Like the past two years, 2023 will likely be another year of headwinds and change. While there’s no way to predict what will unfold, for telcos, there are a few trends we expect to take root.
- Greater emphasis on data.
Telcos such as Maxis, one of Malaysia’s leading telco companies, is leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to grow new revenue streams, improve operational and financial efficiencies, as well as detect and respond to business risks. Even as telcos across the region continue their digital transformation journeys, there’s a lot more untapped potential for the industry. With the deprecation of third-party cookies, the sources of first-party data will become even more valuable, as long as they are governed with the customers’ best interests at heart.
Telcos have oceans of data, but much of it is scattered and siloed. For example, operational data is stored across multiple legacy technologies, like 3G or 4G, and platforms, including operational support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS). Further, many of the ISVs across the telco value chain maintain their own data within walled gardens. This makes it hard to consolidate, govern, and share data across the organization.
A data mesh architecture can help liberate telco data. The data mesh enables each domain-driven data set to be treated as a product and owned by the teams that intimately know the data. Data is then shared to a centralized catalog where it can be harnessed to deliver transformational business outcomes.
A data mesh also ensures that lines of business have the right tools for the job. For example, it enables non-data scientists to build, train, and deploy machine learning (ML) models, increasing ML adoption across the organization, which can accelerate innovation and enrich the customer experience.
- Sustainability, energy costs move to the top of the agenda.
With energy costs rising, reducing use and increasing sustainability will move to the top of agendas, and a data-driven approach can aid efforts.
The global telecommunications industry produced 2.6% of the total world carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2020—more than the airline industry, according to a European Telecommunications Network Operators Association report.
According to GSMA Intelligence, energy consumption accounted for 15-40% of telcos operating expenditure in 2021, and that figure is expected to rise. For mobile network operators, the bulk of this energy consumption (60-75%) is from radio access networks (RAN).
Data-traffic loads are intermittent, meaning different parts of RAN can be put briefly into sleep mode, even during periods of peak traffic, to reduce energy consumption. For example, a mobile network operator in Australia was able to cut power consumption by more than 7% by simply turning off the power-amplifier symbol at a site, without any service degradation. By using data and AI/ML applications, telcos can use intelligent services to monitor and automate this process.
Moving to the cloud provides further energy savings. Multiple studies conducted by international analyst firm 451 Research, part of S&P Global Intelligence, found that migrating on-premises workloads to AWS can lower the workload carbon footprint by nearly 80%.
We’re already seeing more telcos in APAC embracing the cloud, like Telkom in Indonesia and dtac in Thailand. Also, innovation in processors in the 5G core can reduce energy use. For example, in Japan, NTT DOMOCO and NEC reduced energy consumption by an average of a 72% against incumbent x86 processors.
- More partnerships will grow the 5G ecosystem as networks mature.
For the past few years, we’ve heard the promise of added revenue from 5G – but we’ve yet to see the windfall. 2023 will mark the beginning of a tipping point.
In Malaysia, the 5G rollout is expected to be a key driver of economic growth and is estimated to contribute RM8.538 billion to Malaysia’s GDP in 2025, with an 8% annual growth scenario. Across Asia Pacific, commercial 5G services is now available across 14 markets, with more expected to follow suit in coming years, according to separate reports from GSMA. Devices are also catching up: the top smartphones of the past few years all come with 5G support.
The last barrier for realizing 5G’s potential is the ecosystem—the cross-industry and cross-functional partnerships needed to create 5G services and reduce barriers to build and manage 5G networks.
Private wireless offers huge promise for 5G industry use cases. IDC estimates the TAM for private LTE/5G wireless to reach $8.3 Billion by 2026. But the adoption has been slower than expected, partly because of the high cost and complexity to plan, build, deploy, and manage a private network. In 2023, we expect more telcos to forge partnerships to increase adoption, like the way Thai telco dtac has partnered to launch its proof-of-concept 5G Private Network solution to unlock the full potential of 5G for Thai enterprises.
- Transformation of telcos themselves.
The fourth trend in the coming year will be the accelerated evolution of telcos to “tech-cos,” transforming the relationship telcos have with their customers and how they operate to unlock new revenue.
There are two pieces of this shift.
First, telcos will need to shift from operating as connectivity providers to become digital service providers, leveraging their networks to enrich their relationship with customers. For example, leveraging AI technologies, Singapore telco M1 Limited has built Maxine, a VoiceBot for M1’s hotlines, to help improve contact center agent productivity and end-user customer experiences. To address digital talent shortage, another Singapore telco StarHub has joined AWS re/Start, a skills-based training program to strengthen their talent pipeline in cloud, while empowering non-tech professionals to embark on a new career.
Second, telcos will need to shift operations to use their network as a platform. This approach will provide a new way to monetize their network build-outs and spin up a new MVNO within a couple of days, which could also operate profitably with as few as 10,000 subscribers.
Embracing these four trends won’t be easy, as it requires upskilling and training for staff and, more importantly, a commitment from leadership. But telcos that make the shift will be better positioned to unlock new growth and adapt to new innovations. I expect 2023 to be a year of massive transformation, and I hope to partner closely with telcos to help them realize this future.
By Vikram Rao, Head of Enterprise, ASEAN, AWS
