BT's Howard Watson: Customer demand outpaces revenue

As customers demand more connectivity at lower prices, EE is among the service providers thinking outside the box to boost profits.

Kelsey Ziser, Iain Morris

October 24, 2023

At a Glance

EE attempts to broaden its product portfolio (00:24)
Service providers look for new ways to be more profitable (02:47)
Culture changes required for telco transformations (04:19)

PARIS – Network X – After a stacked morning of keynotes, Light Reading's Iain Morris and Kelsey Ziser discuss how service providers are seeking out new revenue streams.

As customers demand more connectivity at lower prices, telcos are thinking outside the box to boost profits. For example, UK operator EE, part of BT group, recently launched an initiative to bring in more customers by selling retail products such as refrigerators and coffee machines.

Speakers this morning touched on additional technological and people problems service providers are facing. BT's Howard Watson, Omdia's Dario Talmesio and Telia Company's Marcus Messerer were among the speakers examining improvements in cybersecurity, demand for quantum computing and how telcos can transform their corporate cultures to better keep pace with customer demands.

For a lightly edited transcript of this conversation, please click the caption button in the video toolbar.

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About the Author(s)

Kelsey Ziser

Kelsey Ziser

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Kelsey is a senior editor at Light Reading, co-host of the Light Reading podcast, and host of the "What's the story?" podcast.

Her interest in the telecom world started with a PR position at Connect2 Communications, which led to a communications role at the FREEDM Systems Center, a smart grid research lab at N.C. State University. There, she orchestrated their webinar program across college campuses and covered research projects such as the center's smart solid-state transformer.

Kelsey enjoys reading four (or 12) books at once, watching movies about space travel, crafting and (hoarding) houseplants.

Kelsey is based in Raleigh, N.C.

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Iain Morris

Iain Morris

International Editor, Light Reading

Iain Morris joined Light Reading as News Editor at the start of 2015 -- and we mean, right at the start. His friends and family were still singing Auld Lang Syne as Iain started sourcing New Year's Eve UK mobile network congestion statistics. Prior to boosting Light Reading's UK-based editorial team numbers (he is based in London, south of the river), Iain was a successful freelance writer and editor who had been covering the telecoms sector for the past 15 years. His work has appeared in publications including The Economist (classy!) and The Observer, besides a variety of trade and business journals. He was previously the lead telecoms analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, and before that worked as a features editor at Telecommunications magazine. Iain started out in telecoms as an editor at consulting and market-research company Analysys (now Analysys Mason).

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