Digitalization — the enhancement of data-centric processes over high-performance networks — is aimed at boosting operational efficiency, improving user experiences and enabling new uses for a range of industrial and consumer markets. This could mean 5G connectivity on high-speed trains, 360-degree free-view video and even self-driving vehicles, among many other exciting prospects.
All these possibilities indicate that we’re entering a digital world: things look different for network operators in the 5G era. How we use networks is fundamentally changing; how networks are planned and built is changing too, with increased demand for high-capacity, low-latency performance on a large scale, to accommodate several different uses and user types. But this also means operators must change — not only in the technologies they incorporate, but in terms of their strategies and service models. In fact, their whole identity as a business has to change, because it’s no longer just about selling more and more connections.
Operators are, at times, widely criticized entities; customers often feel they don’t move quick enough, or that their networks aren’t fast or secure enough. But it’s worth considering some of the challenges they face: they must respond to various demands from enterprise customers, consumers, shareholders, governments, public organizations and IT regulators. Network operators typically exist in highly competitive markets where the very nature of their business is constantly evolving, driven by technology that often moves faster than they can keep up with.
Now, 5G has been deployed and established in its non-standalone incarnation — mostly as a consumer-focussed offering for enhanced mobile broadband — although its revenue potential has yet to be fully realized. The next phase of deployment is standalone 5G, which requires the deployment of 5G core in the network. Standalone 5G creates new possibilities, but how should operators use these to create new digital services? And what impact will new network capabilities have on the business of being an operator?
This is all unexplored territory for network operators; planning for future operations based on emerging possibilities requires a new vision. One solution provider, Huawei, believes it can work with operators to create a road map for network evolution — one that also serves as a blueprint for commercial evolution, from a connectivity-centric business to one focussed on digital services.
Huawei calls its blueprint GUIDE; it sets out the company’s concept for accelerating the integration of connectivity with green and intelligent technologies, interlocking business value with technological evolution (see Huawei’s Guide to a Digital Future). In other words, GUIDE ensures that a network continues to be a high-value asset for its operator that can be used to deliver smarter and more-energy-efficient connectivity to customers. The network can also be used as a platform to offer more-sophisticated digital services such as edge computing — services that create revenue and enable new business models.
According to Huawei, a vital part of planning for operators is to look at today from the perspective of a decade from now, and to ask themselves what they should be doing to evolve their networks and seize the opportunities of digitalization. Huawei believes there are five main capabilities operators need to be focussed on today in order to enhance their competitiveness tomorrow:
- Service expanding
- Efficiency innovating
- Resource leveraging
- Value competing
- Society contributing
Few operators could claim they currently have all these capabilities — or even that they fully optimize those they do have. The legacy of 3G and 4G, and the complexity of operating a multi-technology platform, can inhibit 5G’s potential not just operationally but also in terms of the operator’s business model.
These five capabilities align with the five elements of the GUIDE IS NOW model Huawei released at MWC 2022:
Building ubiquitous gigabit connectivity
- Operators need to expand services to deliver gigabit everywhere; this is important as ultrahigh-capacity connectivity that’s consistent, reliable and widely available is fundamental for operators. Offering gigabit services will enable operators to be better positioned in supporting more immersive digital lifestyles for their customers, as well as enlarging the scope of services and market segments they can address.
Speeding up ultra-automation to address uncertainties
- Operators need to innovate in efficiency to achieve network ultra-automation; automation is a vital capability for operators; it enables more agile and cost-effective digital operations by automating network workflows such as configuration, service provisioning and traffic management, among others.
Providing intelligent computing and networks-as-a-service
- Operators need to use the resources of intelligent multicloud connectivity; edge computing and cloud capabilities are crucial for future competitiveness, enabling operators to access resources and achieve networking scale. Intelligence creates a more adaptive digital platform, supporting emerging “as-a-service” business models.
Offering unique experiences on demand
- Operators need to deliver distinct experiences to compete on value; future competitive strategies will require customizable and higher-value user experiences to be built on top of connectivity, supporting more attractive digital applications in the industrial, enterprise and consumer markets.
Enabling sustainability with green IT
- Operators need contribute to society through more sustainable green practices; building and operating more sustainable networks is a primary concern for all operators. To lower carbon emissions and control energy costs, operators need to use energy efficient products, manage the network life cycle and pursue green network best practices.
Operators find themselves on a complex, long-term journey toward becoming more service-centric in the digital age — an evolution not just of their networks, but also of their competitive positioning as they look to address future trends, service opportunities and new business models.
But as more industries go digital, network infrastructure needs to be rethought; it now demands closer relationships between IT, cloud, edge and communications networks. The cloud-native, software-centric, distributed and sustainable networks we need for the future look less and less like those of the past.
This is a huge challenge for network operators, and it seems unfair to expect them to deliver this alone. Collaboration with industry partners is vital, and is becoming an underlying trend in telecoms and IT. Huawei believes that by evolving the network as the basis for future unique services, focussing on the primary competitive capabilities operators need, its GUIDE blueprint creates a platform for digital transformation.