Threatened by OTT, telcos try to think like startups

[Commentary] The Mobile World Congress keynotes got off to a pessimistic start with the executives of two of the most prominent mobile operators proclaiming that the industry has significant challenges in the form of over-the-top (OTT) providers commoditizing their revenue streams without those companies putting any significant investment of their own into the network. Both Franco Bernabe, Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia and Li Yue, President of China Mobile painted a gloomy picture and how operators need to focus on fundamentals if they were to survive the ever-growing pressure on their margins. Each of the operators is going through their growing up phase in the OTT era.