Exec: Digital age reinvents role of telecom companies

CEBU, Philippines - The digital transformation has changed the telecommunications industry's role as a mere telco provider into a dynamic partner and provider of technology.

This was one of the key messages of Ernesto Alberto, executive vice president at PLDT Inc. and Smart, at the 12th Asian Carriers Conference held in Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa, Cebu yesterday.

Alberto told the around 1,300 delegates from various local and international telecom companies, “our old roles had us managing the long tail of the legacy business in voice. Twelve years after the first ACC, that role today seems distant and I dare say, archaic. We have ventured well beyond our old comfort zones. Admittedly, and as in all cases of largescale industrial shifts, it was a move that involved a certain measure of pain and trauma. But it was a move that was absolutely necessary.

As changes evolve, the telco executive said the industry has fostered an environment that encourages new developments in the digital disciplines of social engagement, machine-to-machine innovation and the Internet of Things, analytics and big data, cloud computing and platforms, as well as cybersecurity to protect a most vital new currency – the data.

"Therefore, we are no longer telephone carriers in the traditional sense, and hopefully, should not remain to be just pipes. After 12 years, we have acted wisely and evolved along with the challenges and demands of transformation," he further told delegates.

Digital disruptors

He said telco companies need to become digital disruptors to adapt to the changing industry.

"New technologies have emerged and disrupted us and, as a consequence, market behaviors and buying habits have changed.

Certainly the road of transformation stretches further; the waves of disruption continue to crest. The fact of the matter is, conferences such as the ACC are the key to our sustainability and survival," the PLDT executive said.

He added: "Being telephone companies and carriers at our core, we had to undergo the rather painful shift away from our legacy roles. We must continue to press on with reinvention."

"We must continue navigating the waves of disruption towards the direction of our technology pervasive future. It is a future that together we can help shape, define, and nurture," Alberto noted.

The ACC features speakers who are experts in telecommunications and technology. 

It provides venue for bilateral meetings, workshops, exhibits and networking events.

The plenary session yesterday had Shane Minogue, telco lead of the International Data Corporation of Australia and New Zealand, as the keynote speaker.

Other speakers include executives from Huawei, Telecom Services Network and Telekom Malaysia Berhad. (FREEMAN)