5G represents a once-in-a-generation inflection point for the communications industry. Service providers must move up the value chain and transform their customer experience or risk being further marginalized by digital disruptors as has happened in the 4G era. Omdia estimates that CSP revenues declined significantly at a CAGR of -0.9% from 2011-2019, while internet content providers (ICPs) have grown revenues at a CAGR of 12.2% over the same period. <Communications Provider Revenue & Capex Tracker: 1Q20, Published 14 July 2020, Anupkumar Gangadharan & Adaora Okeleke, Omdia>
Now is the time to lay the groundwork for 5G success and profitability. But how?
This is the great puzzle of the communications industry today. At the dawn of 4G nobody foresaw the rise of the mobile app economy and likewise today we don’t know what killer use cases will define the next era. That said, here are three key insights to capitalize on 5G now and in the future:
Service providers must move beyond connectivity and into new business models.
The traditional bread and butter of service providers has been consumer spending but the appetite to pay more for faster service is limited. Many operators include 5G in most unlimited mobile plans and therefore generate no incremental revenue. Luckily, the characteristics of 5G – such as extreme low latency and the ability to slice networks for specific uses– make 5G particularly interesting to enterprises in many other industries. The opportunity for service providers now is to understand the unique needs of those industries and co-create and tailor 5G-enabled solutions for those industries. For example, in the media, entertainment and sports arena a service provider can partner with a football league in a B2B2X model to provide virtual reality experiences to fans who are watching from home. They could use dedicated slices for low latency and enhanced mobile broadband to deliver real time viewing and monetize this on a QoS-based, monthly or per-game basis. Watch a short video to see this scenario in action from digital experience to orchestration to converged charging and monetization.
Agility is job #1.
Business agility and IT agility are the most important attributes for service providers in the 5G era. TM Forum research indicates that 66% of service providers consider agility to be the top driver of transformation projects. Business agility is required to quickly capitalize on the emerging business models that will drive new revenues and profitability – and disrupt the disrupters. This includes the ability to launch new offers in a matter of days, provide the pricing flexibility to charge for innovative combinations of services, and incent uptake through interesting discounting strategies. IT agility comes through cloud-native, DevOps aligned solutions that can easily and independently scale and upgrade.
A transformed digital experience must underpin all 5G offers.
Customers today expect personalized, intuitive, digital-first interactions from the time they learn about a business through the purchase of services and continuing any time they need care. Service providers must modernize their channels of engagement using data-driven insights to connect intelligence. For example, if I’m in the construction industry a service provider may use my digital footprint to propose a relevant offer to provide 5G-enabled remote controlled equipment and provide me with the digital tools to learn more, place an order, track status and eventually view bills and access assistance. Particularly in the Covid era, service providers must ensure they are removing all friction in digital interactions and delivering a highly personalized and optimized experience.
Oracle 5G Now
Oracle’s 5G Now portfolio provides all the capabilities for service providers to unlock the value of 5G and capitalize on moving beyond connectivity. This set of cloud native solutions is aligned with DevOps and IT webscale principles and is massively scalable. Adherence with the TM Forum Open Digital Architecture and use of Open APIs deliver agility and interoperability.
Fig 1: Oracle 5G Now
This portfolio includes:
Real-time converged charging that supports any pricing model
Digital experience with personalized, omni-channel engagements
Dynamic slice management and unified inventory to automate the complexity of 5G networks
Model-driven service orchestration to automate fulfillment of 5G services
Partner ecosystem enablement including zero touch partnering and revenue settlement
To conclude, unlocking the 5G opportunity requires exploring business models beyond connectivity, maximizing agility, and transforming digital experience, all of which are delivered by Oracle’s 5G Now portfolio. To learn more, contact Oracle Communications.
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