TELCO 2019 : WHAT WILL BE HOT !!
This year will be more about about stuff that will turn the Telco world upside down….5G , Digitization , Software Defined Networks , IoT , Smart Cars and Homes, AI/ML , Blockchain etc … Lets hope Telco CEO’s will not lament about OTT players because they must realise that you can still make money by leveraging new technologies and penetrating adjacent markets with some creative thinking and bold initiatives. So lets summarise the hottest trends that will drive the Telco agendas going forward in 2019.
1 : 5G is expanding like a thermo nuclear mushroom across the planet. Tier 1 Telcos such as Verizon , DT , DoCoMo, Vodaphone , Telia , Telefonica , Etisalat , KT , DoCoMo , China Telecom , Singtel etc will start building out 5G networks even as they grapple on looking for the business case silver bullets to monetise their 5G. Governments from EU, Korea , Japan are throwing millions into research on use case scenarios.With the arrival of the 5G era marked by Gbps-level speeds and ultra-low latency, we will witness a dramatic improvement in the conectivity and service quality. If you are a Star Trek fan like yours truly then 5G-powered Internet of Things (IoT) and Virtual Reality (VR) should fulfill some of your wildest tech dreams.
2 : DIGITAL Telcos will still be the rage although success stories remain scarce. The most successful Telcos will embed customer centric IT architectures that have the insight and visibility required to ensure every customer promise is fulfilled without failure.The right blend of technologies will help the Telcos earn the Digital soubriquet. Think Analytics , flexible BSS/OSS , XaaS models and Virtualisation. Telecoms should learn from other industries, those that have undergone disruption and continue to innovate.We are talking about things like transformation of the networks, how to digitally transform customer related processes, how to acquire better knowledge and expand engagement with the customer through a widespread use of analytics.. Creators wins dullards lose out.
3 : IoT is about all about M2M chatter enabled by millions of radio chips embedded everywhere. In future Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning will grab much of the attention in IoT-related projects. The IoT evolution requires a new and fundamentally different approach for locating IoT devices and then beyond that, securing and sharing their location information. With IoT, wearables and other connected devices, the industry is now moving in a new direction – from convergence bringing everything to smart phones, to divergence connecting everything to the Internet. With this market shift, the industry is screaming for a horizontal, next-generation operating systems that can meet the needs of innovators to deliver a cross-platform connected experience in the IoT. If you don't understand IoT you will not make money out of 5G.
4 : AI will grab much of the attention in IoT-related projects because the IoT evolution requires a new and fundamentally different approach for locating devices / sensors and then beyond that, securing and sharing their location information. Without those, IoT won’t live up to its potential – and hype. AI impacts IoT solutions in two key dimensions—firstly in enabling real-time responses, for example via a remote video camera reading license plates or analysing faces; and secondly in post event processing, such as seeking out patterns in data over time and running predictive analytics. Without AI/ML you might as well give up trying to monetise data lakes and anticipate customer whims.
5 : The telecom industry will see a huge impact of Blockchain this year : offering new solutions for fraud management, Identity-as-a-Service and data management, enablement of 5G etc. IoT needs an unalterable Ledger for secure instant monetization of diverse connection types through smart contracts.Blockchain is often not a complete solution in itself – the greatest benefits will be realized when distributed ledgers and smart contracts are used in collaboration with other Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, including AI and IoT.Without Blockchain your supply chain will remain sluggish and roaming fraud will persist.
6 : Just as industrial robots are remaking the manufacturing industry by creating higher production rates and improved quality, Robotic Process Automation “bots” are revolutionizing the way we think about and administer business processes, IT support processes, workflow processes, remote infrastructure and back-office work. RPA provides dramatic improvements in accuracy and cycle time and increased productivity in transaction processing while it elevates the nature of work by removing people from dull, repetitive tasks. Robots ( especially the software kind ) will be our buddies if you can make that mental switch.
7 : The search for new revenue streams and business models is intensifying because many markets are now approaching saturation; most economically developed markets have already surpassed 90% unique subscriber penetration, meaning the vast majority of the addressable population in these market are already mobile subscribers. The ecosystem enabled by almost universal mobile ownership is of huge value, but equally the traditional subscriber-acquisition model of operator growth must inevitably be re-evaluated. Collaboration and Co Opetition are in vogue since most players have realised they cannot own every facet of an ecosystem..its getting too big and complex. Collaborate or perish.
Enabling new cross-industry business models in areas such as IoT will require flexible and agile networks that allow ubiquitous coverage of people and things, software-defined network functions and analytics, personal data protection and cyber-resilience, ultra-reliable low-latency communication, and enhanced mobile broadband.
The new age Telco exec needs to recognize “ that the faster pace of change demands—and creates—a new kind of information system in society. As the cost of advanced technologies continues to fall, new applications will be opened for them, as well as opportunities to combine them in innovative ways. This unleashes "combinatorial" effects, where the capability of technologies working in tandem far exceed their capabilities when deployed separately. As our technological powers increase, the side effects and potential hazards will also escalate“ ( Future Shock , Alvin Toffler )
#5G #AI #Blockchain # Digital #IoT # Businessmodel #ML
Wish you a fantastic 2019