What will telecommunications networks be like in the future?
The telecommunications sector has witnessed significant technological advancements and heightened competition, which in turn has affected the systems of all operators. This has also led telcos to rely on more partners and vendors to enrich their offerings and support their networks.
The main trends shaping the future of networks and influencing the telecommunications operators' market are:
Telco Cloud
This software-defined infrastructure becomes essential to the industry's growth, allowing operators to efficiently exploit their IT, storage, and network resources. Operators need to leverage the advantages available in the public Cloud while effectively managing their private Clouds.
Automation and API-based networks
In the past, telecommunications networks consisted of specialized network elements, designed with dedicated hardware and software, creating reliance on specific vendors to achieve some functionalities. To tackle these challenges, cutting-edge technologies like SDN and NFV have emerged. These advancements enable swapping proprietary hardware with standardized options and provide greater independence from major equipment vendors. They also promote smoother operational and maintenance processes, while facilitating a shift toward modern methodologies like DevOps and AIDevOps, by leveraging the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications.
5G private networks
5G represents the next generation of mobile networks and offers better connectivity, higher bandwidth, and lower latencies and power consumption. 5G private networks emerge as a solution to the needs of vertical industries, allowing them to effectively communicate their different devices (sensors, robots, drones, phones), staff, or machinery, and deploy use cases that increase their productivity and efficiency.
Open RAN
The open and virtualized mobile access network, supported by the five leading European operators, can be implemented utilizing components sourced from various vendors via open and standardized interfaces. However, it is not risk-free and calls for a partner that can cover possible functional and service gaps.
Data governance
Telecom operators can exploit significant amounts of data from their systems and customers. Hence, it is crucial to establish the strategy and mechanisms for implementing data governance processes and enabling optimal utilization of information by ensuring proper definition of data structure and traceability and conducting thorough data quality analysis.
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