Jason Keane, Head of Portfolio for OSS and BSS at Ericsson, talks about the evolution of autonomous networks, from replacing manual operations to intent-based networks, and how increasingly sophisticated automation creates new business opportunities.
Autonomous networks are progressing, Keane says, but it is a comprehensive goal, involving many elements and domains, from the RAN to the transport and core networks, plus the OSS and BSS. They must all work in harmony to achieve the ultimate goal of intent-based networks, enabled by full automation.
Keane explains, “I set an intention and a network automatically adjusts to meet that intent. It’s quite a large vision, a broad step from where we are today.”
He adds, “Ultimately, the reason you want to get on to being an autonomous network [is that] it allows you to improve operational efficiency within operations and within the business itself, so that you can focus on top line growth and the core value you’re bringing, not necessarily in running a technical system, but by delivering service to your customers.”
There are “clearly defined milestones and levels you can get to achieve this,” he adds, referring to TM Forum’s Autonomous Networks (AN) model. It is designed to help operators monitor and benchmark their progress, as he explains, from Levels 0 to 5, which is fully autonomous. In Ericsson’s experience, most operators are currently targeting Level 4.
Keane notes that automation is underway in parallel with operators modernising their architectures to around cloud native principles, which also contribute to dynamic scaling and management.
As the networks become increasingly complex, static automation, such as closed loop, is insufficiently sophisticated, whereas AI can generate if-then statements to provide the best response in the network. This is complemented by service orchestration and assurance, such as offered by Ericsson, to instantiate services and deal with faults dynamically.
Keane outlines the third critical element of the journey towards intent-based networks, APIs. They are essential for seamless integration between the various network components. Ericsson complies with TM Forum Open APIs, he says, and is also supporting and promoting them in a number of ways.
He gives advice about where and how to start, and use cases, and concludes with the encouraging view that, “When you start, it might look very long and very arduous… but each step the key for us and key for our customers – we bring business value. We bring more robust operation efficiency, or the opportunity of growing the top line that will keep the journey going.
This interview was sponsored by Ericsson. To learn more, visit: OSS/BSS evolution for successful 5G monetization – Ericsson