This year, the telecom industry will undergo a significant transformation: 2024 will be the year that communications service providers will begin to see a concrete return on their 5G investments. The core opportunities for CSPs to generate new revenue streams will stem from enterprise use cases, supported by cloud-native 5G technologies that will enable them to rapidly bring new services to market and adapt to the needs of diverse enterprise customers. In particular, the rise of cloud-native 5G cores will have a profound impact on telecom services, offering CSPs a direct path to 5G monetization with lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and unmatched speed to market.
Below are five predictions from Casa Systems that explore how the telecom landscape will evolve in 2024, focusing on monetizing 5G investments and the pivotal role played by cloud-native 5G cores.
#1: Innovative 5G core approaches will drive new 5G enterprise use cases
A fully cloud-native, open architecture 5G approach, decoupled from hardware and hardware-agnostic, will finally move CSPs confidently into monetizing their 5G investments, especially in the enterprise space. Cloud-native 5G cores - born in the cloud and not spun up on virtualized hardware (cloud washing) - will allow CSPs to deploy new services quickly on a smaller footprint. This will give service providers the agility to deliver new cost-effective, cloud-native enterprise offerings with faster time to service and revenue.
#2: Private 5G will come of age as a key driver of 5G ROI.
Enterprise-focused private networks will emerge as a driving force behind 5G monetization in both IT and OT scenarios. Tailor-made for diverse use cases, mobile private networks offer high-bandwidth connectivity, coupled with WiFi-like ease of deployment and management, as well as security, reliability, customization, and control over network resources. Enterprises will flock to CSPs capable of offering rapid, cost-effective cloud-native alternatives to the hardware-bound solutions that are tied to legacy network equipment vendors.
#3: Dynamic network slicing will play a central role in monetizing private networks
5G innovation platforms will bring dynamic network slicing to the forefront, enabling CSPs to offer differentiated network services to enterprises on both the IT and OT sides. The ability to tailor network slices to meet the specific requirements of different enterprise and operational (e.g. IoT) applications will enable CSPs to optimally price their network services. For example, lower fees for slices for IoT devices can be optimized for low power consumption and long-range connectivity, and higher fees for mission critical applications for high bandwidth and low latency performance. This will open up new business models and revenue streams, as providers can charge for the specialized network capabilities offered by each slice. Network slicing will also be embraced by enterprise network security teams, allowing sensitive data to be isolated in secure network slices, which will further propel the adoption of the 5G innovation platform.
“Casa's predictions for the year highlight a dynamic industry on the cusp of significant evolution, from private networks beginning to make its mark to fixed wireless access having a measurable impact on connecting the unconnected."
#4: Fixed Wireless Access will join fiber in closing the digital divide
Fixed Wireless Access will play a pivotal role in efforts to progress the U.S. government’s broadband initiative to bring high speed internet to underserved regions nationwide. While fiber has historically been the focus of these efforts, it comes with lengthy timelines and costly deployment associated with trenching and installation. In contrast, FWA can be rapidly and cost-effectively deployed, as well as easily scaled to accommodate the increasing demand for internet connectivity. Given FWA is significantly faster in regards to time to service, governments will look to FWA technologies to accelerate the social change that comes with closing the digital divide.
#5: Indoor coverage and private networks will drive a surge in interest in small cells
As demand for higher throughput mobile devices increases, and use of mid and high-band spectrum increases, indoor coverage will be critical. Small Cells provide significant advantages over DAS, and densification will start to prefer Small Cells. Private networks will need small cells to meet the requirement diversity of physical plants and a variety of use cases. Since DAS only extends the Macro-network, Small Cells will see significant innovation and enable much richer features in localized mobile network applications yielding enterprise class indoor capabilities.
Casa's predictions for the year highlight a dynamic industry on the cusp of significant evolution, from private networks beginning to make its mark to fixed wireless access having a measurable impact on connecting the unconnected. At the highest level, adoption of cloud native 5G cores will be a strategic imperative that will gain significant momentum. Service providers will be equipped with cloud-native 5G technologies that can enable vast innovation, drive a slew of new and highly-tailored enterprise services, and bring about the long awaited return on the industry’s immense investment in 5G.
