Tellabs Blog

I always get excited around this time of year. As much as my romantic side enjoys the romance (and chocolates) around Valentine's Day, the geek in me gets happier towards the end of the month. Because it's almost time for Mobile World Congress.

This year Tellabs has something special to share, something that I know excites my fellow geeks: analytics.

European mobile service providers are in a fierce competition. Voice and messaging revenues are down, and the number of new subscribers is slowing. Operators must compete just to keep their current subscribers.

According to Infonetics, mobile broadband is driving network and business model transformation. Mobile data traffic is growing exponentially, but mobile broadband revenue is not growing to the same proportions. Many mobile network operators are becoming victims of their own success. I recently met with a leading operator in EMEA, and they shared with me that 95% of their capital expenses are invested in data--though it only generates only 5% of their profits.

This scenario requires operators to re-think their business models and network strategies.

Mobile network operators are under pressure.

With the rise in smartphones and tablets and huge growth in 3G/4G traffic, operators must use new strategies for network intelligence.

For most operators, bandwidth demands are accelerating faster than they can cost-effectively support. To keep up, operators need to gain more visibility into, and control of, their mobile networks. To get this control and visibility, operators need smarter networks.

Last month, I gave a talk in London to discuss what operators have to gain by eliminating dumb pipes from their network. I focused on data from a report Tellabs commissioned through STL Partners entitled "The value of 'smart' pipes to mobile network operators."

The overarching conclusion of the study was clear: By following current network strategies, mobile operators are missing an opportunity to double cash returns, and more intelligent networks are key to increasing shareholder value.