DTW Bangkok - An Insight into the Future of Telecom Industry

The DTW Bangkok event held from 14-16th March, witnessed over 1000 attendees joining from across South East Asia and other Asian countries. The event brought together representatives from most of the telecom companies in the region and saw eminent panelists discussing the latest trends and themes shaping the future of the telecom industry.

The event witnessed many speakers discussing the transformation of telco companies into technology companies. With the telecommunications industry evolving rapidly, telecom operators are transforming themselves into technology companies to provide greater value beyond just connectivity. 

The implementation of open APIs has led to the emergence of next-generation telecom operators that offer a customer experience previously thought possible only for digitally native firms that were born within the past five years.

The monetization of 5G investments by exploring differentiated offerings was discussed by multiple speakers. As the telecom industry faces long-term disruptors, digital transformation is key for organizations to remain relevant, competitive, and unleash growth. Speakers highlighted the importance of adapting to new digital models and being a catalyst of innovation.

The Autonomous Network that runs with minimal to no human intervention was another topic that garnered much attention. The network can configure, monitor, and maintain itself independently, providing a seamless experience to customers.

Taking customer experience to the next level through the use of data points to provide intelligent inputs in real-time, predictive maintenance to minimize downtime, and finding new features to add more value to customer apps was another important theme that emerged from the event.

Collaboration and Partnership emerged as a critical theme, with many telecom companies looking at much higher levels of collaboration with ecosystem partners and technical experts to reduce cost, increase revenue streams, and improve customer experience. The talks on ODA architecture by TMForum and the benefits telecom companies are getting out of it were highly appreciated.

The event also witnessed discussions on the pros and cons of different cloud strategies, including public, hybrid, and own data center. The need to decrease the time needed for different Telecom projects, for response to customer complaints, by adopting agile practices, was also highlighted.

M&A - there is a bigger purpose of mergers. By bringing together the best of two companies, they are better positioned to drive national digital ambitions forward, take bigger bets in the market, and keep pace with increasing digital demands.

The theme of digital agility emerged as one of the key themes, with many speakers emphasizing the importance of getting agile and delivering value faster using agile practices. The challenges of hiring and talent shortages were also highlighted, especially in the region. The telecom industry's transformation into technology companies has led to the challenge of hiring and talent shortages – especially in the region.

With 5G rollout fully underway, many telecom companies are focusing their ROI efforts on value-added services. The thought is that internet access is becoming a commodity, and the price keeps dropping. Where are telecom companies going to see returns with the massive investment into 5G infra?

AI emerged as another important theme, with many speakers highlighting its role in managing autonomous networks and flagging security threats. There was a lot of talk about ChatGPT peripherally, although no use cases were witnessed in action.

In conclusion, DTW Bangkok witnessed some of the most critical themes shaping the future of the telecom industry. The need for digital transformation, collaboration, and partnerships emerged as some of the most important factors that will determine the industry's future.

Overall, the event saw eminent panelists discussing how the industry can remain relevant, competitive, and unleash growth. The event provided a great opportunity for attendees to learn and gain insights into the latest trends shaping the future of the telecom industry.

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If you'd like to compare notes on the trends emerging from DTW, you can always get in touch here.