NETWORK PERSPECTIVE
Network Perspective Phil Scott, Founder, PS Commercial, shares his take on the fast-changing world of telecoms and how it intersects with technology. With a wealth of industry experience, he brings fresh, insightful and witty perspectives on the people, ideas and innovations that shape our industry. Phil Scott’s
The Invisible Dependency
I went to my first opera this summer. The Palais Garnier in Paris is truly a sight to behold. Among the gilding, sculptures and stonework that made it the most expensive construction of the Second French Empire, walked impeccably dressed ladies and gentlemen draped in Gucci, Prada and Dior. It was a veritable feast of opulence on the surface. But scratch that surface a little (not the gilding – that will get you arrested), and the same supply chain that worries European telecoms operators appears. Luxury fashion, consumer electronics and increasingly telecoms infrastructure all follow the same model: premium branding on the surface, globalised dependency underneath. The logo on the outside may
change, but the supply chain beneath it often remains remarkably familiar.
This isn’t another Huawei-bashing article. Governments have decreed that operators must distance themselves from high-risk vendors in active network equipment and the pros and cons of that decision have been discussed many times already. But what those discussions quietly ignore is that telecoms networks remain deeply reliant on the same global supply chains for components, materials and manufacturing further down the stack. These dependencies are simply less visible. Historically, telecoms operators rarely concerned themselves with every layer of the supply chain. Distributors and sourcing
30
SEPTEMBER 2026 Volume 48 No.3
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker