Communications service providers are being compelled to consider revamping their operating models and adopting new transformational technologies to survive and thrive, according to survey results recently released by Accenture. The firm believes that new analytic tools can help telecom operators meet their current challenges.
Accenture’s report, entitled “Evolutionary Trends in the Operations of CSP Networks,” surveyed executives from 30 communication and media companies. The results confirmed that new technology introductions, quality issues and cost pressures are among the key drivers forcing CSPs to shift toward more accurate models for controlling network planning and enhancing quality of service.
Paolo Sidoti, global managing director of Accenture’s Network Business Services group, said that a challenging global economic climate, combined with reduced consumer spending for telecommunication services, is driving a rapid decline in traditional voice- and text-based revenue. Sidoti said that while data traffic continues to rise, data revenue is growing at a slower rate. He also pointed out that over-the-top services are continuing to put pressure on carriers’ overall revenue.
All of the survey respondents planned to invest in network analytics tools, and 53% cited customer experience improvements as the most important reason. These tools are typically used to analyze network data alarms, performance measures, trouble tickets and customer churn due to dropped calls.
More results:
- Ninety-three percent of the CSP executives surveyed identified the need for new or improved tools to plan, design and track traffic on broadband or cable networks.
- Thirty-three percent said they needed to revamp the tools used for broadband deployment significantly.
- Seventy-five percent of wireless operators and integrated service providers plan to implement LTE technology.
- Seventy-seven percent said managing the quality of services is the biggest challenge in today’s communications environment, especially in a shared network environment.
In fact, Accenture selected what it calls “design for analytics” as one of the top IT trends this year in its Technology Vision 2013 report. According to Accenture, design for analytics is about asking the right questions first and designing for the answers. “Creating valuable insights from data is about getting the right data. Adopting a data-first mentality requires the foresight to generate data from new sources or objects, and better instrument applications to plug your data gaps,” the company stated.
What else is happening in the market:
- Hewlett-Packard unveiled a software defined server named HP Moonshot, a system focused on big data, cloud, mobile and social activities. Meg Whitman, HP president and CEO, said that “it marks the beginning of a new style of IT that will change the infrastructure economics and lay the foundation for the next 20 billion devices.”
The RCR Wireless News telecom analytics series provides weekly insights on trends, new products and other topics that touch on the advantages and monetization opportunities of analytics tools for telecom operators, including big data, business intelligence, customer experience analysis and management, business analytics and network analytics.
