Transformation of European Telecommunications, 2019

European Telecoms Operators are Harnessing Emerging Technology to Solve Industry Challenges

Before deregulation, the role of most European operators centered around the provision of voice-line telephony services. Modern telecommunications markets are much more complex and touch on a number of different segments across the ICT market. Today's telecommunications companies provide fixed and mobile broadband, content streaming services, fixed/mobile convergence, and IoT network support - and much more besides. In addition, many operators are multinational companies with international business interests formed via joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions and/or network sharing agreements.

Subscribers require connectivity on the go at an affordable price and service providers need to offer services which satisfy customer demand and increase customer retention. In some countries, operators face fierce competition and as a result, many offer value-added services such as music, on-demand video, and mobile gaming. As a result, these companies often report millions of subscribers signed up to a variety of different products and the management of these services with respect to quantity control, billing, data management, and service configuration requires the application of complex digitized systems. Operators are looking to emerging technologies to manage and streamline their systems in order to increase efficiencies across their networks which will lead to reduced costs and improved customer experience.

The types of emerging technologies vary, but some common solutions include big data analytics, network slicing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.

Big Data analytics is the handling of massive data sets that are so large they cannot be managed using traditional data-processing applications. As with many companies in a variety of different verticals, telecoms companies recognize that the analysis of big data will give an insight into buying behaviour, market trends, and preferences that will help them to make invaluable customer-led business decisions. Big data analytics can also be used to implement systems that will increase efficiency. For example, data on individual handsets can be used to integrate a customer/device identification system that will reduce communications fraud, and information on data usage can be used to design targeted tariffs with specific data allowances.

Network slicing is a technology which will enable the support of a selection of different services using common network infrastructure. It is a software solution that will allow for the creation and control of Mobile Virtual Networks positioned on top of a shared physical network. Individual slices can be tailored to meet individual needs and can be isolated in the event of a cyber-attack. Network slicing is viewed as an important emerging technology with the imminent launch of 5G services since they will enable the implementation of different 5G services on a single network.

Blockchains are being integrated into the networks of some key telecommunications companies such as Telefonica and Deutsche Telecom. Their ability to create a secure, unalterable ledger has been used to create a record of identities with respect to customers, devices and other equipment.