THE FUTURE AS A SERVICE
process will still account for another $ 1.1trn in spending before the implementation is “ finished ”. Faced with pressure to compete in two multi-trillion dollar industries , telecoms are collectively choosing to bow out of the data centre ownership game , leaving the industry in the hands of dedicated players without a whole cell network to manage . Data centres are expensive to build , own and operate , and infrastructure investments left many telcos with large debts . “ As to why now is an opportune time … valuations are obviously good right now . They can always change , but we know the market ’ s good ,” said
CenturyLink ’ s former CEO Glenn Post in a 2015 interview . “ We think our cashflow could be used for investments that can drive higher returns , and better shareholder value . So that ’ s why we ’ re looking at divesting data centre assets .”
THE FUTURE AS A SERVICE
So where does that leave us today ? As with most elements of IT business around the world , the future appears to be transforming towards an as-a-service model , with telecom companies increasingly turning to the very data centre companies that bought their infrastructure out from
“ Most telecom operators already have a distributed infrastructure in place — built up over decades … Micro data centres could be a way forward ”
— Henrik Bäckström , Product Marketing Manager , Digital Services , Ericsson
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