At DTW IGNITE 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, AWS VP and Head of Telco Jan Hofmeyr argued telcos need to stop treating themselves as uniquely complex, stating, “I think telcos should stop thinking they are unique.” Hofmeyr noted the constant push to define telco-specific standards is holding operators back, adding that other highly complex and regulated industries like finance are not pushing as aggressively to define their own standards. Disruptive Analysis founder Dean Bubley echoed this sentiment, saying telcos get hung up on “how special we are” and forget they are part of a broader ecosystem. AvidThink founder Roy Chua acknowledged telcos are unique in scale and criticality but said from an API standpoint, “many of the things the telcos are trying to do with the networks aren’t necessarily unique.” Chua advised telcos to learn from what others are doing with APIs and allow the market to dictate which network APIs it wants, noting that “the telco APIs that have gotten traction are the ones that they were already selling in the first place,” using fraud prevention as an example.