The Telco identity crisis
sebastianbarros.substack.com
Oct. 20, 2025, 3:12 p.m.
Before 2007, Telcos knew precisely who they were.They built networks. They connected nations. They carried the weight of communication with pride. Telcos were infrastructure institutions: disciplined, engineered, predictable. Then, in 2007, everything changed. The iPhone turned connectivity into an afterthought. The network disappeared behind the screen, and the center of gravity shifted from infrastructure to experience. For the first time, the telco wasn’t the main act; it was the invisible stagehand behind the digital revolution.