Mobile operators know the move to automation is essential, but progress is slow, and perhaps slower than they think
Mobile operators know the move to automation is essential. Around a third claim to be in some state of commercial deployment with automation technologies, yet progress is slow. Less than half them have automated more than 40% of their processes, according to GSMA Intelligence, which recently surveyed 100 decision-makers.
Challenges span the technical and cultural, with mobile operators under increasing pressure to ensure the autonomous networks required for 5G alongside the digital transformation of their entire business.
Operators say they are making progress in the move to automation of their networks and wider operations. In March, Orange CTO Laurent Leboucher talked to Mobile Europe about automation’s role in network evolution and service innovation.
Meanwhile, Vodafone is using automation to transform its network and operations, including for customer services with its TOBi chatbot, and AT&T has introduced of AI applications to speed up customer service procedures and responses. Telefonica is also making progress in automating its network and using data to its advantage.
But operators “may be over-estimating” the progress they have made on automation and under-estimating the work still to be done, says Susan White, Head of Strategy and Portfolio Marketing at Netcracker. One of the major issues is the short-term return on investment, she says. “Automation is not likely to give immediate pay back until it’s up and running and as autonomous as possible.”
Driving automation
Operators are driving automation initiatives over three main domains, says Azfar Aslam, Nokia’s CTO in Europe. The first is cost avoidance, through capabilities such as smart capex planning. They are also driving operational efficiencies improvements and opex reduction through capabilities such as AI-based predictive maintenance and robotics process automation (RPA). Meanwhile, mobile operators are boosting customer experience for “stickiness and NPS gains”, says Aslam, citing the example of Elisa in Finland – one of the few operators in Europe to have increased ARPU.
According to Analysys Mason, 46% of firms have automated 25% of their assurance and orchestration functions, but almost all plan to increase their level of automation during this decade. The pace of automation has been slow, says Aslam. “It will require a significant acceleration during this decade in order to deal with expanding networks and an increase in complexity in operations.”
In the meantime, everything is still manual – especially from a development and delivery perspective, says Kelvin Chaffer, CEO of Lifecycle Software. “Before it can be said that mobile operators have successfully delivered on their visions of digital transformation, there needs to be a serious overhaul of previously entrenched business models and a genuine willingness to adapt to meet their customers’ needs.”
Meeting timescales for automation is proving challenging for many operators. Part of the issue is often the lack of an internal consensus: “Aggressive and sometimes unrealistic deadlines are imposed, forcing hybrid solutions to be implemented as an intermediate step,” says Vladimir Mitrasinovic, Regional Vice President (EMEA) at Amdocs.
There needs to be an acknowledgement across the organisation that digital transformation “rarely involves a direct step from zero to one”, he says. “It’s much more complicated than that and will require a coherent approach to interaction and integration with legacy systems.”
Multi-vendor integration
Multi-vendor integration is a big challenge. “Many vendors have not yet adopted open APIs and standard models, which increases the time and complexity to deploy disaggregated networks,” says White.
Another issue has been access to and usage of certain data, says Aslam. This is in addition to confidence levels in outcomes of AI and machine learning automation activities, and challenges around automating legacy products and solutions which may not be able to generate the needed data.
In addition, operators’ approach to automation has varied significantly in the absence of a common framework and best practices. Investment in automation needs to be a business-driven initiative with clear benefits and outcomes, says Aslam. “Cognitive automation in particular relies on data – so the industry needs to ensure the decision on what and when to automate is also data-driven and prioritised with a clear ranking order.”
This needs to be a high priority because, as Angus Ward, CEO at Beyond Now, notes, “Customers are finding multi-partner digital solutions too complex to manage, but utilising end-to-end automation to remove management headaches will help them achieve their digital transformation goals faster. And this is where CSPs can help to push this journey along faster..”
Change mindset
While change needs to happen across the board, employee mindsets must adjust to new ways of working, Aslam agrees. Incentives need to be aligned towards successful implementation and outcome of automation projects, he says. “The operators don’t need to develop everything inhouse. Instead, be ready to start creating the architectures and align this with the business rationale of automation uses cases.”
As operators continue their automation journeys, technological developments such as generative AI could also offer a boost, says Mark Jackson, telecoms industry expert at Pegasystems. “This isn’t about machines taking over, but more about how generative AI coupled with low code can stimulate the creative process and reduce the time to deploy ‘enterprise ready’ automation projects.”
He says a generative AI model could help to define a new app to improve complex ordering, for example. “It can instantly provide a best practice straw man option for the citizen developer team to work with and build out for the exact needs of the business. The fear of starting from a blank page on an automation or digitisation project goes away.”
As competition among all operators increases, the pace of progress now needs to ramp up. Speed is key, as well as a clear emphasis on customer-centricity, Chaffer says. “The whole process of integrating automated procedures is focused on providing customers with convenient and better experiences. If this is achieved, networks will almost certainly be able to foster better relationships with their customers, which in turn leads to greater retention rates and drives market share.”