The overarching theme at Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year was undoubtedly AI, yet amidst the excitement and buzz surrounding AI and robotics, there was a striking contrast. We found ourselves in a unique intersection where the fervor of AI collided with the practicality of addressing telecom’s age-old challenge: ‘How do we effectively monetise our network investments?’ This collision of innovation and pragmatism defined the essence of MWC, highlighting the critical balance between technological advancement and sustainable business strategies.
The omnipresence of AI and flashy robots may have captured headlines but for mobile operators, practical concerns remained paramount. Despite many discussions on the perceived disparity between telcos and hyperscalers, referred to as Earth and Cloud, there was little indication at MWC of imminent change. The concept of network-as-a-service, facilitated by open APIs, continues to be a hot topic. However, there’s now broad acceptance by telcos that they need to collaborate to drive innovation. This shift aligns with the broader trend of digital transformation across various industry verticals. And for those companies who are investing in private 5G networks to catalyse their digital transformation, they want their network deployed yesterday. While AI undoubtedly plays a role in all of these areas, the overarching takeaway from MWC was the importance of maintaining a laser focus on addressing these tangible challenges. Put simply – “how do we increase efficiency, cut costs, and maximise how our networks are monetised?
The mood on the MWC floor is not surprising. According to the GSMA’s Mobile Economy 2024 report, which was launched at MWC, “global mobile capex/revenue was 19% at the end of 2022, likely marking the peak of the 5G investment cycle. However, mobile operator capex is still projected to reach $1.5 trillion between 2023 and 2030. Operators will also have to contend with stubborn opex costs, which are often around 4× capex costs.”
To address these challenges, traditional telcos need to direct their attention towards their OSS and assess whether the capabilities of their current stack can meet the needs of a digital world. Important questions that need to be asked should include:
- Can your OSS stack manage the complexities of 5G? In most cases, 5G will co-exist with 3G and 4G technologies, creating additional layers of complexity. Is your ability to ensure high quality of service being impeded by OSS tools that are not designed to manage multi-vendor, multi-technology, and multi-generational hybrid networks?
- Can your OSS stack support just-in-time services? The complexity of 5G use cases, such as network slicing, mean that operators can no longer rely on manual processes to assure network services. Does your NOC and SOC teams have modern OSS tools that foster automation at every level and support the increasing demand for data-driven services?
- Is your OSS stack scalable to meet 5G and IoT’s growth? Growth and innovation are expected to hit all corners of the network. Whether it’s supporting new services, industries, business models and IoT applications, can your OSS scale to match this growth so that innovation (and monetisation) can thrive?
- Will your OSS accelerate or hinder fast fiber rollouts? When network economics is top of mind, superior network planning, testing, and site management tools are essential for the efficient planning, building and operating of new networks. Is your OSS equipped with advanced capabilities, such as GIS and analytics for planning and automation for testing and site management.
- Can your OSS support new business models? Can your OSS meet the scalability, flexibility and agility requirements of new IoT enterprise opportunities and business models? Will you be able to deliver new 5G services, such as SD-WAN, and meet SLAs in order to fully monetise your network?
Enghouse provides the complete OSS stack that communications service providers need to meet the complexities of managing today’s networks and the challenges of delivering the services of tomorrow. If some of your answers to the above questions have raised more doubts about your preparedness, contact us today to schedule your personal demo.
