Rethinking telecom partnerships: a live discussion

“Partners should feel like an actual partner…not a distributor.”

As telcos shift from hardware-centric networks to programmable, software-driven platforms, the traditional reseller and distributor model must also evolve. Telecom’s next phase of growth requires a different kind of partner ecosystem to support it and a different definition of value.

In this episode of Zero-Touch Live, Geoff Hollingworth speaks with Rakuten Symphony’s SVP of Partner Alliances Sheheryar Khakwani (SK) about how partnership models must evolve as operators pursue automation, private 5G, cloud-native platforms and new digital services.

📺 Watch the replay now below.

The value that powers modern partner ecosystems

Geoff and SK dove into how stakeholder roles are changing as telecom platforms align with broader technology trends and approaches:

• From transaction to collaboration. Legacy models treated partners as margin layers moving products downstream while modern networks favor collaboration, joint innovation and solutions shaped by real customer needs.
• Value addition, not extraction. Simply reselling hardware is no longer enough with partners now expected to bring technical capability, local market insight and a willingness to integrate, scale and support programmable systems.
• Joint go-to-market > indirect routes. Instead of acting purely as intermediaries, partners are increasingly taking prime roles with customers, while technology providers support engineering and platform development behind the scenes.
• Regional specialization matters. As networks become software-defined and more configurable, niche and regionally focused firms play a critical role in translating platform capability into deployable outcomes.
• Telecom is now technology. With cloud, Level 3 and Level 4 automation, private 5G and digital platforms converging, ecosystem players must operate beyond connectivity and align with operators’ broader digital transformation agendas.

The message is clear: powering the next era of telecom growth will depend less on expanding distribution chains and more on building open, collaborative ecosystems capable of delivering real operational and commercial outcomes.