Telco 2.0 Speculation

1:00 PM -- One of the hottest sectors in telecom right now is the "Telco 2.0" development that involves connecting third-party applications developers with carrier networks and systems.

The idea is that developers gain secure access to operator assets, and then develop new applications for the carrier's subscriber base.

Many of the world's leading operators, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL), Orange (NYSE: FTE), Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF), and Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD), have pilot developments up and running, and are testing the various gateways, service delivery platforms (SDPs), and middleware platforms that enable such relationships.

Hot sectors often lead to M&A speculation and activity, and EuroBlog has heard that one of the leading players in the area, Irish firm Aepona Ltd. , has been engaged in acquisition talks, and is close to striking a deal, with SAP AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: SAP)'s name linked to such talks by one industry source.

The suggestion is not outrageous: Aepona, which has some significant carrier deals under its belt, added to its capabilities recently with an acquisition, and is providing the underlying technical capabilities for the GSM Association (GSMA) 's OneAPI initiative that is aiming to develop a single interface specification for carrier and developer partners. (See Aepona Acquisition Adds Telco 2.0 $marts , TDC Commits to Telco 2.0 Strategy, and Amazon's Lessons for Telcos.)

All in all, Aepona would likely make a useful bolt-on for a larger company.

But Aepona's management says it isn't engaged in any acquisition talks at the moment, suggesting instead that some partnership development activity might be the root cause of such speculation.

This is a sector worth watching, though, as a raft of specialists, as well as major players such as Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), are all working hard to develop potential technical and business solutions to meet the carriers' apps development, and even apps store, requirements.

You can find out more about this topic, and other telecom software issues and developments, at the forthcoming OSS 2.0: Driving the Services Revolution event in London. (See details below.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading

Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to OSS 2.0: Driving the Services Revolution, a one-day conference for the service provider looking to adapt and transform its OSS for the emerging world of explosive service delivery. To be staged in London, October 14, admission is free for attendees meeting our prequalification criteria. For more information, or to register, click here.