A race for collaboration and competition

Will they steal each other’s pudding or will they add a cherry? A multi-faceted panel sniffs out the equation between hyperscalers and telcos

- PRATIMA HARIGUNANI

“Business equation follows technology interventions in the ecosystem when it comes to disruptions like 5G. After the pandemic the world has pressed the ‘reset’ button. Work-from-anywhere is the new norm. To do that, India needs to move from midway 4G to 5G – we have a long way to go. But we really need to open the curtains of 5G. The pandemic has accelerated this inflection point for 5G,” Sukanta Dey, Director Sdela Consulting said as he warmed up a diverse panel at the 20th edition Telecom Leadership Forum organized by Voice&Data.

As the conversation hopped from one topic to the next, the panellist at the technology session on how enterprises and hyperscalers can benefit from 5G edge and network slicing ecosystem discovered some key paths that hyperscalers and enterprises should mull about as they leap towards 5G. The big one was, of course, should these species compete or date?

There is a common agreement that this is not a telco-only problem, quipped Sudhir Kayamkulangara, Principal Engineer, Cisco Systems. “In late 90s when we moved from voice to data networks, it was driven by telcos. We acquired learning in later stages, that we need a partner. Today edge locations are moving their cloud to a telco’s footprint. Hyperscalers can take some of the networking aspects from a telco – that’s where potential conflicts can happen. CSPs are like resorts with all facilities but no location, while telcos are like a beach-facing villa with a geographical vantage point. So, both have to collaborate and have a win-win game.”