Had time machines existed way back in 1999, telecommunications consultants who dialed up 2009 on the controls might have a hard time believing their eyes: cable companies providing voice service, video streaming over cell phones, a company called "Google" competing against phone companies, and massive new wireless markets in India and China—not to mention those obnoxious-looking thingies clipped to their colleagues' ears.
"Change in this industry never seems to stop, and it is at a frenzy right now," says Greg Jacobsen, Capgemini's global leader, telecom, media and entertainment.
"It's becoming a very complex world," agrees Peter Siggins, a member of PA Consulting's management group who specializes in telecommunications. "Providing a customer experience usually requires collaboration among a number of players within an ecosystem." Google's launch of its new phone, for example, required collaboration between Google and T-Mobile as well as the participation of several other niche players. U.K.-based Vodafone recently partnered with Western Union in a bid to facilitate international money transfers via cell phone—and other companies, including Citigroup and Visa, appear eager to pursue similar opportunities. "The capability to build and operate these collaborative ecosystems is becoming a core competency among [client] companies in the industry," Siggins says. "If you can't do that, it's going to be very difficult for you to do business."
