The head of Telstra Global claimed Tuesday that many so-called telco truths such as the concept of ‘dumb pipes’ are actually myths which are diverting Asian communications service providers from understanding the true path to success.

Martijn Blanken, Md Of Telstra Global

Martijn Blanken, managing director of Telstra Global, told the CommunicAsia event in Singapore that the idea of ‘owning’ a customer as a sure path to financial success is also flawed, and that CSPs would do better to focus on what he called the core telco basics.

“The best way to achieve success is by focusing on customer experience to achieve financial outperformance and working in concert with partners,” said Blanken. “Getting the basic elements right, like having solid network coverage, is a pre-requisite to success, along with ensuring secure and high quality services.”

Blanken added that the threat from over-the-top (OTT) players is very real in some sectors, but for everyone else there is enormous potential, as they are driving traffic and activity on networks and platforms, and in many cases actually boosting revenues.

The Telstra Global exec also had some words of advice for incumbents struggling to keep prices low enough to attract customers and service quality good enough to retain them, stating: “I believe that for those markets where you can’t win, wholesale is better than no sale.”