For CSPs, technology is no longer just an enabler. Rather, it has become a core element of their offerings. CSPs are investing in capabilities that will help them transform their businesses to become more like digital companies and software-driven providers.
Delivering digital, personalized experiences and services on demand are now the topmost priorities for telcos turned techcos. CSPs must go beyond the high bar set by digital natives and manage massive volumes of data – business, technology, processes and product performance – from end to end.
To modernize OSS/BSS and networks effectively for increased business value, CSPs need to select the right architectures, technologies and partners. It is mission-critical for CSPs today to make timely investments to transform their business strategy and technology development.
If we come to think of it, CSPs have common ground in their transformation journeys. First, they must stay secure. Secondly, they must be efficient. And lastly, they must have a return on their investments. Security, automation and monetization are indeed key aspects that could fail-proof a CSP’s tech strategy.
When asked in a survey about the top priorities in facing the challenges of the abovementioned aspects, CSPs consider establishing a common automation platform, improving customer experience and implementing cloud-native solutions to be effective countermeasures.
Cybersecurity Becomes Part of the Brand
A company's cybersecurity reputation is becoming the foundation for its long-term success. It builds up the trust and resilience needed in a digitally-evolving industry. Strong investments in security are now fundamental to the sales, brand and growth strategies of CSPs.
In September 2022, Australian telco Optus immediately brought to the media’s attention a cyber attack on their system. Preliminary investigations suggest that an error by an IT programmer may have inadvertently allowed cybercriminals to steal personal details (e.g. names, birthdates, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) of potentially millions of customers.
Telcos are indeed an essential service wherein people are directed to share this information. For the part of CSPs, security requires ongoing vigilance for unexpected vulnerabilities. This combines the powerful trio of people, processes and technology.
When it comes to cybersecurity planning, following established processes is not enough. It's about anticipating what could happen or what could possibly go wrong, taking into consideration that hackers are becoming more sophisticated with their targets and methods.
Social engineering remains the easiest form of cyber attack, with the recent Uber breach – apparently by a lone hacker – putting the spotlight on an increasingly effective break-in routine. The hacker gained access by tricking an Uber employee into surrendering their login credentials.
Noting such threats, Dr. Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti, head of cybersecurity, UAE Government, expressed during his GISEC 2022 keynote that the “human factor is an important pillar across this ecosystem.”
When people are aware of the severity of online breaches and work in line with an organization’s cybersecurity goals, these cases can be held to a minimum.
Apart from that, ransomware, phishing and spyware are also among the easiest forms of surface entry. As CSPs continue to adopt cloud services, security teams will work on securing cloud resources as well as using the cloud to transform security.
With the accelerated rate of digital transformation, security tools are increasingly being hosted in the cloud. “90% of all cybersecurity requirements will be fulfilled through a service model in the next three years,” said Help AG CEO Stephan Berner. Hence, secure cloud enablement, application security, identity security and security service edge will continue to be top priorities in an increasingly hyperconnected world.
Providing a clear vision of desired security capabilities and corresponding enablers will certainly drive security change and improvements such as simplified, standardized, and protected processes.
Security goals must be specific, limited, meaningful and have context, which means CSPs must include physical and digital components of their operations.
Layered architectures integrated for an in-depth approach to preventing cyberattacks usually include network security, malware detection, endpoint security, firewalls, data encryption and secure messaging.
Displaying security leadership, Huawei is firm with its cybersecurity commitment, treating such as a cornerstone of business operation that cannot be separated from its operational excellence.
Signed earlier this year, an MoU between du and the security industry regulatory agency (SIRA) aims to adopt an intelligence-driven, collaborative approach to enhancing safety and security services.
Automation as Building Blocks
In TM Forum’s report, network lifecycle automation (NLA) is a new, systematic approach to realizing multi-phase and multi-silo automation use cases, being implemented by over 60% of the CSPs surveyed.
AI-based network planning, end-to-end network testing/validation, zero-touch provisioning, cognitive smart field operations as well as unified network and IT operations are just some of the examples of automated processes.
Faced with increased network and service complexity, many CSPs are looking to the automation of tasks and processes from across different phases of the network lifecycle to maximize their 5G investments.
Large CSPs can potentially realize $850 million in annual value via cost savings and additional revenues by leveraging intelligent automation (IA). Operators often use technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive new customer experiences and, in parallel, automate processes, particularly in deploying and managing 5G networks. Others are selling it as a service to their enterprise customers.
McKinsey points out that the most successful IA implementations feature close collaboration among stakeholders who are working on long-term automation strategies.
Interestingly, analysts believe that automation is the dominant business driver behind new spending on software. Network automation is an operational philosophy that CSPs must adopt to succeed and thrive by changing metrics, incentives and organizational structures.
Telco IT teams are now creating and improving APIs to automate interaction among systems, embracing new open digital architectures that rely on AI.
Viewing IA as an important strategic tool to help networks and IT evolve, network and service assurance automation enables operators to identify root causes, automate restoration and fix network issues significantly faster.
In a separate Nokia-commissioned study focused on network automation, data shows a reduction of labor time for manual workloads by up to 68% due to process automation, while the time needed to roll out new services and time spent processing errors decreased by over 80%.
While CSPs focus on automating internally, cooperation for socio-economic growth is also being done to support a thriving innovation ecosystem. As the UAE’s first dedicated hub for AI, the e& enterprise AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) will solidify Abu Dhabi’s leadership in AI innovation and adoption by creating a robust ecosystem of talent and collaborators.
Monetize and Go Beyond Connectivity
The majority of CSPs today are moving beyond offering just 5G connectivity. They are readily on track to provide advanced 5G services such as smart home solutions, live entertainment, gaming and retail services.
Nokia’s latest addition to its SaaS arsenal supports CSPs and enterprises in having a dynamic digital infrastructure, providing them with the necessary pay-as-you-go, pay-as-you-grow commercial model to help them achieve their business outcomes.
Telcos are maturing and paving their way to finding new revenue beyond connectivity. Most are working on virtualizing their networks and making them software-defined and autonomous. At the same time, they are embracing open digital architectures and cloud-native IT operations.
One significant factor in this endeavor is the acceleration of the transformation of their monetization systems. CSPs should partner with vendors like Netcracker that have strong telecom experience and expertise in modern software development methodologies.
The Netcracker Digital Platform supports innovative monetization models and immersive digital experiences and simultaneously accelerates business efficiency through intelligent automation, IT consolidation and extensive CSP digitalization.
With the emergence of 5G core, MEC applications and network slicing, CSPs have an opportunity to monetize in new ways and form deeper engagements in vertical B2B markets.
It is worth noting that 5G services offer $600 billion in opportunity, but seizing that opportunity requires CSPs to maximize their virtualized capabilities and IT strength to diversify, automate and monetize.
A strong consensus among the CSPs that Analysys Mason surveyed said that billing and charging systems will play a critical role within monetization frameworks, both now and in the future. Less than 20% are diverting from the majority’s plan of evolving their current monetization systems to support emerging use cases, especially those driven by 5G, new digital services and flexible payment models.
CSPs are aware that changes to their monetization systems will be required to support new payment methods and the growing popularity of unlimited monthly plans.
Moreover, network-as-a-service (NaaS) and enhanced mobile broadband are the two leading 5G-driven use cases that CSPs worldwide expect to drive investment in monetization systems.
