2023 is shaping up to be a year of uncertainty for communications service providers (CSPs). Between inflation, rising energy costs and continued pressure to cut costs while launching new services, speed and cost savings remain the name of the game.
- Speed to launch new services — because you can’t monetize 5G investments if you’re not selling competitive services.
- Operational efficiency to drive down costs — because you can’t invest in competitive services if you’re running an asset-heavy network.
Prediction #1: CSPs will double down on automation software investment for business agility and cost savings
CSPs will continue to invest in automation software to design, deploy and assure services quickly this year; this is how they’ll be able to deliver new value in the 5G era. And in 2023, we’re going to see that conversation expand more into security software, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to enhance telecom operations.
Prediction #2: Sustainability is going to amplify the “AI in Telecom” conversation
That brings us to our second prediction in AI operations. Investment in AI and machine learning will become more important to telcos this year. CSPs, and their trusted vendor partners, will need to lead with AI-driven use cases for any chance at ROI. Industry pundits can talk about how AI improves network efficiency through resource optimization; and that’s a compelling value proposition since CSPs are under pressure to cut costs and innovate at the same time.
The fact is, CSPs must bring to their C-level officers use-cases that promise new revenue opportunities. Proven ROI will be critical to these conversations and that’s when CSPs can push AI in telecom for network planning and roaming cost reduction — or to help reduce network energy consumption.
And now we hit on a top strategic initiative for global CSPs this year: sustainability. CSPs are committing to demanding sustainability targets this year, and integrating AI into the network to improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint is a critical step in meeting these goals.
However, gaining access to talent that understands data, analytics and network insights is still a top challenge that CSPs will face going into 2023.
Prediction #3: CSPs must ramp up recruitment for data science talent
Which brings us to our third prediction. CSPs must prioritize finding data science talent, but it’s a complicated situation. CSPs have tried to bring talent in-house; they’ve pushed it back to system integrators (SIs) to bring them global teams, and they’ve turned to vendor partners to bring in the required skill sets. The fact is: it’s hard to recruit talent into telecom, when software giants like Amazon, Google, Spotify and other “younger” companies are recruiting for the same skill sets.
It’s not even about the money. These agile software organizations are offering the right workplace culture focused on flexibility, remote working and continued learning, which is table stakes to millennials and new talent out of university. CSPs need to adopt a new, evolving attitude and culture, and this shift must come from leadership on a day-to-day basis.
To sum up: 2023 is not doom and gloom for the telco space, but there’s work to be done. Through more operational efficiencies, AI-driven energy management and creative recruitment initiatives, CSPs can continue the journey from traditional telco to agile “techco” this year and connect to the expanding digital ecosystem that promises new opportunities in the 5G era and beyond.
