A 5-stage 5G model can improve customer experience

According to research from TM Forum, 87% of CSPs have begun 5G deployment and digital transformation at some level, and according to the Ericsson Mobility Report June 2020, a total of 190 million 5G subscriptions are expected by the end of 2020 and by 2025 there is a forecast of 2.8 billion 5G subscriptions globally, accounting for about 30% of all mobile subscriptions at that time.

Deploying Non-standalone 5G

CSPs showed urgency to deploy 5G services, and therefore in Release 15 3GPP came up with the technical specification E-UTRAN New Radio – Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) to deploy Non-standalone 5G, offering enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) which delivers faster data speed than 4G LTE. This is mainly aimed at the B2C segment.

The graphic below provides a simplified view of Non-standalone 5G radio access showcasing four paths through which the customer gets connected to the data network.

Customer experience challenges with Non-standalone 5G

CSPs are more focused on enterprise revenue, but we cannot ignore the B2C customer experience because consumers recommend services by word of mouth. This can make a brand. Customers are buying 5G services because they want faster download speeds, but they don’t care about the technology. However, Non-standalone 5G service and 4G LTE service co-exist, so we must consider how this weighs customer perception versus customer experience.

There two primary issues:

Provisioning challenges – customers need to get their 3G/4G LTE SIM manually swapped with 5G SIM during the provisioning process. This can and has led to delay in activating service making it a challenge to provide good CX and offer a hassle-free 4G to 5G upgrade.

Coverage and the impact of rollout on CX – most CSPs started deploying Non-standalone 5G in 2019 in key cities and towns. This partial deployment has led to customer dissatisfaction when in 4G coverage. Customers experience a 5G icon on the mobile screen but receive 4G speed which leads to an increase in complaints at the customer service desk.

Adopting the 5-stage model

Based on principles laid out in the TM Forum Open Digital Architecture which aims to help CSPs evolve to AI-based zero-touch interoperability and automation, we are proposing a five-stage model to improve CX during the Covid-19 pandemic and transition to 5G.

• Stage 1: The “traditional” stage occurs with Non-standalone 5G deployment. Many CSPs are at this stage, which is characterized by physical SIM swapping, reliance on co-existing LTE network, handover sessions of user plane connectivity and omnichannel support that is similar to 4G LTE care.


• Stage 2: In the “evolving” stage, CSPs are looking at options to reach customers to upgrade service when retail shops are closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are investing in improving LTE backhaul capacity so there is no strain on network capacity, and front-end FAQs are updated based on technical standard limitations.


• Stage 3: The “enhanced” stage is about implementing a mitigation plan to overcome the impact of the pandemic by enabling digital solutions like videoconferencing with customers to upgrade from 4G to 5G. This phase also includes radio advancement by implementing Open RAN, which enables flexibility across data bearers. Dynamic implementation of service level agreements for ensuring charging is subject to 5G usage only.


• Stage 4: In the “personalized” stage, CSPs move to Standalone 5G which includes network slicing. This capability makes personalized services possible. With latency dropping to less than 5 milliseconds, augmented and virtual reality applications can be delivered, and in a virtualized, software-defined cloud environment, service optimization on demand is possible. Also at this stage, a front-end “Digital Wizard” tracks customer mobility at postcode level with key performance indicators to enhance CX.


• Stage 5: In the “customer delight” phase, eSIMs eliminate the need for physical SIM swapping to provision 5G. 5G coverage is expected to be about 99%. Multi-access edge computing will bring computing to the edge of the network, and network slicing will enable use cases catering to customer-specific requirements. Implementation of machine learning and AI for pattern recognition predicting degradation in service will also happen in this phase.

The overall objective of the five-stage process is a very simple idea - to enhance customer experience with automated onboarding, digital transformation, and technological advances. The result will be delivering what customers want, which includes:

• Effortless buying experience of 5G service


• Sense of unlimited speed with low latency for video streaming, gaming, etc.


• Paying only for how much they use, 5G data bundles


• Offering experience and not just data bundles


• Delivering network-as-a-service and keeping it real