Seventy companies join TM Forum as 5G opportunity impacts telecoms

TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, has announced that 70 companies have joined the Forum in recent months.

These new members have joined from around the globe including from China, Malaysia, Mongolia, Namibia, New Zealand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, U.K., U.S. and beyond.

Description automatically generatedOn joining the Forum recently, VMware’s Honoré LaBourdette, Vice President, Global Market and Business Development, Telco and Edge Cloud Business Unit, said, “CSPs around the world are working with VMware to accelerate new service delivery, reduce operational costs, and modernize IT. The transition to 5G and edge computing is creating exciting opportunities for our industry, but with this opportunity comes challenges that will require collective problem solving. We’re thrilled to join the TM Forum community and continue collaborating with our ecosystem partners and operators to build cloud-based networks for the next generation of services and applications.”

Description automatically generatedBain & Company, a global management consulting firm, joined TM Forum because of the value membership provides especially when it comes to federation, according to Herbert Blum, Global Head of Telecommunications Practice. “Remaining competitive for the next decade requires us to rethink the role of providers in the market, making connectivity-as-a-service a reality, and federating our capabilities to collaborate and compete with global hyper-scalers,” he said. “Making this happen is very challenging, but the TM Forum has the ability to change that up by providing a safe, collaborative environment where everyone benefits --increasing our value and the value we provide to our customers. This is why we participate in TM Forum.”

Another new member, R3, is an enterprise blockchain software firm working with an ecosystem of more than 300 members and partners across multiple industries. “R3 is excited to have joined TM Forum to collaborate with leading service providers driving digital transformation efforts through the development of Corda blockchain applications, such as through the Catalyst initiatives,” said Thomas Spencer, Director of Business Development, Telecom Lead, R3.

Description automatically generatedSkytel is a traditional mobile network and IPTV operator that has just started its journey toward becoming a digital operator. Narantuya Dash, CEO, Skytel Group Mongolia, says, “Our TM Forum membership gives us an opportunity to learn from the knowledge and practical experiences of industry peers and experts. We have already started utilizing some of the Forum’s tools and frameworks, such as the Digital Maturity Model."

Welcoming the new members to the Forum, Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum, said, “As the challenges of successfully monetizing 5G, AI and IoT set in, the communications industry and B2B customers are challenged with transforming their operating model and supporting IT to meet the demands of the digital economy.” He added, “Each new TM Forum member adds to the wealth of knowledge and strengthens our efforts. It’s now more important than ever for our industry to collaborate to compete, transform to create open digital ecosystems and unlock growth, and help to address the most pressing issues facing humanity.”