Sponsored: 5G’s readiness to deal with increased disruption in the market is critical
Business cycles and expectations for return on technology investments have shortened for reasons related to economics, investment criteria and technology availability. Even enterprise services are increasingly benchmarked against the likes of TikTok and ChatGPT.
The speed of uptake of the latter at one million signups in five days and 100 million users in its first two months does represent a breathtaking benchmark. That said, it’s worth remembering that OpenAI (the developer of ChatGPT) was founded back in 2015.
It’s just that the floodgates opened more recently with uptake of its freely available version of ChatGPT. Further examples of rapid service uptake will surely follow but it remains to be seen whether the scale of uptake of generative AI is matched by its profitability.
When 5G was being considered some years back, such rates of service signup – especially related to IoT − were also imagined but are yet to be realized. Some of the capabilities that have catapulted generative AI uptake are however very similar to features that will continue to power 5G-derived services.
In particular: cloud-based hyperscalability, velocity of updates and versatility to cater for emergent needs of an almost infinite range of industry verticals. With such enablers now in place we may also see 5G-driven services grow at similarly spectacular rates in the near future.
Enterprise proof points
The past 12 months have already seen considerable progress when it comes to 5G. This is especially the case when it comes to enterprise services, with over half of global enterprise mobile subscriptions expected to be 5G-enabled by 2027.
More advanced examples of enterprise 5G are now coming to the fore, such as Vodafone’s enablement of slicing at the UK coronation of King Charles; Singtel’s Paragon platform for 5G edge computing and cloud services; and Telefonica’s network slicing pilot with Melia Hotels. The 2024 Olympics in Paris will be an event to watch closely.
Use cases including transport (yes, including drones) and of course immersive entertainment will be on display, many of which will be driven by 5G. Figure 1 below provides further indication of the extent of enterprise requirements for the near future.
Fig. 1, Enterprise 5G Service Expectations; Source: Omdia
Charging’s essential role in early 5G success
The encouraging thing about 5G as opposed to more blue-sky innovations is that it is built on the experiences of earlier “Gs”, albeit using more advanced, especially cloud, technologies. 5G is microservices-based and proven in multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments.
It can provide whatever hyperscaling, velocity and versatility is needed as new services emerge. Those characteristics also apply to 5G charging.
For new services to emerge, communications providers will rely on partners – specialized in everything from immersive media and entertainment to enterprise security. Network functions now speak to each other more easily and charging is embedded in that chatter. Effective network exposure towards those partners, with value chains already considered, is becoming essential for rapid commercialization and charging plays a central role.
By enabling support for service experimentation that includes monetization considerations, various business models can be rapidly and flexibly explored, and commercial success is no longer an afterthought.
Modernized and consolidated charging is, more than ever, integral to effectively accelerated 5G. It must be woven into a hyperscalable and flexible 5G ecosystem and by featuring those characteristics itself, plays a critical role in exposure monetization.
Fig. 2, Essential Traits for 5G Charging Engines; Source: Appledore
At Amdocs we cannot wait for the stars to align further in these respects. The essential ingredients are already available for accelerated growth. As a more evolved, standalone (SA) 5G becomes normalized, charging serves as a focal point for growth and ensures that early returns can be secured.
There is no prolonged period between scaling and testing of business models. Not all 5G-enabled services will have the rocket ship characteristics of ChatGPT – but some will. And they will also be monetized faster than in the 4G era.
Learn more about the current state and potential of enterprise 5G in the free to download Omdia paper here and learn more about the critical role of 5G charging here.