:

With these elements in place, the next critical step is showing the existence proof of innovators being successful in the ecosystem.