In an exclusive interview with Telecom Review at the 18th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, Femi Oshiga, Vice President of Sales Service Provider for Middle East & Africa at CommScope, discussed the factors shaping the region’s network infrastructure.
With a keen focus on balancing immediate technological advancements with long-term sustainability, CommScope continues to innovate solutions for next-generation networks. From embracing AI-driven management to ensuring seamless multi-connectivity, Oshiga discussed how CommScope is future-proofing networks to support emerging applications like 5G, IoT, and autonomous technologies.
How does CommScope envision balancing immediate investments in next-generation technologies like 5G and fiber infrastructure with long-term sustainability goals in future network deployments?
Our principles remain steadfast. We are focusing on designing network infrastructure equipment that is user-friendly, scalable, future-ready and built with uncompromising quality to deliver optimal value to our customers. These core values guide us consistently, regardless of the evolving technologies that emerge.
AI is becoming increasingly critical in the management of complex network infrastructures. What role is CommScope playing in making AI-driven infrastructure management a reality?
Often, CommScope’s equipment serves as the first point of interaction for consumers within a network. Consider our base station antennas—with this, combined with AI, we can increasingly pinpoint the exact location of a customer. This capability would allow us to customize the user experience, optimize network performance, and deliver targeted services. With the cell site as the point of origin, network providers play an integral role in gathering data that AI will then process to provide the necessary resources, computations, and intelligence, ensuring a seamless and personalized experience for the customer.
At data centers, CommScope’s equipment once again plays a crucial role, acting as the initial touchpoint where traffic is directed. From this point, data flows into AI-powered systems to handle computation and intelligence, which then feeds back into the network to improve performance and enhance the user experience. Therefore, CommScope’s equipment remains essential, and integrating AI further enhances its role in shaping future networks as the technology becomes increasingly embedded in existing network infrastructures.
In the era of multi-connectivity, how is CommScope ensuring that future network infrastructure can support high-capacity, low-latency applications such as IoT, autonomous vehicles, and augmented reality?
Let me provide an example which has been highlighted at the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit this week. We frequently encounter a scenario where 80% of the traffic is handled by just 40% or even less of the sites. AI plays a crucial role as it optimizes resources to focus on subscribers’ needs, thus, delivering the highest value. This approach ensures both enhanced revenue generation and an improved customer experience.
Take, for instance, base station antennas. Today, these can support frequencies from 600 MHz to 3.5 GHz, intended to provide coverage in building environments, where radio frequency (RF) penetration is challenging, whilst also providing high-capacity in the outdoor macro environment. By integrating AI into these antennas, we maximize their potential, delivering greater value for our customers.
Another example is our in-building solutions, such as our one-cell mini base station. These solutions are self-optimizing, self-planning, and require minimal touch to build and maintain a robust in-building network. By adding AI elements, we can analyze data specifically related to location and user behavior and tailor services for a personalized, optimized experience.
CommScope consistently serves as that central piece in network interactions, acting as the user’s first point of contact. While we’ve made strides in AI readiness, we’re still evolving towards fully AI-enabled networks. Networks worldwide can’t simply be retired; they must adapt and transform through differentiated approaches. This, in all likelihood, would involve starting with high revenue-generating sites and subscribers, enhancing them with AI elements, and gradually integrating this shift throughout the network, while preserving and upgrading legacy systems.
Oshiga at TRS-24: How Industry Leaders are Deploying Infrastructure Strategies
