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Transforming Service Providers into 'Experience Providers' in 2023

Transforming Service Providers into 'Experience Providers' in 2023 Image Credit: marchmeena/BigStockPhoto.com

As the competitive environment intensifies and the fight for broadband subscriber loyalty gets increasingly tougher, it has never been more critical for telecom operators to go beyond being just service providers. To effectively win the critical battle for subscriber loyalty, it is now more imperative than ever for today’s service providers to become tomorrow’s “experience providers”. Gone are the days of just providing fast pipes for over-the-top players and cloud giants. Service providers can now take full advantage of the opportunity represented by “owning” the connected home and metaverse experience, including delivering Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)-enhancing services and leveraging subscriber intelligence for operational efficiency and churn reduction, better than ever before.

As the network becomes increasingly software defined and intelligent equipment is deployed closer to the edge, the ability for carriers to gather meaningful information that can both reflect and provide actionable insights into user experiences grows dramatically. As a result, the concept of becoming a true “experience provider” is emerging where subscriber problems can be anticipated and proactively addressed, and user needs can be addressed remotely and immediately in an extraordinarily personalized manner. This transformation is proving to have profound impacts on carrier performance, with dramatically reduced churn, faster responsiveness, better performance, increased subscriber loyalty and higher ARPU.

2023 will be a year of opportunity for making this strategic transition. Let’s explore some of the emerging trends and drivers that will be key in the transformation from service provider to experience provider and allow carriers to maintain their competitive EDGE.   

#1: Multi-Gigabit broadband services are becoming the new standard service offering

The shift to broadband services meeting and exceeding 1 gigabit per second (gig) data rates was both widespread and well suited for Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) technologies. However, new applications are causing a thirst for symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds.

The proliferation of multiple devices using these bandwidth-hungry apps is pushing service providers to begin to think 10 gig services and beyond for both business and residential customers. The emergence of the metaverse, with Ultra High Definition (UHD) and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Extended Reality (AR/VR/XR) applications will continue to push these boundaries.

We are in the early innings of a once-in-a-generation, decade-long, industry upgrade super cycle to multi-gigabit, fiber-based broadband services and to 5G/6G wireless. This massive shift is underpinned by $120 billion of government sponsored stimulus globally to fund rural broadband and non-sanctioned vendor rip and replace opportunities worldwide. Many service providers around the world are already capitalizing or are planning to take advantage of these opportunities.

#2: Rise of the Network Edge as a Strategic Location

The rise of 10 gig symmetrical (XGS-PON) technology and multi-gigabit services that support bandwidth-hungry apps are creating new challenges in the network – especially as these apps require symmetrical bandwidth. Service providers realize that they must push equipment closer to the subscriber to optimize traffic management, but also to minimize latency, which is becoming increasingly important in the world of the metaverse, gaming and AR/VR/XR. The global augmented reality market size was estimated at USD 25.33 billion in 2021 and according to Grand View Research is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.9% from 2022 to 2030. 

Leveraging intelligence at the network edge enables the ability to be closer to where data is actually created and consumed and where the subscriber experience is defined, giving service providers increased agility in monitoring, managing, and optimizing performance – thereby improving their ability to deliver an immersive user experience.

#3: Architectures that Can be Upgraded In-Place to 50 gig and 100 gig without a Rip-and-Replace are Becoming Increasingly More Valued

As advanced applications emerge and concurrent bandwidth demand in the home and business combine to drive the need for multi-gigabit services, it is increasingly clear that the next step beyond 10 gig is on the horizon. Forward thinking "experience providers” are planning for this now and in-place upgrades will greatly improve service agility while minimizing CAPEX and network disruption. We are already seeing service providers who are competing against XGS-PON enabled competitors able to market their ease of transition to 50 gig and 100 gig PON as a major competitive advantage.

#4: Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a Key Technology in Optimizing Network Efficiency and Subscriber Experience

One of the most critical enablers in the shift from service provider to experience provider is network awareness and having the ability to offer data-driven analytics that provide end-to-end visibility into the customer experience. As the amount of performance data generated from the subscriber edge to the network core continues to grow, the ability to learn from this data also improves. Equally important, the proliferation of software defined networking and virtually defined functions is enabling service providers to act upon this data in entirely new ways. AI is allowing increasingly robust models to be built that can anticipate network challenges and intercept them - often without physical intervention - and greatly enhance network performance and Quality of Service. AI will drive significant improvements in key indicators such as network uptime, load balancing, minimization of truck rolls and call center volumes, and customer satisfaction.

These are just a few key strategic trends that we see helping to shape 2023 as the year of transformation for tomorrow’s experience provider. We are proud to work with over a thousand service providers around the world and successfully helping them transition into experience providers by partnering to transform their networks and business models with multi-gigabit fiber (FTTx) broadband connectivity and 5G mobile and optical edge solutions combined with end-to-end, multi-vendor network orchestration, service assurance and WiFi experience management software.

Author

Geoff Burke serves as Senior Vice President, Product Marketing for DZS. Prior to DZS, he served as CMO at Broadband Forum. Prior Broadband Forum, Geoff led Corporate Marketing at Calix, Geoff holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA.

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