With MWC 2021 taking place physically and virtually this week, The Fast Mode had a brief Q&A session with Andrew Walker, Communications & Media Industry Lead for North America at Accenture. As a leading provider of telecommunications consulting services and solutions, Accenture shares their plans and showcases for this year's MWC, their views on 5G and broadband growth, as well as the opportunity for operators to shift from being pure providers of connectivity to providers of innovative digital and IT services.
How does it feel to be back at MWC?
It’s great that industry events are happening again after such a turbulent 18 months. MWC, in particular, is so important as it’s the focal point of the telecommunications industry globally, where ideas are shared, connections are made and importantly, deals are done. Accenture will be taking part virtually this year and we’re really excited about the program - it’s such a significant year for the industry with so many important topics up for discussion. Emerging from the pandemic, we’ve seen how critical CSPs are and I believe this past year or so, could have been the much-needed accelerator that the industry needed to evolve, so it’ll be an exciting show for sure!
What's your showcase theme this year, and what are the key technologies you will be exhibiting/discussing
We believe that creating sustainable value starts with a vision, so Accenture's MWC21 program showcases "Vision and value in a changing world". 'Business Futures 2021: Signals of Change, together with Tech Vision and Fjord Trends' gives our clients a holistic view into how organizations can thrive and embrace the change they see - across people, tech and business - and turn it into the impact they want.
We will also be sponsoring and speaking during the Diversity4Tech program, the MWC conference track that explores the value delivered from Inclusion and Diversity, which is an area that’s extremely important to our business at Accenture. In addition, we have several speakers in the conference tracks, covering topics from Open RAN and 5G to the Future Home, Extended Reality, and many more. Our CEO, Julie Sweet, will also be speaking at the show in the ‘Networks for Change’ session, which aims to talk about how in an ever-changing world, mobile can remain the leading platform for future innovation and technology.
What's your outlook for telecoms for the rest of 2021?
Telecoms will be laser-focused on 5G and broadband growth coming out of the pandemic. They’ll also continue to focus on their profitability. But as mentioned previously, they have a huge opportunity right now as the pandemic shone a light on how reliant consumers, businesses, governments and educators are on connectivity and as such, the CSPs. So, I believe they should also use the next six months - and beyond - to start making bold moves towards regained eminence and growth for the long term.
For several years now, CSPs have been feeling financial pressure from all sides as growth has stalled, revenue has been stagnant, and commoditization has taken a firmer grip. But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. By recognizing the industry disruption and opportunities, CSPs can reignite and reinvent their positioning. They just need to work with the ecosystem around them to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. The SMB market, for instance, represents the biggest opportunity for CSPs to go beyond connectivity - particularly, in providing digital and IT services. And by preparing for 5G, cloud and edge technology advancements, CSPs can take pole position in powering the next connected industrial revolution and expand into Industrial IoT for digital manufacturing, smart cities, smart buildings and beyond. There is most certainly a light at the end of the tunnel for the industry but moves need to be made now. That doesn’t mean waiting until the pandemic is behind us, it means tackling whatever else COVID brings and making those bold changes now.
