However a handful of OTT players dominate the market and the rest is divided among an endless long tail of small solution providers – seemingly offering every perceivable function either cheaply or for free. Where can Telcos usefully participate and make business in the Cloud? In this report Arthur D. Little explains there is a significant market need for local (national) capability combined with the benefits of Cloud services. Telecom operators, with their extensive trusted commercial relationships, local infrastructures and customer management capabilities, are well positioned to fill this gap but they need to pick their position in the value chain carefully.
 
Telcos need to bring established network assets and services together online and gather them around functional anchors for a broader range of services including Cloud.  They should focus less on cheaper ways to acquire classic IT and focus more on development or acquisition of functional content to deliver more value in areas such as; requiring or thriving on real time, low latency and ultra-thin client architectures, seamless multi-media collaboration and device agnostic mobility.  Finally they need to make the network count from basic bundling to functional and performance enhancement at multiple service levels.
 
While Telcos are unlikely to monopolize the Cloud, gaining a sustainable position as the last mile, final integrator and enhancer of most if not all locally consumed digital services will be a new basis for growth in the telecoms industry.  So how can Telcos build such sustainable positions in the fastest growing area within their reach?