The simplified market for network slicing and zero-touch provisioning

Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) is key to simplifying adoption of 5G network slicing – enabling automatic setup and configuration of devices and services for 5G customers and the diversity of sectors they operate in. Easy and widespread adoption requires a marketplace offering flexible, multi-party product bundles, where customers do not have to commit extra resources to abstract the complexity of the network and its technologies for the applications they wish to implement. Of course, this also needs to be supported by simplified operation, meaning additional provision of customer dashboards where performance of sensors, IoT devices, cloud and edge computing can be monitored and managed.

Organizational and technical barriers to a zero-touch marketplace

There are however organizational and technical challenges to overcome for this ideal to be reached. Organizationally, CSPs must adapt their current enterprise customer experience structure, which is generally serviced by back-office sales-support staff. For example, current service adjustments, new product launches and the amendment of account details all often require approval from CSP relationship managers – a clear barrier to the streamlined multi-party ecosystem needed.

These organizational challenges are in part the cause of technical barriers. Many CSPs for instance continue to work with legacy BSS OSS applications, hindering their ability to launch new vertical-specific 5G offerings. Project teams can benefit from adjusting to new systems in other ways too, such as ensuring that commercial models are modernized and finalized online, assisting end-to-end digitization that ultimately accelerates decision-making and implementations.

Creating the zero-touch marketplace

How then are CSPs to create the means to resolving these issues? That is exactly what the Zero-touch digital marketplace - Phase III Catalyst aims to achieve, by creating a ZTP partner portal to enable partners to market, deliver and adjust their product offerings. The resulting product catalog will enable CSPs to market network offerings with partners that dynamically adjust to the partner value-added service for each network slice.

One key example the Catalyst has been working on is how hospitals can make use of such a system to transform their facilities and asset management. In this application, the Catalyst has been able to run a working example of how a medical institution can purchase 5G connectivity (including eMBB, URLLC and the relevant network slices) along with different types of IoT devices and sensors (such as geological sensors, temperature sensors, air pressure sensors, humidity sensors and surveillance cameras) which can then be automated and monitored via a customer dashboard along with billing and infrastructural operation and provisioning. All of this is aligned with GSMA, 3GPP and TM Forum and comes with QoS and QoE guarantees.

Creating an engaging zero-touch marketplace for all

So far, the Catalyst has shown tremendous promise for wider deployment – in its hospital application alone, it is estimated to have increased efficiency by 30%. The Catalyst has also shown than it can help meet the UN’s sustainability goals, reducing energy consumption by at least 15-20% over conventional methods, helping to save more than 30 billion USD in residential applications alone. With the simplification of 5G network slice access and management, the project is demonstrating how engaging ZTP can be, and how important a factor in creating a strong 5G partner ecosystem – where 5G services can be launched with the knowledge that they’ll be as simple and intuitive as a walk down the supermarket aisle.