Twilio becomes a reseller of the carriers' list.
You let the carriers run the agent registry themselves. Twilio carries no blame, and resells a list someone else owns.
The carriers' own registry approves an agent in an afternoon. Developers sign up direct. Your resale margin shrinks every quarter.
The Buyer: KKR is delighted. 1.2x revenue for 402,000 customer accounts. A charming annuity.
The Buyer: We'll resell the list too. Quietly. Nobody reads the fine print on a phone bill.
Outcome: Lost as a feature
You let the carriers own the agent registry. The one thing agents needed to reach a human belonged to someone else, so they went there.