There are many mobile operators who regard a green indication for their network as a sign that it’s not only good to go, but that their subscribers are satisfied. Announcing his company’s new, enriched capability as the first Telecoms Intelligence Provider, Lyn Cantor explains why green lights don’t provide enough insight and how CSPs can gain far more by taking a four-dimensional approach.
Communication services providers (CSPs) routinely encounter problems in areas not always revealed in the network overview. In the bigger scheme of things, they may seem small, but to the individual subscriber the small things count. Dropped calls, failed handovers, interrupted videos, delayed receipt of messages, and the many other glitches that may have passed unnoticed in the mobile world of yesteryear are unacceptable today
The notion that a subscriber might have their ID stolen is untenable, but it happens.
Not any more, if the network hides problems now, it’s time to resolve them for the future. Technology-agnostic solutions and tools are available that create meaningful observations from data across networks, legacy and new generation technologies, services utilisation and subscriber journeys.
The Telecoms Intelligence Provider
A Telecoms Intelligence Provider helps operators understand their entire environment and what goes on in it; the four dimensions, or 4D, of 4G: Subscriber behaviour, the Services they consume, the Network environment itself, and the Technologies in play. Real-time end-to-end data collection and analysis across each of these dimensions can give operators the visibility they need, to deliver the experience and services their customers want. They are in an ideal position to do it particularly since they are not troubled by the security issues often affecting OTT players – such as identity theft – and can ensure greater interoperability through initiatives such as Joyn, the commercial brand of the GSMA Rich Communication Suite. To interpret and monetise the data available to them mobile operators have to approach it on a micro level, rather than as indicative trend data. Operators are realigning their business models to offer the same agility as OTT players, the same range of exciting user services and the same thrills of discovery for users in the new, exciting and enriching experiences they access at the device level. The operators can now offer competitive propositions, but with added security and quality of service.
Hidden problems in the network can now be easily located to drive better experiences. Without a view of precisely what’s going on, from a user perspective, there can never be a truly end-to-end solution that eradicates the glitches. With the heightened demands of LTE, glitches will become inefficiencies, which will turn into complaints, which will become a negative and time-consuming drain on resources. Such concerns can now sit where they belong, back with the OTT providers.
The Telecoms Intelligence Provider is able to leverage network information to drive better subscriber experiences. The days of onedimensional and two-dimensional passive monitoring are over; the operators need to appreciate the rich insights hidden in the wealth of data stored across their networks. A miss can be as big as a mile if operators fail to follow and analyse every path of the data journey; valuable insights lurk as much in those parts of the network they can’t currently see as in those that may be more obvious, but will never deliver the full story.
