The telecoms industry advances towards level 4 of Autonomous Networks

Aaron Boasman-Patel, vice president of AI, Labs & Innovation at TM Forum, attended the Ultra-Broadband Forum 2023, held in Dubai from October 12-13, where took part in a video interview to discuss Autonomous Networks (AN):

1. What has the industry achieved in AN this year?

Aaron Boasman-Patel: There is growing industry-wide consensus around AN. At DTW 2023, TM Forum launched its AN Whitepaper 5.0 - a guidebook for the AN journey and 66 industry partners took part, up from 55 last year. TM Forum also launched the AN manifesto, which more than 36 companies have signed.

1. How can CSPs benefit from the AN implementation?

Aaron Boasman-Patel: As depicted in the AN Whitepaper 5.0, CSPs are benefiting from AN adoption in several ways, including network monetization, operation efficiency, resource efficiency and excellent experience.

1. How would you describe CSP’s progress on adopting AN?

Aaron Boasman-Patel: We have seen a tremendous amount of progress. The leading CSPs across the world, such as China Mobile, Orange, and MTN, have made level 4 a key ambition in their strategy. A recent TM Forum survey, shows that 56% of CSPs surveyed have a vision that involves the continual improvement and automation of operations with some increase in investment and 34% have an ambitious automation strategy with significant investment planning that will result in a full transformation of their operations. In addition, 59% of those surveyed want to reach level 3 or level 4 in the next 3 years.

1. How will you promote the development and implementation of AN?

Aaron Boasman-Patel: We will promote the development of AN standards through cross-SDO (standard development organization) collaboration, and innovation and contribution via Catalyst projects. We will also drive more CSPs to adopt and implement AN, and promote the technological development, such as generative AI, which is very critical for Level 4 AN.

Watch the video to find out more.