SAN JOSE, Calif. – Silicon Valley companies that are debating whether it’s beneficial to work with telecom carriers should recalibrate their expectations in the time it will take to get the service to market, but hold onto the fact that the benefits of scale with operators are huge, said Derek Kerton. Kerton, principal analyst at the Kerton Group, helped organize this week’s TC3, an annual day-long event that connects telecom carriers and applications developers to share best practices in the Silicon Valley.
“Set your watch to telco time,” Kerton told the audience. The development cycle at a carrier can take 18 months, which is long by Silicon Valley standards. But the potential to reach mass scale is immediate: the world’s 20 largest carriers hold 57% of the market, Kerton said, citing Wireless Intelligence data. About 350 telecom companies have a presence in the Silicon Valley, he estimated, employing 200,000 people in the area.
Original Article: Carriers to Silicon Valley: We need your innovation
