A single interface for observing and orchestrating 5G B2B services

Commercial context

As CSPs face the challenge of monetizing their 5G networks, their focus has shifted towards B2B services. These include the provision of advanced services like 5G slicing, private networks, and IoT solutions. However, the path to capitalizing on these opportunities is no simple task. CSPs must provide enterprise customers with a high degree of observability and automation, and ultimately empower them to autonomously manage their services while observing strict service level agreements (SLAs).

The introduction of genAI, closed-loop systems, anomaly management, and advanced automation frameworks can significantly elevate the quality of service. Yet integrating multi-vendor, multi-domain, and multi-dimensional data remains a complex endeavor. Moreover, proactively detecting and resolving anomalies demands sophisticated algorithms capable of delivering timely and accurate solutions.

All of this contributes to a need to redefine business models and pricing strategies, particularly for advanced services and premium SLAs. Moreover, upgrading self-service portals to enhance customer autonomy and experience poses further challenges, especially given the diverse requirements of different industries.

The solution

The Holistic intelligence & GenAI to accelerate 5G monetization Catalyst aims to address these challenges by creating a solution which serves as a comprehensive, single source of truth for CSPs and their enterprise customers. This has involved a holistic data strategy focused on integrating multi-domain and multi-dimensional data models. This is crucial because this integration provides comprehensive visibility and actionable insights across network, service, device, and customer layers – all of which is made possible by Infovista’s Ativa™.

This is combined with an advanced self-service business portal which helps visualize and orchestrate autonomous enterprise operations. Based on Prodapt's software integration, the portal incorporates genAI for service ordering, real-time observability, anomaly detection based on machine learning, and automated problem triage. This portal also includes a service health assistant powered by genAI, which streamlines incident management and improves operational performance, alongside a green index that promotes sustainable resource utilization. To help meet sustainability goals, the solution also makes use of an Intracom product to ensure energy and resource optimization, aligning with enterprise customers' increasing preference for green solutions.

The Catalyst’s solution is designed to accommodate the advanced capabilities of all systems into a simplified interface. A key aspect of this is the service ordering co-pilot delivered by NetCracker, which translates enterprise service requirements into network technical requirements, thus accelerating monetization and enhancing connectivity solutions management. It also features intelligent ticket handling, using BMC ITSM to ensure efficient incident management which correlates incidents created by both CSPs and enterprise customers.

Wider application and value

This comprehensive solution provides CSPs with a solid foundation for implementing their 5G strategies and expanding commercial 5G B2B services. It offers a high degree of control and automation, and its mutual data transparency for both CSPs and enterprises enhances operational alignment and monitoring. This observability, combined with advanced automation and AI, significantly accelerates troubleshooting, potentially reducing mean time to resolve issues by up to 50%. Additionally, the solution is estimated to improve customer experience by approximately 30%, reducing the need for costly SLA compliance arbitration.

GenAI integration further simplifies network issue remediation, enhancing operational excellence by 30% by prioritizing business-driven traffic and enabling preventive operations. Enhanced multi-tenancy security measures reduce security-related incidents by 20%, fostering a secure shared data environment. As networks modernize and 5G demand increases, CSPs will increasingly adopt solutions like this one, which includes a modernized self-service business portal. Offering customized, streamlined solutions, the project team anticipates substantial B2B revenue growth, in line with analysts' projections of a 50% CAGR increase over the next eight years. They also foresee a 40% reduction in total cost of ownership, over 20% fewer SLA breaches, and significant enhancements in customer experience.

As explained by project participant Demi Bickers, Network Design Specialist - OSS Strategy at BT, “this Catalyst brings together BT’s desire for automated operations within our 5G network using AI and automation. It also provides a vision of how we can provide our business customers with up-to-the-minute information on their service in a single portal. Providing an outstanding customer experience is vital in this competitive market, so any advantage we can gain from leveraging our data and using AI not only in the management of complex and ever-changing networks but also with our interaction with our high-value customers can only be beneficial to all parties.”