The telecom industry’s stunning track record of success has left it with an enviable conundrum to have: finding new problems to solve. Finding and solving new challenges is vital for unlocking continued growth potential and new revenue streams.
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The State of the Telecommunications Industry – 2022
Recently, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in how businesses and consumers utilise telecom. The mobile phone drastically shifted user expectations to no longer accept compromising between mobility and service availability. That trend has been accelerated by emerging technologies like the advent of the smartphone and 5G.
Now, vendors are scrambling to deliver seamless desktop-to-mobile experiences in cloud-first ecosystems. Not to mention providing intelligent, value-added interactions by utilising Big Data and AI. The final piece of the puzzle is building the agility to minimise lead times and deliver upgrades to users faster and with less hassle.
Background on Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF)
NWDAF is a standard from the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) group, which defines a standard service interface for collecting performance data in the 5G core network. NWDAF aims to make new levels of automation and intelligent insights possible in the context of rapid 5G adoption. It’s billed as an improvement upon and eventual replacement of conventional operational systems for fault management, network performance, and testing of services.
How Telecom Providers Can Continue to Unlock Value
Telco’s can unlock value by helping businesses improve efficiency and deliver enhanced consumer experiences. Not to mention generate more revenue along the way. Data is seen as the avenue to accomplish this, with a focus on gathering more data, processing it faster, and leveraging enhanced analytics.
Some of the parameters of value that have been identified are:
- Enhanced security
- Ultra-low-cost (‘freight class’) options
- Guaranteed Latency
- On-demand pricing
- Locations-aware applications
- Always-on connectivity
- Quality service
- Intelligent slices
How Nokia is Using NWDAF to Enhance Telecom Products and Services
Nokia was among the first to launch an NWDAF solution centred on AI and Machine Learning applications. Through the use of 5G, NWDAF Nokia achieved wholesale improvements over 3G/4G networks, including eliminating inefficient probing and data lakes.
NWDAF – Where to From Here?
As organisations master the nitty-gritty of 5G NWDAF telco systems, the focus will shift toward APIs, Partnerships, and Ecosystems. Revolutionary software-based architectures for 5G are intended to enable innovative collaborations between entities up and down the supply chain with greater data sharing and availability.
