Carriers have been slower than other industry segments to embrace outsourcing, but the network transformation that faces the entire industry is likely to speed up that process, Mike DeVito, head of Global Telecom Market-Americas for BT Global Services, said Monday at Telephony’s Insights for ILECs Summit.

“We are all under pressure to transform our cost base and to do so while we are delivering more converged services quicker than ever before,” DeVito said. “We are also seeing more next-generation network efforts, driving that transformation.”

In the course of that process, service providers are finding that it makes economic sense “to outsource those functions that don’t keep you competitive,” DeVito added. “That leaves you more resources to focus on the things you need to be more competitive.”

New entrants in the mobile arena have been quickest to embrace outsourcing of functions include outside plant and network operations functions, DeVito said, in large part because they have to differentiate on innovation and customer relationships versus technology.

Outsourcing also has greater appeal to service providers who want to get into a new market or trial a new service, and is often used to handle a specific business function that is not core to the carrier, in the interests of saving time and money.

“Another trend we see is multi-sourcing,” DeVito said. “Instead of using one large outsourcer, companies will use specialist centers of excellence, or niche providers who are experts in their field. If I do that, the onus of governance falls on me, but it is an opportunity to get best-in-class technology.”

BT Global Services is outsourcing to the telecom industry, based on its experience with its 21CN operation to transform BT into an all IP-based operation. In the process, BT went from operating 16 networks with 3100 systems to one converged network with 100 major systems, eliminating 100,000 new components.

“We are enabling next-generation communications providers, to consult, build and manage networks and security services, managed services, enhanced voice services and premium wholesale services,” DeVito said. There are common issues including how to deal with how changes affect the work force, unions, and regulators and how to build new and different business cases – all things BT has done before. “We know the entire journey,” DeVito said.