Mobile network operators (MNOs) expect most new revenue in the next 5-10 years to come from 5G enterprise and partner services. This greatly transforms service assurance.
The success of new 5G services depends on meeting unprecedented user expectations, from humans AND machines. MNOs will need to form partnerships and gain visibility into each link of the 5G 'supply chain,' even those they don’t control. Without this, MNOs cannot hope to effectively manage complex 5G networks and deliver advanced services. This means planning, design, building, launching, and service assurance must also be transformed.
The potential of 5G is huge, but so are the risks. With investments projected at $1 trillion globally by 2025[1], MNOs won’t see ROI if they don’t meet next-level expectations. That’s because 5G will be consumed by intolerant machine-based users.
5G expectations from intolerant machines
This decade alone, MNOs stand to capture about $700 billion in 5G revenue.[2] Revenue growth from enterprise services may reach 35%, whereas consumer revenue is likely to remain at about 1.5%.[3] Of the 5G-enabled B2B opportunities, 40% are expected to be in healthcare and manufacturing.[4]
Most users in these industries are classified as machines and involve critical, latency-sensitive applications and devices. While humans are tolerant of some service interruptions, machine users - i.e., everything from emergency service applications to factory floor robots - are not.
Dynamic 'little data' drives 5G delivery
Full visibility doesn’t only mean links MNOs control - such as core, transport and RAN - it also means links controlled by partners, like app vendors, hyperscalers and devices.
Anomalies affecting critical 5G services must be predicted or detected in real time and resolved before affecting users. Since the supply chain involves so many parts, this inevitably means monitoring, processing, collecting and correlating data from many sources.
This isn’t possible using big data. As 5G scales, compute and storage costs for big data become too expensive. Also, traditional big data systems are not nimble or precise enough to keep up with dynamic service delivery and assurance.
A consistently connected 5G supply chain is only possible with the right data, in real time, in context. The “little data” approach to service delivery and assurance feeds AI tools and applications only what they need, when they need it, so all links - 5G core, transport, apps, edge functions, RAN, devices and end users - stay in sync and services operate flawlessly. If just one link is out of sync, it all falls apart - including user experience.
The 5G ecosystem: links will break without full visibility across the entire chain.
Service assurance must interact with NWDAF and become adaptive
The mobile industry is addressing the visibility challenge in 5G networks with frameworks like Network Data and Analytics Function (NWDAF) to standardize the collection of, and access to, network data. This is key for the closed-loop control required of many layers to deliver new revenue based on ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) and high-density industrial Internet of Things. Timely data correlation and analytics are, however, still required to obtain actionable insights that assure application performance and user experience.
Given the dynamic nature of 5G, service assurance must be adaptive; real-time, contextualized little data is what makes this happen. Equally important: the ability to significantly collapse analytics resources and big data overhead. These capabilities are fundamental for per-user/ per-device monitoring, meeting expectations and securing revenue from enterprise and industry customers.
The good news? Service assurance transformation is an evolutionary process, and MNOs still have time to build a solid foundation using cloud-native components that are easy to integrate. Choosing solutions with open APIs will future-proof networks by supporting any data source or assurance needs that may arise later.
While this process won’t happen overnight, it doesn’t have to be painfully slow or unreasonably expensive and complex. Regardless of where they are on the path to fully automated 5G, MNOs can incrementally pilot-test, optimize, automate and deploy 5G standalone capabilities - quickly and easily enough to achieve 5G revenue goals.
An incremental path to full automation and insight-led 5G network orchestration
Conclusion
Given the complexities and cost of transforming infrastructure and business models, can MNOs cash in on the significant revenue growth potential of 5G?
Yes, but only by developing supply chain-focused strategies that emphasize visibility across a partnership ecosystem. In a recent survey by the GSMA’s Mobile World Live[5], 80% of MNOs said application vendors will require real-time performance feedback.
Without service assurance driven by AI and machine learning, MNOs cannot successfully launch and manage 5G. Nor can they do it alone; sharing the vital little data that aligns the supply chain is essential for all 5G stakeholders.
MNOs embracing partnerships and a modular approach to service assurance can incrementally, but rapidly, add the visibility and integration they need to meet expectations and gain 5G revenue.
Sources:
1, 3. GSMA Intelligence, "Global Mobile Trends 2021,” December 2020.
2, 4. Ericsson, "5G for business: a 2030 market compass,” October 2019.
5. GSMA’s Mobile World Live, global mobile operator survey, June 2021.
