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There’s no shortage of telecom newsletters. This one aims to be different.
We won’t promote company news or pat ourselves on the back for award wins. (But definitely check out our Community page if that’s your thing!)
Rather, we want to share everything we’re learning about automation and AI in telecom networks. Real insights. Practical use cases. All based on actual experience.
Why these two themes?
Because they are the next major battleground for telcos. Success on these fronts means telecom can continue to move forward and compete. Failure means the beginning of a gradual but assured decline.
We promise you won’t catch us daydreaming about all of the exciting possibilities of some undefined, distant future.
We will cover the work we’re doing every day. When we’ve cracked the code on a difficult challenge. When something goes wrong that we think can be avoided in the future. When we achieve breakthroughs that move the needle on customer objectives.
End users want service simplicity.
Most of the time, consumers aren’t even aware of the type of network they’re connected to. Enterprise customers have no interest in getting bogged down in complex telco network management.
In fact, the significant effort put into network operations like management and upgrades goes completely unnoticed by the end user.
Still, we work tirelessly in the background to design quality of service into what needs to be, fundamentally, “just a network” for the end customer. A network that doesn't require the customer to understand its complexities to benefit from its capabilities.
Building a network so advanced and self-sufficient users don’t have to think about it necessitates a high level of intelligence in network operation. It demands automation, machine learning and AI. In the case of the latter, structured data that can inform AI algorithms are an imperative. If there is no data, there is no AI.
These are the defining capabilities of the next successful telecom networks.
The march to 6G is not just about technological advancement but a paradigm shift in understanding who the true customer of these networks is. Unlike the more visible consumer-facing changes we've seen in the past, the real transformation with 6G lies in the network operator's hands. The goal isn’t just to provide connectivity but to achieve unparalleled levels of operational efficiency and effectiveness.
If network operators can reduce the unit production cost of data, they can offer services at significantly lower prices while maintaining healthy profit margins. This approach mirrors the strategy of the hyperscalers that use extensive automation to continuously undercut the market while maintaining high gross margins. This is where the industrialization cycle becomes crucial, allowing operators to decide when to lower prices instead of adhering to a cost-plus model.
And so, operational automation emerges as the next key battleground where telecom has vast potential for improvement. By running the network with extreme intelligence, we can produce a network that is exponentially more cost-effective. This operational efficiency is the key strategic imperative of the industry, with everything else contributing to the ability to automate.
Standardization, whether from an integration perspective, cloud infrastructure perspective or a RAN perspective, serves to operationalize the supply chain and enhance efficiency.
Traditional automation has been rule-based, but the advantage of AI lies in its model-based approach. With the right access to data, AI can preemptively resolve issues by identifying patterns that are impossible for humans to detect. This capability is akin to AI's proficiency in medical diagnostics, such as identifying cancer in radiology images. In the context of networks, AI can detect emerging problems, akin to early signs of disease, allowing for preemptive treatment rather than reactive measures.
Rakuten’s drive towards complete automation exemplifies this approach. As a native tech company entering the telco market, the decision to fully embrace automation was driven by the need to meet ambitious timelines and cost structures, which would have been impossible otherwise. Fundamentally, it was a mindset and organizational approach first, before one bit of tech was deployed.
This underscores the fact that simply adopting Open RAN, or any other single technological solution, is not the answer. The true transformation lies in changing the entire operational ecosystem around these technologies to fully realize their benefits.
As operators pursue level 3, 4 and, ultimately 5, autonomy, they are simultaneously progressing toward more advanced network technologies like 6G.
Automation, AI, and a shift in operational strategies are what will truly define the success of future telecom networks. We want to help give you an edge by sharing everything we learn and know.
We hope you’ll subscribe as we share our view of this journey and what is required to succeed.
