Thread by @disruptivedean

Hmm @bt_uk Chief Strategy Office Michael Sherman kicking off @TheTelcoDebate #GTD19 with what sounds like a 1990s-era rant about Internet services / apps not being "free" & that pricing should reflect more than just Internet access

Sounds like a cliched telcos vs OTT trope

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate "We've given away huge amounts of value"
"You used to pay for an email account"
"We have to invest ever more in infrastructure"

Well, if you'd diverted some of that investment to internal R&D & app/service development, maybe you'd have captured more value, Mr Sherman? #GTD19

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate Now @nikwilletts @tmforumorg intro - a note of realism about telcos being geo fragmented & only realistically able to cover few (if any) verticals in depth for enterprise services. Partnership is key. #GTD19

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg Now @EricssonNetwork Strategy Head Preeti Nagarajan intro before the "telcos' role in the economy" panel, followed by @simon_saunders @google

One thing I'm curious about #GTD19 is whether speakers tune their presentations to the specific audience, or just give generic speeches

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google Interesting pitch from @simon_saunders

- We need telcos' access networks for consumer experiences
- We can help them with NFV, AI, analytics etc to improve performance of networks
- We can help with 5G planning & deployment "figure out the golden lamp-post for small cells"

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google Also pointing out that @Google caching technology already lives in the network edge, and takes load of the telcos' own core and transport

Also "help with 5G" eg Google APIs for developers that are #5G aware, or ways for telcos to expose better connectivity upgrades in the OS

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google I'm going to cheekily suggest that the #GTD19 story is:

@bt_uk - customers & ideally app providers should pay us for more than just connectivity
@Google - no, *you* should pay *us* & treat us nicely, as we help your network & enable developers to create cool apps & services

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google Interesting to see @bt_uk trying to pitch the anti-Silicon Valley argument & blaming tech companies for economic inequality & inability of companies around the world to invest in networks

BT CSO Sherman really giving it "the full dinosaur", trying to argue against asteroids

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google The thing that really annoys me about some telco strategists is that they like to see themselves just as *sellers* on platforms, not as *buyers*

There's nothing (in theory) stopping telcos from buying slices on all the *other* telcos' networks worldwide for their cool services

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google Ah, now onto the #EdgeWashing by BT as well #GTD19. Overstating its importance hugely

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google Back to #GTD19 after coffee.

#5G panel now - @UK_5G @ThreeUK & @luminanetworks speaking

From 3 panellist's intro - "capacity & consistency is what people want" & "maybe we can charge for low latency"

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google @UK_5G @ThreeUK @luminanetworks I wonder if *any* of the #5G panellists will mention the word "indoor" at all...

(Ah, Lumina CEO Andrew Coward noted that his washing machine has WiFi, but he doesn't have coverage in that room of his house. Unconvinced that 5G will help much unless it's <1GHz)

@bt_uk @TheTelcoDebate @nikwilletts @tmforumorg @EricssonNetwork @simon_saunders @Google @UK_5G @ThreeUK @luminanetworks Interesting discussion about latency here

Good point from @luminanetworks CEO - E2E latency is not just driven by physical location, but by intermediate boxes in middle of the data path.

Notes that @GoogleStadia is promising "negative latency" as it uses #AI to *predict* moves

Now @Traincomms Graham Wilde proposing the next #gtd19 debate motion “For consumers, #5G is not even another G”

Ouch, punchy

Good footwear choice as well!

Btw - in the busy conference venue for #gtd19 I’m getting 5ms ping time on the #WiFi during the #5G panel session

(Oddly the latency is *higher* if I switch off my VPN)

Great point from @john_p_d at #GTD19 - on some networks/plans the customer value around #5G is more about unlimited data... and so the *MNO* value is in delivering that extra data with more capacity

ie 5G is mostly for the internal benefit of telco

@john_p_d There's an elephant in the room on the #GTD19 #5G panel.

There isn't decent coverage for URLLC in the room, just the elephant.

@john_p_d Interesting point on the Cloud/Telco panel at #GTD19 - at the moment, the energy consumption for an NFV function is worse than for the equivalent running on dedicated HW

@john_p_d Martin Taylor from @metaswitch at #GTD19 saying that NFV has been slow to emerge. Should have been cloud-native from Day 1... telcos should have learned from the rapid scaling of companies like WhatsApp

@john_p_d @metaswitch Also - he says most #5G isn't really #CloudNative - it's just old 4G stuff with a service-based architecture wrapper.

Doesn't have automation, decomposition to microservices, how it scales etc. Needs to be re-written from the ground up

Need to recognise discontinuity

#GTD19

@john_p_d @metaswitch Furthermore... telcos need to change their procurement processes from basic tick-box RFPs, to lab trials & proof points. Need to strip away legacy requirements to get to true Cloud Native

Really interesting point of view from @metaswitch on NFV

#GTD19

@john_p_d @metaswitch Penultimate panel at #GTD19 is on #EdgeComputing

Interesting intro from the @VodafoneBiz panellist. Two edge models:

- Private mobile networks with on-prem MEC eg for airports, warehouses, mfr plants, oil rigs & offshore

.... cont

- Distributed edge integated with core network. Working with hyperscalers (me: plural? who else besides AWS?)
- Flexibility of public cloud but lower latency
- Uses include livestreaming, video analytics, gaming, smart cities, AR, CAV

GTD#19

BT speaker - following 100 possible #EdgeComputing use-cases, with lots of different architectures & edge locations

eg a production line in manufacturing might have 5 different machine vision vendors today, each for different processes. Can it be integrated?

Interesting comment from @RedHat about #edge in India - scope for localised use-cases in communities to make up for lack of fibre/backhaul acces

@RedHat I asked the #edgecomputing panel at #GTD19 how telco edge interconnect / peering would work (eg so game players on 2 different networks could break out between their respective edge servers)

"That's an interesting question" = "Hmm, we haven't thought about that yet"