In this special MWC Barcelona edition of Zero-Touch, Rakuten Symphony SVP Partner & Portfolio Sheheryar Khakwani (SK) reflects on why telecom’s next phase of growth hinges on how industry stakeholders collaborate to turn capability into service.
Solution creation is happening more collaboratively with product roadmaps influenced by deployment feedback instead of market anticipation.
MWC Barcelona this week was refreshing for one important reason: almost every conversation carried a noticeable shift in priority away from network capabilities and toward how operators actually deploy features and services in ways that support growth and monetization.
AI, automation, private networks and APIs remained on the tips of every tongue, but these themes were accompanied by a more practical acknowledgement that launching capabilities isn’t the barrier. It’s turning them into operational, repeatable business.
This naturally pushed discussions toward the harder question of how to transform existing network capabilities into services that scale.
Yes, MWC proved once again telecom is not short on innovation. The distinct challenge is how the industry organizes itself to deliver it.
Telecom’s traditional delivery model showing cracks
Once upon a time when connectivity itself was the product, network improvements automatically improved the business. So for decades, an expansive, hardened ecosystem formed around efficiently building and deploying infrastructure.
Vendors developed technology. Operators rolled it out. Consumers paid more for services. This worked really well for four generations of mobile tech.
5G didn’t just put up speed bumps or roadblocks, it changed the ecosystem map. Now, everything is software-driven, automated and cloud-based. Fascinating capabilities collect dust awaiting business use cases. Most sobering is that performance gains alone no longer differentiate services or drive revenue.
We are moving past the one-size-network-fits-all-services operational era, as cracks form in an industry structure optimized for deployment, not rapid service creation. Today, value is derived from a network’s ability to act as a platform and integrate with enterprise systems, applications and data.
What comes first: the service or the business problem?
In the 5G era, service creation starts with a business or operational problem.
Enterprises don’t ask for a 5G network, they simply need the best solution to pursue use cases like factory automation or logistics tracking. Critically, these requests are happening at an industry-specific and region-specific level.
Ports, hospitals, mines, cities? They all need different solution approaches and support.
Yes, telcos have the connectivity and the tech, but they are rarely sitting closest to the operational problem. Rather, it’s the system integrators, local tech firms, and regional solution providers with the vantage point to understand what’s needed. Even then, no one stakeholder sees the whole picture. So collaboration between roles is required.
A modern telco partner ecosystem emerges
Delivering the new kinds of services we’ve been discussing for years necessitates participants willing to help shape solutions around very specific use cases.
Traditionally, vendors created solutions and operators found customer to buy them. But in the new world, this flips.
Real opportunities are more likely to appear first as an enterprise or public-sector need.
The local integrator or vertical specialist brings knowledge of the customer challenge and how they work. The operator knows what is possible from a coverage, performance and operational perspective. The platform or network provider knows how to leverage the latest network technologies to enable services like automation and orchestration, or new feature capabilities.
Solution creation is happening more collaboratively with product roadmaps influenced by deployment feedback instead of market anticipation. Timetables naturally accelerate as deployment and service design happens simultaneously, with each participant optimizing their piece of the solution puzzle.
What a world away from when partners were valued for raw reach and scale. They are no longer routes to a market.
In the new paradigm, the value shifts toward stakeholders that understand the customer’s operations, remain engaged past deployment and continually help refine the solution. Often, that is a smaller local player that owns the customer relationship.
The technology provider—perhaps a global entity—supports as needed, understanding that the flexibility to adapt the solution based on real-world feedback is the real differentiator.
Being open to new ways of working
The industry conversation shifting beyond infrastructure performance toward operating models is exactly what’s needed in this moment.
What surfaced this week in Barcelona was recognition that the industry is entering a phase where success depends on how effectively participants work together to deliver outcomes. It is the shift from silicon to services, as focus turns to consistently delivering outcomes versus prioritizing distribution.
A special thank you to the many partners present in the Rakuten booth in Hall 2 at MWC Barcelona this week and at meeting tables with me as we met jointly with customers, demonstrating exactly the kind of shared engagement the new partner model depends on.
Mention Sheheryar Khakwani (SK) in the comments to start a conversation.
.svg)
