Twilio, and other companies like it, have drastically reduced the barrier to entry into these markets. The direct result of that is much greater competition. 20 years ago, having a call routing engine could be a company's "secret sauce" all by itself because it was relatively difficult to route calls. Today, call routing is a commodity. If you sell a commodity service, you either hope to differentiate by branding (think Apple) or compete on price (typically on lower total cost of ownership, which includes price, ease of use, support, etc.).
Twilio partnering with AT&T only ensures that your commodity features will be that much more reliable, because there is a greater revenue stream backing them. The product you build either has to be differentiated (unique in some way), or cheaper (remember, AT&T is not in the business of giving away things and has specific guidelines on margins acceptable to them).
Twilio partnering with AT&T only ensures that your commodity features will be that much more reliable, because there is a greater revenue stream backing them. The product you build either has to be differentiated (unique in some way), or cheaper (remember, AT&T is not in the business of giving away things and has specific guidelines on margins acceptable to them).