of scale seen in the broader IT industry, both capital and operational expenditure are inflated.

Slower innovation: The pace of development is dictated entirely by the incumbent vendor. Operators cannot introduce new features from more agile, specialised third parties, as even simple upgrades can become complex and costly.

The“ black box” model, while offering the simplicity of a single point of accountability, has long been viewed as a barrier to the agility and cost-efficiency required for the 5G era and beyond.

The core objective of the deal is for AT & T to have 70 % of its wireless network traffic flowing across open-capable platforms by the end of 2026

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