Operator Open Innovation

Over the last decade, The Internet has transformed a variety of industries from Music, Analog photography and commerce. The Telecoms industry has been impacted as well. In a changing ecosystem, Operators are also adapting and evolving. The report: Mobile network operator innovation in an open ecosystem - 2010 to 2020 charts the evolution of Telecoms over the next decade as the two domains (Internet and Telecoms) converge.

The Internet has a tendency to convert every ecosystem it touches into a platform. This impacts traditional revenue models but it also creates huge opportunities. Currently, Operators are trapped in the dichotomy of ‘Pipe’ vs. ‘Non pipe’. Going forward, many services will be implemented by the Web but many more will be unique to Telecoms including m-health, Smart Grids and Cloud computing.

The report takes a holistic view of the telecoms stack including social networking and Cloud computing which unify the worlds of the Internet and the Mobile Internet. Based on a methodology of analysis, thought leader panels and the key barometers for innovation, the report explores the disruptive trends in Telecoms from the network perspective and its impact on services. It includes our analysis and a numerical model for innovation adoption.

Who should read the report: Third party developers (web and mobile), content developers and creators, mobile operators, online retailers, media outlets, internet/mobile marketers, entertainment companies and content providers, investment & commercial banking, venture capitalist, ISP's, advertising agencies, billing and payment companies, brand managers, user interface architects, consultants.

Please contact ajit.jaokar@futuretext.com for release and pricing information

The report is written by Ajit Jaokar and Chetan Sharma.

Ajit Jaokar

Ajit Jaokar is the founder of the London based publishing and research company Futuretext. Over the last few years, he has been one of the main thought leaders on the topic of Innovation/Evolution of the converged Telecoms networks - Open Mobile the evolution of the Mobile data industry as it interacts with the Internet.

In 2009-2010, Ajit was nominated as part of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Internet by the world economic forum which includes some of the foremost thinkers in this space.

His consulting activities include working with companies to define value propositions across the device, network, Web, media and Social networking stack spanning both technology and strategy. He has worked with a range of commercial and government organizations globally including The European Union, Telecoms Operators, Device manufacturers, social networking companies and security companies in various strategic and visionary roles

Organizations where Ajit has spoken include World economic forum, Mobile World Congress(2007, 2008, 2009), CTIA, CEBIT, BBC, Oxford University, Stanford University, MIT Sloan, European Parliament, CNN Money, University of St Gallen(Switzerland), Fraunhofer FOKUS. His blog OpenGardens is one of the top 20 wireless blogs in the world.

Ajit co-chairs Oxford University's Next generation mobile applications panel and conducts a course on Web 2.0, Social networking, Mobile Web 2.0 and LTE services at Oxford University. His current research areas include Open Mobility/Convergence, Telcoms innovation, Smart grids, LTE, Policy, Open systems, Privacy and Cloud computing.

Ajit is also studying for his PhD at UCL in London on Identity and Privacy

Chetan Sharma

Chetan Sharma is President of Chetan Sharma Consulting and is one of the leading strategists in the mobile industry. Executives from wireless companies around the world seek his accurate predictions, independent insights, and actionable recommendations. He has served as an advisor to senior executive management of several Fortune 100 companies in the wireless space and is probably the only industry strategist who has advised each of the top 6 global carriers. Some of his clients include NTT DoCoMo, Disney, KTF, China Mobile, Toyota, Comcast, Motorola, FedEx, Sony, Samsung, Alcatel Lucent, KDDI, Virgin Mobile, Sprint Nextel, AT&T Wireless, Reuters, Qualcomm, Comverse, Motricity, Reliance Infocomm, SAP, Merrill Lynch, American Express, and Hewlett-Packard.

Chetan is the author or co-author of five best-selling books on wireless including Mobile Advertising: Supercharge your brand in the exploding wireless market (John Wiley, 2008) which has become the industry reference on the subject. His books have been adopted in several corporate training programs and university courses at NYU, Stanford, and Tokyo University. His research work is widely quoted in the industry. Chetan is interviewed frequently by leading international media publications such as Timemagazine, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Japan Media Review, MobileCommunications International, and GigaOM, and has appeared on NPR, WBBN, and CNBC as a wireless data technology expert.

Chetan is an advisor to CEOs and CTOs of some of the leading wireless technology companies on product strategy and Intellectual Property (IP) development, and serves on the advisory board of several companies. He is also one of the most sought after IP strategist and expert witness in the wireless industry. Chetan is a senior member of IEEE, IEEE Communications Society, and IEEE Computers Society. Chetan has Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Kansas State University and Bachelor of Science degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.