LIVE FROM HUAWEI GLOBAL MOBILE BROADBAND FORUM 2015: Google is looking to cosy up to mobile operators, insisting it plays a major role in funding the deployment of networks and has plans to offer quality of service insights for video applications.

“Google drives demand for your services,” Mike Blanche, Head of EMEA Strategic Relationships, told the operator-dominated audience at yesterday’s afternoon session. “We have to work together. Google is not a lone force in the telecoms ecosystem. We need telcos to be successful so they can build the networks and users can consume our services. This isn’t a zero-sum game, we should think about ways we can work together on growth.”

Google and other so-called OTT players are often accused of piggybacking operator networks and taking advantage of the infrastructure to provide their own video services that generate revenue. However, Blanche argued that Google is contributing to network investment.

“To deal with demand Google has to invest to collect, process and deliver all that video. Content providers invest a lot in infrastructure. Over $100 billion has been invested by content providers in networks over the last three years,” he claimed, before citing Google’s investment in subsea cable projects and its 14 data centres around the world, including its €350 million centre in Hamina, Finland.

Google’s YouTube platform is a major driver of online video. More than 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, and more than half of the content is consumed via mobile.

Blanche quoted a recent Ovum report that claimed video is the “best thing” that ever happened to mobile networks. “We agree with that,” he said.

To that end, Blanche revealed that Google aims to extend its quality of service insight offering – currently only offered to fixed operators to enable them to optimise their networks and applications to deliver a better quality video service – into the mobile space.

Blanche was also adamant that Google doesn’t want to become a service provider but will instead work with mobile operators to foster innovation. “There’s a lot more we can do together – spectrum is precious and we don’t want to waste it. We need to work with operators and equipment providers like Huawei.”