TPG TELECOM
“ One thing you absolutely cannot do when you ' re trying to execute on a merger is to try and make one company into the other ”
YAGO LOPEZ GENERAL MANAGER , WIRELESS & TRANSMISSION NETWORKS , TPG TELECOM
PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS
“ In a 5G world , you have got to have strong partners . And our partners have been key to finding solutions to the challenges of our 5G rollout ,” explains Lopez . “ TPG Telecom has partnered with Nokia for our radio access and mobile transmission networks and Ericsson for our standalone core . For the optical components on the fixed side we ' ve partnered with Ciena , and we ' ve also been collaborating with Samsung on emerging technologies like V _ RAN and Axicom - which is a tower company . We ' ve been working with all of them to help support a 5G rollout with a ‘ no legacy ’ mentality .”
He adds that TPG Telecom has also “ relied heavily on a partnership with steel fabricators Site Pro 1 and radio frequency experts Vecta Labs to assemble our new 5G sites in controlled warehouse environments , which is safer , more reliable , and faster – and an Australian first .”
Lopez reflects that , in the 5G era , “ partner relationships are also changing . You can ' t just have one-to-one conversations anymore ; we want all our partners to be able to collaborate with one another to really create this ecosystem where ideas and skills are shared without TPG Telecom necessarily having to be at the centre of every conversation .”
To that end , TPG Telecom recently opened its new Innovation Lab in Sydney . “ Together with our partners , the lab allows us to test innovations in 5G network technologies . The lab is driving innovation in our 5G network and allows us to develop and showcase use cases that will enable the digitisation of more industries across Australia ,” says Lopez . businesschief . asia 55