While the path to widespread 5G adoption has progressed at a pace steadier than first anticipated, there’s a notable resurgence in the 5G race among telco leaders. Despite the swift start in 5G deployment by major providers, the pursuit of transformative use cases has taken time. Notably, private 5G networks are now gaining traction, signifying an evolving landscape within the 5G journey.
Precedence Research projects that the global market for enterprise 5G applications will balloon from $3.71 billion in 2023 to $47.07 billion by 2032. A combination of increased customer demand, as well as new digital solutions that make 5G networks easier to build, launch and manage are already powering this shift.
The current state of 5G networks
The biggest challenge 5G has faced is its status as a “nice to have” rather than a “must have” in the minds of Digital Service Providers (DSPs). While its potential to drive faster, better connectivity and to open the door to new revenue streams is clear, the lack of obvious consumer use cases combined with the parallel growth of more urgent business priorities pushed 5G expansion plans to the back burner. These changes within the telecommunications industry also coincided with a global pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, forcing DSPs to prioritize investments on opportunities that promised more immediate returns on investment compared to the resource-intensive development of building out new 5G networks.
Despite these challenges, 5G is poised to become a cornerstone of the telecom industry’s evolution. Growth has been spurred not only by major public incentives, but also the potential for the technology to unlock new revenue. One of the key advantages of 5G is its ability to enable low-latency applications and offer network slicing capabilities. The latter, exemplified by the launch of Network-as-a-Service capabilities from telcos like Lumen, empowers operators to provide premium network services and guarantees to specific user segments. This transformative functionality gives DSPs new ways to support mission-critical applications at a premium price-point, opening up entirely new revenue streams. For an industry that is struggling to find ways to increase revenue, this alone has propelled 5G into a renewed position of importance.
However, taking the next step to build, operationalize and maintain a 5G network is no small undertaking and many are struggling with legacy processes. Network management is a complex task, particularly for large, distributed networks, and many DSPs don’t have the technology platforms in place to efficiently design and integrate 5G capabilities atop their existing framework. As a result, bridging this technological gap becomes a paramount challenge.
AI and automation are critical for building and maintaining 5G networks
It’s more important now than ever for providers to modernize their businesses and ensure end‑to‑end visibility across their entire network. Telcos have historically managed and maintained networks with legacy systems and point solutions that lead to organizational siloes and manual processes, making integrating 5G capabilities into their networks cumbersome and, in some cases, impossible. Comprehensive modernization is not only a strategic imperative but a practical necessity. It helps ensure that providers are equipped to swiftly adapt to the demands of an evolving technological landscape and provide seamless, efficient services to customers.
Automation and generative AI have emerged as pivotal technological advancements that will revolutionize the operational landscape for DSPs. By automating processes such as inventory updates, new orders, or customer requests, telcos can ensure that different parts of the organization, from network engineers to customer service agents, have the most accurate information possible. Automation and AI solutions can also be used to help optimize processes and preemptively detect challenges, allowing telcos to manage significantly larger, more complex networks in a cost-effective manner without sacrificing accuracy or stability.
Generative AI in particular can be used for a variety of key use cases across core telecom domains, including optimizing network investments, bringing products to market faster, improving customer and agent experiences and speeding time to resolution.
Beyond the need to modernize processes for network management, network operators are faced with the challenge of seamlessly integrating new spectrums into networks and ensuring that customers who invest in premium network access receive the 5G performance they expect. To do this effectively, new skills are often needed within operations teams to understand and manage the revamped network. This dynamic landscape also ushers in a redefined ROI, where capturing organizational intelligence using technologies like Generative AI becomes vital for accelerating the adoption of new technologies and services.
Generative AI, combined with the power of modern workflow solutions, gives operators the instrumental capacity to navigate those complexities. Modern AI-powered tools allow engineers to search knowledge bases and cases and see trends to optimize and manage the evolution of the network quickly and accurately. In doing so, operators are not only building network resilience but also solidifying their position at the forefront of technological innovation.
Generative AI can also create efficiencies in customer service processes, helping agents through real-time advice or recommendations as they work with customers or through the automated summarization of cases after they are closed or advanced, and recommend next best action for issue resolution. These capabilities further amplify DSPs’ ability to serve an increasing number of customers with remarkable efficiency.
Creating a path towards 5G success
The intricate dance between competing technological advancements and financial constraints has contributed to a complex business landscape for DSPs. However, more companies are turning back to 5G, citing greater network speed, the need for more network resiliency and revenue potential. While this transition is multifaceted, the thread that binds it all is the pivotal role of AI and its intelligence in dealing with complexity.
Embracing technology solutions that focus on breaking down silos across the business and increasing network visibility will be critical to realizing the potential of 5G and shedding the industry’s traditional approach to network management. Telecommunication companies must capitalize on new ways of working. By fostering an environment of resiliency, transparency and exceptional customer service experiences, the industry can carve a path towards sustainable growth and realize the full potential of 5G.
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