Hello, I’m Vishal Mathur and I am the Global Head of Engagement at the Telecom Infra Project (TIP). Formed in 2016 as an engineering-focused, collaborative methodology for building and deploying global telecom network infrastructure, our goal is to enable global access for all.
How do we stimulate industry change? By introducing open standards-based solutions to the market. This will drive a new pace of innovation, create more choice in the market and enable telecom operators and service providers to quicken the pace of change, freeing businesses of vendor lock-ins and introducing more commercial and technical variance.
The global demand for advanced connectivity is on the rise. In 2021, McKinsey forecasted that by 2030 there will be around a $2.3 to $4 trillion incremental GDP increase, due to the prevalence and enablement of increased connectivity whether for connecting the unconnected, industry 4.0 use cases, smart cities and urban densification.
Yet at the moment, institutionally, networks are built by four or five very large vendors in the supply chain. If you take the radio access market, for example, those big vendors own 75% of the market. The pace of innovation is limited until choice is created in the market.
Thankfully, momentum is building towards Open Ran and disaggregation in the network transport & transmission space, Wi-Fi, private networks and telco cloud. TIP sees at least 150+ trials of multi-vendor solutions across 45 countries. However, TIP’s ambition going forward is to shift the market from trials to commercialisation and scale deployments of new solutions. The UK Government has also begun to push towards more secure, resilient networks, looking for new vendors and opening up the supply chain.
This is also where TIP comes in. Our belief - and the collective belief of our 650+ members- is that no one can do this alone, not as a single player, operator, vendor or even consortium. We provide an industry-wide facility and a platform which enables our members to collectively build, test & certify, deploy and manage multi-vendor interoperable solutions, based on standards defined in the industry.
1/ What do you enjoy most about working in this space?
I have a passion for transforming the telecoms industry and the challenges that come with that. My background is in telecoms strategy & business development, which I apply on a daily basis in my position at TIP. I enjoy working with different industry players, seeking opportunities for collaboration and routes to stimulating market development. Within my position, I have ready access to so many interesting people from different organisations, large & small, each looking for ways to drive their own commercial strategies. TIP becomes a vehicle for them to drive action and change.
2/ What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve done in the name of work?
I was meeting a senior executive management team of a large operator in the Middle East and arrived at the campus security office to sign in for my meeting. Unfortunately, the security team did not have me listed for a meeting. After patiently trying to convince them, I was about to be escorted off campus with a security detail! My saviour was one of the executives, whom I was meeting. He came to the security office in his jeep, told me to jump in, and to the security guard’s surprise, rushed me off to my meeting.
3/ What excites you most about working in telecoms?
Innovation in the telecoms space is transforming the way a regulated, institutional industry works. We have already seen virtualisation, and cloudification in the telecoms network space, and now entering an era of further softwarisation, AI/M, which will have a transformative effect on not only how telecom networks are built, deployed, operated and exposed as assets, but also the skills and talent required in the industry. In addition, we are seeing a convergence of industries (terrestrial networks, satellite and HAPs, wireless) coming together to solve the provision of connectivity. I love being at the centre of that.
4/ What would you like people to know about your work?
TIP is a community, and I think that’s important. We are a facility that helps companies, sometimes competitors, to have a safe harbour environment to innovate and accelerate the path of change. We create a path for vendors and integrators to offer solutions that are commercial-grade certified, and that can be secure, deployed, managed and operated in the market. It’s about driving towards commercial success. When organisations join as members within TIP, whether they are small or large companies, they begin to reap immediate benefits in terms of access to a community that is already charting a path of innovation / R&D, testing, and market development. Active participation leads to future commercial upside. If anybody is interested, please do reach out.
5/ Why is a vibrant, flourishing telecoms ecosystem important for the UK?
I would like to give credit to the UK Government (Department of Science, Innovation & Technology), which has taken a strong position (in the global market) in driving a wireless infrastructure policy and supplier diversification strategy for the UK market. I believe UK Gov has been able to find synergies in base principles with other like-minded Governments. In addition to that, there is already an incumbent stronghold in the UK, of talent, particularly in software development and AI/ML, network R&D and converging technologies. There are small and medium enterprises that are looking for a foot in the door, and we need to assist them, particularly with a levelling up agenda across the UK landscape. The sector also suffers from an ageing workforce and a war for talent. Whether through leveraging global platforms such as TIP Academy, or collaboration through UKTIN, there is a need to make the sector more appealing to young, bright minds, looking to work on innovative areas, as well as drive an upskilling agenda in our current industry workforce. The UK telecoms sector is vibrant and at a cusp of real change. I look forward to it opening up further in the years to come.
