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Ep 43 – Telco’s Pinball Wizard: Neil McRae
BT Chief Architect Neil McRae talks about the company's digital transformation and strategies for working with hyperscalers … and pinball, of course!
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Ep 36 – The Public Cloud is NOW
What a difference a year makes. Last spring, when GSMA was planning MWC21, I seized the chance to take over Ericsson’s booth to create CLOUD CITY and change the conversation about the future of telco and the public cloud.
This year, it’s clear that the public cloud has arrived. For the first time ever, the cloud was a theme at GSMA’s marquee event. And GSMA invited me back to Barcelona to take the stage again, this time to talk about what telecoms need to do to tap the massive opportunity the public cloud presents. I’ve turned my talk into this podcast episode. Listen now to hear:
- What big players like Vodafone, AT&T, and DISH understand about the public cloud that’s giving them a competitive edge [3:51];
- Which Fortune 100 CEO wishes he had started his cloud journey yesterday [5:08];
- Three things telcos need to do NOW to create a competitive advantage for themselves [6:07]; and
- The biggest asset telcos have that will help them lead consumers and enterprises to their digital future [10:23].
I’ll continue to beat the drum about the public cloud. It’s arrived, and you need to roll out the red carpet. Use it the right way to revitalize your telco.
Links and Resources
You can find the transcript for this episode here.
- Watch the video of my talk on demand.
- Take a spin through this year’s CLOUD CITY to see what you missed.
- Read the transcript from the January 14, 2022, JP Morgan Chase earnings call when Jamie Dimon talks about going all-in on the public cloud – my inspiration for the talk.
- Check out an article about the world’s oldest petroglyphs ever found, located in Indonesia.
- Read about the top 10 dinosaur discoveries in 2021. The best one has got to be the first one!
- Telco execs, set up a meeting to learn how to tap the immense business value of the public cloud.
- Learn more about Isabel Romeo, the amazing Taiko drummer who joined us in Barcelona, and check out this clip of one of her performances.
- Watch a clip of taiko drumming from the movie Isle of Dogs.
- Finally, here’s the cloud intro video from my talk together with the background music – CAN YOU FEEL IT!
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The Telco in 20 podcast won a 2022 Gold Hermes Award and was recognized on Forrester’s 2021 list of the Top 100 Channel Podcasts and Feedspot’s Top 10 Telecom Podcasts list.
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Podcast Credits
- Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios Royston, TelcoDR
- Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
- Editor/Producer: Alisa Jenkins Wilson, Springboard Marketing
- Audio Editing: Andrew Condell
- Music: Dyami Wilson
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What was Danielle Rios’ main message at MWC 2022?
At MWC 2022, DR delivered an update on her message from 2021: the public cloud isn’t just coming to telecom—it’s already here. Major operators like Vodafone, AT&T, and DISH have already made high-profile moves to the public cloud, and DR’s call to action was direct: if your telco hasn’t started yet, you’re already behind. Watch the full talk on YouTube.
2. Which Fortune 100 CEO inspired DR’s talk, and why?
DR drew inspiration from Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, who famously reversed his skepticism about the public cloud. During his January 2022 earnings call, Dimon said he’d spend $2 billion to move to the cloud tomorrow if he could. DR used his turnaround as proof that cloud adoption isn’t just a tech play—it’s a competitive advantage that leaders across industries are now racing to secure. Read the transcript from that earnings call.
3. What three things do telcos need to do to unlock the cloud’s competitive advantages?
DR outlined three imperatives: modernize legacy systems, cleanse subscriber data, and acquire cloud talent (hire and upskill people to design and build with cloud-first principles). These three steps together position telcos to fully leverage their greatest asset: the network.
4. Why does DR say customer love—not just the network—is the key to ARPU growth?
Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple grow ARPU because they’ve built fierce customer loyalty through consistently great experiences. Telcos have a structural advantage—they own the network and the subscriber relationship—but poor NPS scores undercut their ability to expand. DR’s argument: fix NPS first, then use that trust to extend into super apps and digital services that drive 10x ARPU growth.
5. What role does Totogi play in helping telcos make this transition?
As acting CEO of Totogi, DR is focused on building the modern, cloud-native software telcos need to make the move to the public cloud a reality. Totogi’s approach is designed to help operators achieve high NPS scores and unlock significantly larger ARPU—the two outcomes DR argues are essential for telcos to lead consumers and enterprises into their digital future. Set up a meeting to learn more.
6. What was the significance of the Taiko drum at DR’s MWC talk?
DR brought a live Japanese Taiko drummer onto the GSMA stage to open her talk. Taiko drums were historically used in feudal Japan to motivate troops and signal commands on the battlefield. DR used the drum as a metaphor: a rallying call for telco executives to advance—not retreat—in the cloud era.