Proximus Luxembourg Infrastructure (PLI) the first independent TowerCo entity in Luxembourg and manages 267 mobile towers
Proximus Group has signed a binding agreement with InfraRed Capital Partners to sell 100% of the shares of Proximus Luxembourg Infrastructure (PLI) for a total of €108 million. The sale will be to InfraRed’s European Infrastructure Income Fund 4 (EIIF4). PLI is the first independent TowerCo entity in Luxembourg and manages 267 mobile towers and associated assets.
Guillaume Boutin, CEO, Proximus Group (pictured), said, “This agreement represents another milestone in our bold2025 strategy to unlock value through asset divestments.” The strategy is intended to “optimise” the operator’s asset base to reinvest in transformative projects.
It is expected that the deal will close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.
Service continuity assured
Proximus Luxembourg operates under the Tango and Proximus NXT brands and will be the anchor tenant on the respective sites. A long-term master service agreement will ensure continued access to the infrastructure for Proximus Luxembourg, “guaranteeing uninterrupted mobile services and consistent network coverage for Tango and Proximus NXT customers,” according to a press statement.
InfraRed intends to support “the further growth of PLI as the leading independent telecommunications infrastructure business in Luxembourg”. The current management team will remain in place.
This transaction aligns with InfraRed’s EIIF4 strategy of investing in European core infrastructure assets with stable, long-term revenue streams and opportunities for further development. In this case that includes “optimization” of the mobile tower sites.
More than halfway there
The sale of the mobile tower infrastructure in Luxembourg contributes to the Proximus Group’s broader ambition of unlocking value from non-core assets to fund its strategic priorities. After this transaction, Proximus is more than halfway to meeting its €500 million divestment target by 2027.
The proceeds from the sale will support investments in critical growth areas, such as its fibre roll-out, where Belgium is lagging behind most other western European countries.
Stability, operational continuity
Boutin added, “By partnering with InfraRed Capital Partners, we ensure the long-term stability and operational continuity of our mobile infrastructure in Luxembourg, while freeing up resources to support transformative growth projects like our fiber roll-out strategy. This partnership provides a solid foundation for continued high-quality services for our customers in the years to come.”
InfraRed is a global infrastructure asset manager with over 25 years’ experience across essential infrastructure assets. It has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide, including notable investments in digital infrastructure such as telecom towers, data centers and fiber networks. InfraRed is committed to long-term partnerships and its strong asset management team has significant experience in actively managing critical infrastructure.
Operator looking to capitalise on a solid performance in cloud services (up 22% YoY), following a boost from Italy’s National Strategic Hub
TIM announced it will invest around €130 million to grow TIM Enterprise in the cloud and build a new data centre near Rome. The new funds and other initiatives will see the TIM Group’s overall capacity rise to 125 megawatts (up 25 MW), which the operator said confirms its leadership in the colocation market in Italy. Rival Aruba also recently confirmed it will build a €300 million hyperscale data centre campus in Rome, located in the Tecnopolo Tiburtino area to the east of the city.
TIM said the new investment is not new but rather, included in the capex set out in its 2024-2026 business plan, already disclosed to the market. The operator said the initiative is part of a broader group investment strategy to enhance the availability of additional high-performance data centre space in its existing campuses in Rome and Milan, as it aims to “retain its leadership in the Italian market” and respond to the growing needs of companies and the public administration.
Earlier this month, TIM Enterprise reported nine-month total revenues of 2.3 billion euros (up 5.8% YoY) and service revenues of €2.1 billion (up 8% YoY), continuing to outperform the reference market thanks to the defensive strategy on the connectivity business and growth in IT revenues, which accounted for 62% of the total. In particular, the solid performance in cloud services (up 22% YoY) – thanks to the boost from National Strategic Hub – Security (up 84% YoY) and IoT (up 27% YoY) continued. The value of contracts signed during the nine months was up 67% YoY to €3.5 billion, demonstrating the success the operator was having in there enterprise space with cloud services.
Government cloud adoption in central to TIM’s enterprise growth with this coming through Italy’s Polo Strategico Nazionale (National Strategic Hub – PSN) secure cloud infrastructure – the operator has a 45% share. The goal of this project is to bring 75% of Italian administrations to use cloud services by 2026. The initiative envisages the implementation of a dual-region architecture distributed over 4 data centres, interconnected with ultra-broad fibre optic connectivity to ensure business continuity in real time.
Ready for service in 2026
The new data centre is to be built near Rome and will be operational by the end of 2026. TIM Enterprise already has 16 data centres across Italy running through its Noovle brand. The data centre will be connected to TIM’s fibre network, which already connects the group’s other data centres and enables ultra-low latency connection with the region clouds of the hyperscalers in Italy and hosted at the group’s sites – as well as interconnection with the spaces dedicated to the National Strategic Hub.
It will also host high-performance Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) hardware for AI applications and quantum cryptography equipment for maximum security in data transmission. The operator said the new site will be designed and built to “the highest standards of reliability and safety (Rating 4)”, will have among the “world’s best water consumption levels” and will be equipped with a rainwater recovery system so as not to affect the city’s freshwater consumption. Approximately 88% of the waste produced during construction is expected to be recycled.
Stories about sabotaged and threatened subsea cables abound, but there are silver linings too as space comms look destined to move from radio to lasers
The ongoing threat to subsea cables by terrorists and state-backed actors is hyping up tension between nations but it is also encouraging the building of more cables for resilience and new satellite technologies. Indeed, cutting undersea cables is seen as element of hybrid warfare, such as allegedly employed in Europe by Russia against NATO members or Ukraine’s allies.
It should be remembered that China threatened Sweden, as well as Swedish companies, promising reprisals for banning Huawei equipment in 5G networks back in 2021. Revenge is famously a dish best served cold.
More than regional difficulties
Cutting cables isn’t about causing a little regional difficulty for your immediate enemies either. Sabotage in one region can have serious consequences in others, as demonstrated by cuts in submarine cables in the Red Sea in February showed.
RETN, which runs a private, global managed network, says that the impact of the February 2024 cable cuts on Europe and Asia was severely underestimated. Who was responsible for those cables being cut is not clear, but there is concern they were targeted by the Yemeni Houthis rebel group as part of its campaign to pressure Israel to end its attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Surge in subsea cables
Still, perhaps there are two silver linings. First, since 2020, there has been a surge in the building of undersea cables: more than 25% of all cables launched since 2010 have gone live since 2024, according to Analysy Mason’s tracker.
They have been built to meet the demands of rising traffic, through increased investment by hyperscalers and because of demands for better resilience. Another 68 cables are expected by 2027.
This article on the top 10 subsea cables, published in August in DataCentre magazine makes interesting reading too.
Satellite picks up the pace
Clearly as the expansion of communications satellite constellations continues, it too potentially provides greater resilience, particularly with the rise of direct-to-device (aka direct-to-cellular) technologies. According to Juniper Research in September, the direct-to-device revenues will be worth will be $2.8 billion over next five years, up from $30 million in 2025, when commercial services will launch.
Nor is it just the newbie satellite constellation offering direct-to-device or cell. In January, Iridium announced it is developing a new direct-to-cell service called Project Stardust that will allow standard smartphones to connect to its LEO satellite network. That was in the same week that Starlink demo’d its first text message via direct-to-cell.
Another big milestone was in October, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX ran a trial in Romania to prove that its Starlink satellites could support up to 8 times their current capacity without interfering with Geostationary satellite networks if only the ITU would abandon or relax its 25-year old equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits. Although the World Radio Conference 2023 kicked the can down the road regarding EPFD it seems only a matter of time before they are revised.
200Gbps comms in space
Maybe there was an even bigger milestone last year, which has had much less attention but could have far bigger implications. The Financial Times[subscription needed] reports that in 2023, Nasa fired a tiny laser back to Earth from an orbiting satellite which transmitted data at 200Gbps, sending 3.6 terabytes of data to our planet in 6 minutes.
As the FT points out, for comparison, the $10 billion James Webb telescope launched in 2021 can send about 57 gigabytes of scientific data per day. That’s because the telescope, like communication satellites, uses radio frequencies whereas Nasa’s trial used light or optical communications technology from French company Cailabs (picture courtesy of Cailabs shows its headquarters in Rennes, France).
The company originally focused on telecoms and achieved a world record, with Japanese operator KDDI, for how much data its fibre optics could carry back in 2013. It is still making those products today.
In 2019, another Japanese firm, NEC, suggested the company should use its tech for aerospace and eventually won a contract from the French Ministry of Defence. One expert told the FT that he expects to see a huge shift to optical communications in space over the next decade, with giants like Airbus and Safran now also working on the technology.
Partner content: Too much focus on the initial price of lawful intelligence platforms can lead to much higher total cost of ownership over time
When purchasing lawful intelligence platforms, it is common to solicit RFIs or RFPs from all kinds of providers – including those who compete on the basis of price. If purchasing teams focus excessively on initial price, however, the long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) may be obscured if the technology stack’s features and capabilities are not fit for purpose and scalable.
To overcome the limited functional scope and rigid architecture of low-cost options, many organisations face extensive change orders that threaten the budgets they intended to protect. Over time, commodity-oriented solutions lack future-readiness.
Best of breed
By contrast, SS8 aims to deliver best-of-breed lawful and location intelligence and a platform built for long-term flexibility and TCO. The solution is based on a modular architecture that enables customers to adopt the exact functionality they need immediately and seamlessly add capabilities in the future, like high-accuracy location or advanced data fusion. This approach supports inherent cost advantages when purchasing a full-featured lawful and location intelligence platform, such as:
Reduced complexity and TCO: SS8’s initiative to improve investigator workflows, reduce data bloat, and lower the cost of implementation and change and our comprehensive, end-to-end platform reduce solution sprawl.
Commercial opportunities for passive location data: revenue opportunities based on bulk location data can help CSPs recover the costs of deploying location solutions to comply with regulatory mandates.
Over-emphasising initial price
Cost-efficient lawful intelligence solutions must be long-term in their perspective. For example, location services that are accurate enough today may be inadequate in the future, a situation some operators may have faced when the European Parliament recently recommended more stringent emergency caller location criteria.
Platforms should be built for distributed, virtualized 5G networks and the associated explosion of traffic and new applications. The types and volumes of traffic passing over mobile networks today are radically different from those of just a few years ago, and usage models for lawful intelligence must evolve to keep pace.
Static definitions of solution requirements ignore cost-effective scalability. An analysis of an organisation’s lawful intelligence practice must consider the cost to scale up the number of concurrent targets, the bandwidth coming into the system, and the number of analysts using it – and not just gradually over time. Solutions must be able to scale dramatically and instantaneously in the event of a black swan event such as civil unrest or a terrorist attack.
The SS8 platform has a cloud-ready architecture built on Kubernetes explicitly to scale services rapidly and on demand while minimizing cost and operational impact. By contrast, the rigidity common in lower priced solutions leaves them unable to quickly adapt to dynamic circumstances, leading to hidden costs.
SS8 provides the highest level of functionality today, drawing on nearly 25 years of industry leadership to help define the future. As new capabilities emerge, they are engineered into the SS8 platform and seamlessly rolled out to customers.
Long-term cost efficiency
The SS8 lawful and location intelligence platform protects operators’ investment by flexibly absorbing the impacts of change, an advantage that extends to the business relationships SS8 has with its customers. Service costs are modular to match the modular design of the solution, so customers pay only for what they need, when they need it, with a predictable fiscal roadmap for the future. SS8 engineers meet with customers regularly for quarterly business reviews to understand industry challenges and tailor SS8 platform development to meet them.
Different pricing models are available to meet customer requirements, from a capital expenditure model to multi-year budgets, or operational subscription-based projects. As a mobile network operator builds out a new service area, for example, the SS8 solution starts small to accommodate the limited number of subscribers.
Future readiness
With a structured approach that grows with the subscriber base, SS8 is a partner that cost-effectively provides tailored sets of services at every scale, throughout the lifetime of the service.
That total lifecycle approach also exemplifies SS8’s position as the industry’s only end-to-end provider in every aspect of lawful and location intelligence. SS8’s comprehensive scope of technologies and intelligent, tested workflows include everything from industry-leading handset- and network-based location technology to cutting-edge data fusion and analytics.
No other vendor provides SS8’s scope of offerings, and its platform is unparalleled at helping communication service providers and law enforcement prepare for the future of lawful intelligence with advanced, scalable solutions that help protect society.
About the authors
Javier D’Agostino
Javier is the Sales Director for the LATAM region for SS8 and has over 20 years of experience as a sales leader. He is responsible for the company’s strategic expansion into Communication Service Providers and Law Enforcement Agencies (Intelligence and Security). He has a BS in Information System Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of CEMA. To learn more about Javier, view his LinkedIn profile here.
About Rory Quann
Rory Quann is a Senior Solutions Engineer specializing in End-to-End Government Solutions at SS8 Networks and brings with him over 14 years of experience in the Lawful Interception and Data Analysis industry. Prior to joining SS8 in 2013, Rory worked for BAE System Applied Intelligence where he was focused on large scale Government deployments of Intelligence Solutions. Rory has held multiple positions in the Lawful Intelligence space ranging from Deployment Engineer, System Consultant, and Sales Engineer focusing on Country-wide Passive deployments. Rory is a Certified Microsoft MCSA Engineer and EMC Certified deployment Engineer. You can learn more about Rory on his LinkedIn profile by clicking here.
This collaboration is intended to boost Saudi Arabia’s strategic plan to offer a low-latency route between Asia and Europe
Sparkle and Mobily have signed an MoU to jointly expand international connectivity solutions with Saudi’s Mobily leveraging Sparkle’s international subsea infrastructure. Specifically
The announcement was made during the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Connected World KSA conference in which Mobily was a taking part as a Digital Infrastructure Founding Partner.
Under the MoU, Mobily is to acquire fibre from Sparkle’s submarine cable systems with strategic drop points in Chania, Palermo, Milan, and Marseille. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
The intention is that as result of these two agreements, network providers, ISPs, OTTs, content and application providers, and enterprises will benefit from a reliable, low latency route with scalable capacity options.
Clients will also gain access to the networks of both Mobily and its partners, leveraging a portfolio of services including Layer-1, Layer-2, and IP solutions. They provide virtual access to major Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and global connectivity.
Mobily’s offers “extensive services within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and Sparkle also provides services across Italy and Europe.
“Our collaboration with Sparkle strengthens the resilience of global network connectivity between the East, the Middle East, and Europe. This partnership supports the expansion of data centers and fosters content diversification for OTT platforms and hyperscalers in the region, enabling robust digital growth and innovation” said Thamer A. Alfadda, SVP Wholesale at Mobily in a statement.
He also said the new agreement marks “an important milestone in our partnership”.
Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle, added,“We are pleased to cooperate with Mobily to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s primary and pivotal role in the digitalization of the region and reinforce the Kingdom as a strategic digital hub enabling better communication between Europe, the Middle East and beyond.”
The new locations are served by Colt’s dedicated fibre infra in the UK, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland
Colt Technology Services (Colt) announced the latest in a series of improvements to its Network as a Service (NaaS) platform, Colt On Demand. It has added 130,000 more locations served by dedicated fibre (FTTX) in the UK, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland to access the platform.
This adds to the 32,000 Colt connected buildings, 1,100 datacentres and 275 cloud points of presence already accessible to customers through Colt On Demand. The B2B specialist also reaches millions of locations via carrier partners in over 180 locations to offer businesses scale, speed and security.
The latest improvements also involves a shift to greater automation for Colt and its customers and a new user interface on Colt’s On Demand platform that is designed to make it easier for businesses to navigate and support their geographic expansion plans through the platform.
Via the interface, they can flex their bandwidth requirements to meet business demand and respond to changing market dynamics.
Recently Colt surveyed 1,500 CIOs:
• 58% said they are using more on demand or NaaS features as a result of the growth in AI usage
• 81% of respondents in the study highlighted the positive impact of NaaS on their carbon reduction goals, and almost 30% cited using NaaS as a direct contributor to carbon reduction.
Power of partnerships
The new locations are offered via Colt’s ecosystem of best-of-breed partners, with an additional 20,000 locations expected to be available through the platform by the end of the year, bringing the total to more than 180,000, of which 32,000 are ‘on net’, connected to Colt’s own digital infrastructure. As well as benefit from the scale and reach, businesses selecting Colt’s on net locations benefit from real-time quoting, ordering and delivery, and in-life real time flexing.
Colt says its NaaS service, Colt On Demand, has won more than 30 industry awards since its inception including six recently.
Peter Coppens, VP Infrastructure and Connectivity solutions at Colt Technology Services said, “We pioneered Network as a Service over seven years ago. Since then, our multi award-winning On Demand platform has connected thousands of businesses to sites across the world, and we’ve refined and enhanced the platform based on their experiences.
“The latest customer-driven changes are the most significant yet, giving businesses access to five times as many locations as before, providing unrivalled scale and improving automation. This is the beginning of a new era of NaaS, and once again, Colt is leading the charge.”
The MVNO has partnered local firm Vas2Nets after the country encourages new entrants
Lebara Mobile has chosen Swedish telecom technology provider Telness Tech to supply its back office systems after expanding its operations into Nigeria through a strategic partnership with Vas2Nets Technologies, a Nigerian-based company. The collaboration aims to target underserved segments of the population.
The MVNO, established in 2001, has operations in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France and Denmark, serving more than four million customers. It also operates under licence in several other countries. In August, Waterland Private Equity acquired Lebara Group for an undisclosed sum, attracted by its strategic positioning as a value-focused challenger brand in the mobile SIM markets – particularly as many markets are becoming cost-sensitive.
The Nigerian initiative marked one of the first new mobile operators in Nigeria in years. Lebara recently entered the Nigerian market after obtaining an MVNO license from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This move is part of Nigeria’s wider strategy to liberalise its telecom sector by introducing MVNOs to enhance competition.
The NCC issued licences across five tiers to encourage a range of business models. The so-called Tier-5 licences, like Lebara’s, allow operators to deploy limited infrastructure while integrating with existing MNO networks.
The new operator will be powered by Telness Tech’s OSS/BSS software and customer experience, while bringing Lebara, an internationally recognised telecom brand – to an entirely new region and expansive market. Telness Tech’s fully automated platform will streamline and automate the new operator. Processcom will also play a key role, providing the mobile core infrastructure necessary for the network’s functionality.
The multi-million-dollar agreement spans several years and includes the launch of both prepaid and postpaid mobile services, with future for PBX solutions. Telness Tech will provide the critical OSS and BSS platforms, ensuring smooth customer management and operations. VAS2Nets, the lead partner, will spearhead the launch of this new operator, which aims to be one of the first new mobile operators to go live in Nigeria.
Cutting edge
Lebara is a nice win for Stockholm-based software automation company Telness Tech. Co-founded by Martina Klingvall (above, right) and Jonas Cedenwing (above, left) in 2021 as a spinout of the Swedish telecom provider Telness, the firm managed an €8.5 million Series A funding round in 2022 to begin taking its cloud-based platform to MNOs. The company already had 15,000 users in Sweden including a couple of operators that had launched cloud-based PBX services using its platform – and wider MVNO services.
The company has taken its digital-first MVNO model to the US now and earlier this year, raised a further €5 million as part of this plan. Telness has reportedly already signed multi-year contracts with its first two US customers. Funding for this round was provided by shareholders Industrifonden and Viltor (JCE Group). At the time of the raise, the co-founders swapped roles. Jonas Cedenwing became COO, leading the international expansion across new continents and Martina Klingvall became CEO of Telness Tech.
Nigerian deal
“This international partnership allows us to bring our cutting-edge telecom technology to Nigeria and is an important step in Telness Tech’s rapid international expansion, following our recent entry into the US market,” said Telness Tech co-founder and CEO Martina Klingvall. “To enable such a massively recognised brand as Lebara to enter yet another market, combined with our advanced technology and VAS2Nets local expertise – will bring a world class service that to Nigeria’s digital population.”
“This project enables us to offer Nigerians a high-quality, affordable mobile service through the combined expertise of VAS2Nets, Telness Tech, and Lebara and Processcom,” said Vas2Nets group executive director of business development Teniola Stuffman (above, centre). “Enabling us to deliver one of the first new mobile operators in Nigeria in years, and with the best technology and offerings on top of that. Rest assured, we’re very proud to lead this joint endeavour.”
“I’m extremely excited about combining all of these capabilities together, between our brand, Telness Tech’s technology and VAS2Nets local expertise, I believe we will deliver a truly world class experience for mobile consumers in Nigeria,” said Lebara director of partnerships Daniel Upson.
Partner content: In the rapidly evolving telecommunications landscape, the challenges facing CIOs are significant
As the industry faces new opportunities, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics, and automation into Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) is not just a technological upgrade—it’s a strategic imperative.
The imperative for transformation
A surge in data volume and complexity is underway, driven by 5G, the proliferation of connected devices and the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT). To navigate this landscape, CSPs must adopt intelligent approaches to manage networks and IT infrastructures. AI and machine learning (ML) have matured from experimental technologies to essential tools, ripe for industrialization to significantly enhance operational efficiencies and business outcomes.
Realizing operational excellence: AI, analytics, and automation can transform CSP operations. By leveraging these technologies, CSPs can streamline processes, reduce costs, improve service experience, and optimize network operations. For instance, Ericsson Service Orchestration and Assurance enables and automates efficient handling of services across multiple domains, enhancing operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
A tangible example of this transformation, Swisscom selects Ericsson to future-proof mobile network, leveraging Ericsson Expert Analytics. Powered by AI, Ericsson Expert Analytics analyzes and resolves potential subscriber issues in real-time to ensure unrivalled quality of service for users. By implementing the solution, Swisscom has improved service reliability and operational agility.
Here is an example of what Ericsson achieved for a Tier 1 US operator leveraging AI for order fallout detection and prediction.
Figure 1: AI, automation and analytics deliver better business outcomes
Source: Ericsson
Enhancing customer experience: In today’s competitive market, delivering superior customer experiences is paramount. Advanced analytics tools empower CSPs to leverage growing volumes of data for actionable insights relating to network performance and customer usage patterns. This proactive approach allows CSPs to anticipate and address potential issues before they impact the customer experience, leading to improved service quality and reduced operational costs.
Ericsson Expert Analytics platform is a testament to this capability. By continuously measuring the perceived subscriber experience across mobile networks, CSPs can gain insights into network performance from various perspectives, such as location and device. This data-driven approach enables CSPs to optimize network resources and enhance the overall quality of service. Australia’s, TPG Telecom uses Ericsson Expert Analytics: Advanced troubleshooting capability with smart data collection enabled by AI to quickly identify root cause of issues for resolution.
“EEA gives TPG the ability to provide actionable behavioural insights to predict, prioritize and resolve customer impacting events. Going forward, we know that this is going to meet our customer needs and it’s going to be a great foundation for us to build upon for other areas of the network, as we grow.”
Chris Tsigros, General Manager Cloud Infrastructure and Network
Driving Business Growth: AI is not just about operational efficiency; it’s a catalyst for business growth. By harnessing AI-driven tools such as personalized recommendations and predictive analytics, CSPs can deliver tailored customer experiences that foster loyalty and drive new revenues. Intelligent customer insights identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. This is one of many capabilities in Ericsson’s portfolio of Telco IT AI apps, a powerful suite of AI-driven use cases designed to elevate BSS system features with actionable insights.
Intelligent invoice anomaly detection and usage analysis for charging and billing enable CSPs to optimize their financial operations and enhance customer satisfaction. AI powered next best offer, similar next best offer, intelligent churn management, similar interest recommendation, and intelligent customer segmentation empowers CSPs to refine marketing strategies, deliver targeted offerings, and unlock new revenue streams.
While the benefits of AI, analytics, and automation are clear, challenges remain. Building trust in AI-driven decisions, ensuring data quality, and overcoming legacy system limitations are critical hurdles that CSPs must address. Ericsson OSS/BSS Solutions and OSS/BSS Servicesare key enablers to overcome these challenges, helping CSPs prioritize and implement use cases, assess operational maturity, and establish governance frameworks for AI and automation transformations.
Business intents fulfilled by AI-enabled OSS/BSS
Intent-based operations take clear statements of what a CSP wants the network to achieve as input. These intents are then interpreted by an intent-based system that manages the network to meet that goal. Leveraging AI and ML technologies, these capabilities enable networks to adapt to changing demands and conditions in real-time, offering a more responsive and adaptive telecommunications infrastructure. By dynamically allocating network resources, intent-driven networks can be steered from high-level business intents down to actions within the network’s lower layers. This is realized by implementing reasoning components and knowledge management, starting with one domain, and scaling up to work across multiple domains.
AI, automation, and analytics address CSPs’ most critical challenges, managing complexity and enabling greater varieties and volumes of use cases to thrive. The vision is to achieve zero-touch network operations, driven by various business intents, enabling CSPs to operate more sustainably in the era of differentiated connectivity.
What are the areas where you can use AI to secure…
…operational efficiency?
Resource utilization
Faster site acceptance
Mean time to repair (MTTR)
Auto incident detection
Service degradation prediction
…customer experience?
Customer experience insight
Improved time to content
Availability
Net promoter score (NPS)
…business growth?
Intelligent order fulfillment analysis
Next best offer
Average revenue per user (ARPU)
Campaign efficiency
Revenue leakage
Now is the time to evolve OSS/BSS
Embracing AI, analytics, and automation is not just an innovation imperative; it’s a strategic necessity to enhance the capabilities of OSS/BSS and drive tangible business outcomes. By investing in these technologies, upskilling the workforce, and fostering a culture of innovation, CSPs establish a firm foundation for sustainable growth in the increasingly digital age.
As the telecommunications industry continues to evolve, the integration of AI, analytics, and automation into OSS/BSS is transforming how CSPs can operate and engage with their customers. By leveraging these technologies, CSPs can enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experiences, and drive business growth. For CIOs, leading this transformation is both a challenge and an opportunity. By embracing these advancements effectively, organizations set themselves up for success in a dynamic and competitive market environment.
CSPs can unlock the full potential of data, deliver superior service experiences, and thrive in the digital age. The future of telecommunications is here, and it’s powered by AI, analytics and automation.
A recent eBrief on the topic of artificial intelligence, analytics, and automation in OSS/BSS highlights in the importance of revolutionizing CSP operations and offers strategies to capture new revenue. It also explores how Ericsson’s Business and Operations Support Systems (OSS/BSS) products and services can enhance business processes and daily operations. As CSPs evolve OSS/BSS and revamp operations to become more data-driven, it is crucial to optimize service quality and customer experience. Helping address many optimization aspects, Ericsson OSS/BSS Solutions and OSS/BSS Services are key enablers for AI-driven operations.
Authors
Ravindra Anantapur
Operational consulting manager
An Insightful AI operational consultant with more than couple of decades of experience in Telecom consulting, Technology, System Integration, Pre-sales, OSS/BSS solutions and Operations across wireless, wireline domains.
Talented consultant committed to developing staff, policies, and processes for enhanced business operations and transformations. Over the time acquired and demonstrated 360-degree skills from field operations to 5G, AI/ML, Cloud and Automation consulting, and services capabilities.
Diligent Telecommunications Analyst accustomed to monitoring industry trends and emerging technology to improve telecommunications. Holding both academic and industry reputed certifications in Telecom, Cloud, OSS/BSS etc.
With 16 years’ telecommunications industry experience, Rayane Chahine has contributed to several strategic digital transformation projects. At Ericsson, Rayane served initially as a consulting manager contributing to cross-domain initiatives driving the delivery of Enterprise Architecture framework and industrialization programs. Rayane was lead on the 5G and IoT use case and business model design driving collaboration of various teams from design to implementation. Rayane is now part of Business and Operations Support Systems Solution Marketing working on strategies to influence and position the Ericsson brand, products, and services to customers and the market.
The UK operator’s share price has risen 35% since Allison Kirkby became CEO in February
Bharti Enterprises has completed the acquisition of a 24.5% stake in the UK telco BT Group from billionaire Patrick Drahi. The stake was sold via Altice UK in two parts, the second of which is now completed.
Drahi is under pressure to sell off assets as his Altice Group grapples with debt (€60 billion) earlier this year), exacerbated by inflation, and the fallout from an accounting scandal in Portugal. He agreed in August to sell Altice’s stake in BT to Bharti Enterprises, the majority stakeholder in Bharti Telecom. In turn, Bharti Telecom is the largest shareholder in India’s second biggest telco, Bharti Airtel.
In August, billionaire telecom and media investor Patrick Drahi agreed to sell the stake he held in BT to Bharti in two transactions through Altice UK. The second part has now been completed. Bharti’s stake is worth about £3.6 billion based on BT’s share price of 148 pence.
BT’s stock price has risen about 35% since CEO Allison Kirkby became CEO in February. She has continued cost-cutting measures and plans to focus on the UK core business and reduce BT’s international activities.
BT previously owned a 21% stake in Bharti Airtel and had two seats on its board between 1997 and 2001.
The investment will initially be to improve two existing facilities with a third data centre to be added later
Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS) has teamed up with investment firm RMZ to form a joint venture that plans to invest up to $1.7 billion in datacentre facilities in India. RMZ has headquarters in Bengaluru and is one of the world’s largest, family-owned, alternative asset owners.
Initially the investment will be to accelerate development at existing datacentre sites in Navi Mumbai and Ambattur, Chennai. A third site will be added in later. The datacentres will have a combined capacity of about 250MW on completion of all phases, according to Colt DCS.
Deepak Chhabria, CEO at RMZ Infrastructure (pictured), said, “We are witnessing an extraordinary shift in the datacentre landscape, driven by the accelerating demands of cloud adoption and the AI revolution. We recognise that digital infrastructure is not just an investment theme but a cornerstone of India’s economic future. Colt DCS’s proven track record in delivering high-quality, scalable solutions aligns perfectly with our vision for India.
“Colt DCS’s commitment to operational excellence and innovation complements our mission to build state-of-the-art facilities that meet the evolving needs of sectors, such as banking, financial services, and media. This is our opportunity to shape the future of data infrastructure in India, and we are ready to rise to the challenge.”
Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO at Colt DCS, added, “In terms of our expansion, India remains a strategic country of focus and key in terms of delivering against our aggressive growth strategy. Colt DCS has a proven track record, working with the world’s largest hyperscale cloud providers and multinational companies. The partnership with RMZ will provide the opportunity to further accelerate and execute our ambitious plans.”
