"SDN enables the growth of big data because it takes out the inefficiency with data routing," said Huckridge. "It doesn't matter what we do with Big Data or how we analyze it, our business models can't keep up. We have to start looking for ways to make the data more efficient or carry it more efficiently."

Marilyn Arndt, head of M2M at France Télécom – Orange, said she's actively pursuing partnerships as Orange looks to transition from a network provider to an integrated service provider and ultimately just a services provider. Orange's biggest partners right now are the utilities for smart metering and smart grid applications.

"There's a significant need to partner more to deliver digital services," added Alan Beaumont, head of enterprise architecture at BT Group plc. "We can't reach verticals like pharmaceutical or automotive on our own if we're trying to do end-to-end services."

That didn't stop NFV and SDN being major topics of debate and discussion outside of the conference tracks. (See MW13: NFV Picks Up Steam.)

Willetts's take on NFV is that it has quite a way to go before it becomes a viable form of computing. He said that trying to get "five-nines" network integrity with NFV will be incredibly challenging. As a trade organization that develops specifications and standards, the TM Forum's other concern with NFV is finding the right balance between operators that want to standardize the process versus the equipment vendors that don't want standardization so they can differentiate on features. As of yet, there hasn't been a winner.

"People that own the technology are designing these things but are not operating them," Willetts said. "The early stages of the rollout of the technology will be fraught with problems."

Telefónica Europe has attracted 1.8 million fans across 22 official social media channels, said Paul Fabretti, the operator's digital and social media lead executive. The carrier receives around 20,000 brand mentions per week, and it has used social channels to turn followers into new customers.

Likewise, Telenor Serbia has put CEM at the top of its strategic priorities, according to Chief Customer Officer Maja Neable. That includes focus groups, customer-first days, maintaining a social media presence and engaging in social media monitoring. As a result, Neable said the carrier believes its social media engagement strategy has helped it to grow its revenues to almost €500 million (US$643.5 million), despite the fact that SIM saturation is already greater than 100 percent in Serbia. Telenor Serbia's net promoter score (the percentage of social media mentions that are positive) is also the highest amongst the three main operators in the East European country.

Telefonica Digital's Benjamins suggested that operators work like a bank, where customers deposit their money and give the bank permission to use it in exchange for a return (interest). The same can be done with data if operators are the trusted keepers of personal information. "There's always a return," Benjamins noted.

Cable operator giant Liberty Global uses data collected from set-top boxes to understand customer viewing habits, improve services and deliver targeted adverts. Chief Architect Favcal Amrani noted that one way to gain permission to do this is to offer customers something in return for gaining access to their data collection, i.e. a freebie.

We witnessed the power of the freebie this week at Management World with the Microsoft Surface tablet giveaway. But, might we add, freebies don't always bring out the best in people. There were several reports of unnamed attendees trying to secure a second tablet, with some attendees pretending their initial boxes were empty and asking for another one. Free works, but if you give someone an inch... (See MW13: QUICK – FREE STUFF!! and MW13: Microsoft's Fab Freebie.)

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading