In this day and age of everything bigger-faster-cheaper, everything over-the-top and everything data, the survival of the carrier is by no means a done deal. This is a time when the power of the end-user has never been greater. The customer now has the ability to influence the services, the content, the medium and ultimately the survival of service providers. This is a complete paradigm shift for carriers and service providers who have always dictated these variables.

A new era has therefore come, with carriers and service providers having to adapt to the evolution of everything to IP, the evolution of the business model, the evolution of the ecosystem dynamics with new players constantly disrupting the interaction of each of the industry’s stakeholders. And finally, as stated earlier, they also have to adapt to the growing role the end-user plays in their business decisions.

This complex evolutionary mix will, in my opinion, force a complete shake-up of the International wholesale industry, with the survival of a handful of global players having taken the necessary steps to reinvent themselves into innovative and nimble customer-focused entities. Many others will have been acquired through this process or will die a slow death, having missed the boat. This obviously will not be achieved overnight, but the process is definitely underway, starting with the evolution to IPX. But all is not lost, as there is still time to evolve into a new you.