In a world of cloud-native infrastructure, is the network still the backbone — or just another service in the stack?
As telecom networks evolve into cloud-native, software-defined platforms, operators are being forced to ask an uncomfortable question: In a world defined by distributed cloud infrastructure, is the network still central — or has it become just another cloud service, abstracted away into the background and valued only for utility?
The shift to containerized microservices and Kubernetes-based orchestration has ushered in a new era of agility and scalability. But it’s also created a strategic identity crisis for telcos.
“There’s anxiety on the part of many operators about whether their network infrastructure is as critical to underpinning the business models of the future as it has been in the past,” STL Partners Senior Analyst and Telco Cloud Lead David Martin explained.
With core network functions increasingly decoupled from proprietary hardware and deployed across hybrid cloud environments, telecom’s once-unchallenged status as the foundation of digital services is being questioned.
Cloud-native changes everything
Technically, cloud-native telecom is an evolution of virtualization, enabling network functions to be deployed as containerized microservices that are “much more interoperable with different cloud infrastructure layers, most of which are Kubernetes-based.”
Operators are investing heavily in DevOps practices, CI/CD automation and lifecycle software management. But the deeper concern isn’t about technology — it’s about strategic control, business differentiation, and long-term value creation in a competitive cloud-first world.
“Is it a convergence or a marriage of equals — the cloud and the network together — or is the network just subsumed within the cloud?” Martin asked.
In one view, centralized cloud platforms are becoming the control plane for telecom. Network functions, meanwhile, perform data plane duties — executing instructions but no longer defining the experience.
Telcos vs. the cloud giants
Some operators, like Verizon and Deutsche Telekom, are asserting ownership over their destiny by building and operating private telco clouds. “We call it the DIY best-of-breed,” said Martin. “It’s when the operator takes charge of it for themselves, exclusively.”
Others are opting for hybrid or public-cloud partnerships. Boost Mobile, for example, runs its mobile core and centralized RAN on AWS, while keeping distributed units at the cell site on owned infrastructure. AT&T’s collaboration with Microsoft Azure and NTT DoCoMo’s Open RAN experiments on AWS show a growing willingness to blur the lines between network and cloud.
Still, the concern remains: Are telcos outsourcing too much of their value chain — and with it, their future?
Is there new hope in AI?
Ironically, it may be AI that helps telcos reassert their importance. As AI workloads demand fast, secure, low-latency data transfer between edge and core locations, the network becomes indispensable again.
“AI inherently relies on flows of data between different sorts of cloud locations… so the network is now viewed as an integral enabler for AI,” Martin said. “In a way, AI needs the network more than the network needs AI.”
But again, the question of ownership arises. Will it be telecom networks delivering those AI workloads — or cloud-native competitors with deeper integration, more agile infrastructure and less technical debt?
“There are lots of other networking providers also seeking to capitalize on that opportunity,” he noted. “So, the question becomes: will telecoms networks remain the privileged provider of connectivity, or will advanced distributed cloud infrastructure redefine the market?”
The evolution toward cloud-native may be inevitable, but whether it strengthens telcos or sidelines them depends on strategic choices being made today. Are telcos building platforms? Or just connecting them?
As Martin framed it: “Is networking becoming just a function of cloud… or is it still the star of the show?”
