Digital transformation means more to Orange than re-architecting its processes and IT infrastructure. “We need to adopt this strategy in order to survive and become a best-in-class operator,” said its VP of network operation and performance, Lab Networks, Roberto Kung.

“Our main competitors are not other operators, but OTT players. We must start using their weapons in order to overcome the threat these firms pose. They are currently more agile and have fully adopted the use of big data, cloud-based services and open APIs,” he said at Huawei’s Operations Transformation Forum 2016.

Krug maintains that operators can provide real differentiation with the use of new technology, with particular benefit coming from the adoption of virtualisation. “This will enable on-demand end-to-end development, high network utilisation and digital online access.”

“There is a sense of urgency within Orange to undergo digital transformation, and we must take the opportunity to move to a true on-demand business model. We have already conducted many trials of virtualisation as seen with the Orange EasyGo,” said Kung.

But the Orange exec cautioned that a move to virtualisation is a significant undertaking, with the impact being felt by IT/network services, operational process and marketing.

According to Kung, the necessary ecosystem to support a digital transformation is not today adequately stable. “We need a concerted approach with open source products and standardisation to compete with the OTT players.”

“This should include operators sharing process models and adopting common digital platforms to federalise SDN/NFV assets. We must have a plug-and-play attitude and not look upon other operators as our major competitors,” he said.

This should also include the adoption of open source technologies to drive interoperability and sustainability. “We have partnered with AT&T to investigate how this might work, and we would like to see operators embracing new procurement models to encourage vendors to adopt a common approach to a scalable pricing model,” said Kung.