The GSMA exists to promote the interests of mobile operators, so it is bound to have a particular angle on one of the biggest potential changes in the 5G era, the changing patterns of network deployment and ownership. But in recent pronouncements on topics from network slicing to wholesale mobile platforms, it has been in danger of having its head in the sand, trying to preserve an MNO landscape which is bound to change if the economics of providing mobile services are to stand up. There are threats to its members from new operators, shared spectrum and programmable, federated networks, of course. But it needs to coordinate their efforts to adapt to that change, not just resist it happening at…