"Telcos must cut legacy costs to invest in future technologies"

Vikram Puranik, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Head of the Consumer, Communications, and Media vertical at GlobalLogic - India & APAC, addresses the pressing challenges telcos face today without sugar-coating the reality. These challenges include commodification, relevance, legacy costs, open standards, hyperscaler-head-start, and a lack of confidence at the C-suite level. With two decades of IT industry experience and a strong blend of technology, operations, and business acumen, he leads the business unit focusing on edtech, retail, communication and media, NEP, and telecom.

- Pratima Harigunani

VIKRAM PURANIK

Senior VP - Engineering & Head - Consumer, Communications, & Media, GlobalLogic (India & APAC)

An entrepreneurial leader with a hands-on approach to digital technologies, he has extensive expertise in complex programme management for Fortune 500 clients. In this interview with Pratima Harigunani, he shares insights on telcos' long-overdue yet complex transition into techco. Excerpt:

Why should telcos transition to techcos? Is this shift suitable for all, and is it being embraced by everyone?

The idea of telcos transforming into techcos has been widely discussed for quite some time in the industry. However, the transition, its imperatives, speed, and drivers depend on two key factors. First, where does a telco stand in its transformation journey? Second is its geographical focus. The adaptation is relatively straightforward for a greenfield telco in an emerging market. On the other hand, for an established telco in a mature market, the shift is more of a phased journey involving both internal transformation and market-facing changes.

How tough is it for a CSP to handle these imperatives-squeezing value from legacy systems, transitioning to fibre, managing 5G monetisation, and phasing out the capex, like towers?

It is extremely challenging for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to juggle these competing priorities simultaneously. Each presents its own significant hurdles, and addressing them all at once requires a delicate balancing act. CSPs face difficulties in several areas, particularly when it comes to the monetisation of 5G. Challenges include eroding ARPU, balancing timely transformation strategies, high upfront infrastructure investments, network slicing complexities, safety concerns, limited technology monetisation opportunities, and high subscriber acquisition costs.