Partner content: 5G SA, cloud collaboration, voice security, and more: Where communications will need to level up this year
As the telecoms value chain is transforming under pressure from cloud-native technologies, service providers are increasingly looking for new revenue streams through B2B go-to market models. They will need a programmable network and an open platform that will be key to supporting the digital services enabled by these models.
This will require planning for, and launching, 5G standalone networks with cloud native foundations, as well as the ability to access and interpret 5G data, and monetise new revenue streams. Voice communications continues to transform, and require additional protection, especially as we identify how real-time communications and IoT management can be inserted into new industries.
On the horizon for service providers are new challenges such as competition with satellite, enabling an open ecosystem and a frictionless ecosystem with an API economy and unlocking the power of AI for both revenue generation and cost saving.
As 5G standalone deployments pick up speed, cloud, analytics, signalling and monetisation will be prioritised.
Cloud native critical in 5G planning
Defining a cloud native blueprint early on in a 5G journey is imperative for communications service providers (CSPs) today. Container-based network functions (NF) compel CSPs to think more about software and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) when creating new services.
CI/CD must accommodate this technological diversity for lifecycle management of network resources and automated maintenance of virtual and cloudified resources. According to ABI Research, for CSPs to implement CI/CD, they may have to adopt a microservices design; for a true cloud native design of some NFs, microservices may well have to use fractions of one CPU core.
5G analytics more important in 2024
5G analytics should be considered an integral part of a CSP’s journey to fulfil a company-wide vision for the success of 5G. By bringing analytics at the core network layer, CSPs can start to think not only in terms of network optimisation with insights, but also about leveraging analytics for new revenue streams in their monetisation strategy.
This would involve thinking outside of the 3GPP box as the current 3GPP release 17 5G core analytics are still fairly limited when it comes to new revenue generation.
Analyst firm Analysys Mason predicts new use cases that leverage intelligence built on data sets as well as the monetisation of data will continue driving the need to capture, manipulate, and manage data. According to their research, revenue in this segment is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2%.
With the 4G network incapable of addressing exponentially increasing user demands, network analytics (specifically the network data analytics function) comes into play. It allows CSPs multiple options for managing and realising benefits from the influx of data.
Based on the journal published by IEEE, network analytics provides operators not only with the basics of analytics for 5G but also the functionality to close the automation loop so that CSPs can better reap their efficiency goals.
Policy, charging and billing for 5G monetisation
As CSPs experiment with new ways to monetise 5G, the concept of value-based offers that combine content, services, and applications with 5G speed tiers has been popular in parts of the world like JAPAC. In 2024, this trend is expected to pick up steam in other regions like Western Europe and North America.
As 5G Standalone (SA) rollouts continue, such offers will expand to incorporate new experience pricing variables such as latency, and there will be more B2B-targeted offerings. In preparation for monetising future B2B2X business models that expose a programmable 5G network and analytics, CSPs will focus on being able to rapidly launch value-based offers spanning policy and charging while providing financial visibility at any stage of the revenue lifecycle in predominantly B2C and B2B models.
Prioritise network signalling as 5G SA proliferates
According to GSMA’s Q2 5G in Context report, 40 operators have launched or deployed 5G standalone networks, with 14 more expected to launch by the end of 2023. By 2025, 5G networks are likely to cover one-third of the world’s population. The impact on the mobile industry and its customers will be profound. 5G SA will be meaningless unless done properly.
The RAN-related risks of a move to SA have been well-discussed in the media: once the 5G network is decoupled from an LTE foundation, 5G bandwidth and capacity (and user experience) could take a hit if spectrum isn’t allocated appropriately.
There’s an even greater potential impact to service quality and user experience, mooting the basic SA value proposition for demanding 5G use cases and requiring operators to be thoughtful in their planning.
As CSPs look to accelerate SA deployments to deliver on the full value of 5G, it’s important to consider the interplay of cloud native and SA core networks with the security, interoperability and service-enablement implications they bring. As the “brain” of a 5G core network, signaling directly impacts an operator’s network business.
It is essential for managing traffic, maintaining network integrity, security, and optimising use of network resources. It enables the design of differentiated services and the use cases 5G SA is designed to support, such as high-bandwidth video streaming, massive IoT and industrial automation, vehicle-to-everything communications, mission-critical services and network slicing, among others.
More than a third of operators surveyed by Heavy Reading claim they plan to deploy at launch or close to launch, with nearly half stating signaling functions will be launched within the first two years of deployment.
Voice overhaul will continue
The voice services evolution is urgent.With the arrival of 5G, the commercial pressure to retire 2G and 3G networks and re-farm frequencies is increasing. According to GSMA’s Mobile Economy 2023, 5G adoption continues to rise due to new network deployments and cheaper devices. The number of connections on legacy networks (2G and 3G) will continue to decline in the coming years as users migrate to 4G and 5G, resulting in more network shutdowns.
In this context, the need to evolve from circuit-switched services to next-generation services such as VoLTE and VoNR is more urgent than ever. The time of previous wireless technologies is coming to an end.
According to Omdia’s Tech Trend: Voice for 5G Networks report, most operators will turn on 5G VoNR one to two years after 5G standalone (SA) deployments. After launch, the most common 5G SA priority is getting network slicing operational. The immediate urgency is mitigated with quality VoLTE as Evolved Packet System Fallback (EPS FB).
The 5G network may need further fine tuning as “best effort” QoS for data traffic may not prove satisfactory for all use cases. Eventually, all voice traffic will be 4G VoLTE and 5G VoNR (including 5G New Calling) as the 2G and 3G mobile networks sunset.
Communications-enabled applications
Communications such as conferencing, collaboration, video and voice calls will become a natural extension to industry applications, relegating separate communications systems to be viewed as legacy or old. Like horse drawn carriages to automobiles, or rotary phones to smartphones, they serve the same purpose, but become far less costly to operate and offer far more feature-rich services than the previous generation.
Conferences, collaboration, connections, become one click or one word away within an industry service, instead of bringing up a separate communications tool, device, or utility to make communications happen. The business logic of a service will flow seamlessly with a communication improving productivity and providing a superior experience.
Read part II of the predictions here.
About the author
Shirin Esfandiari is Senior Director of Product Marketing at the Oracle Communications Global Industry Unit, with special focus on best in class technology for 5G, IoT and networks built for cloud. She has over 15 years of telecommunications industry experience in marketing and sales enablement, customer program management and sales consulting with experience drawn from numerous strategic engagements with service providers and partners around the world.
Prior to Oracle, Shirin held positions with Acme Packet as customer program manager helping Tier 1 operators in the EMEA region. Preceding that she was working for the Ericsson’s global service delivery center in a systems integrator and sales consulting role. Shirin holds an International MBA from the IE Business School, a Masters of Applied Sciences in telecommunications engineering and a Bachelor of electrical engineering from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. She is currently working at living in the Madrid, Spain.