5G and OSS/BSS Transformation: Enabler or Inhibitor?

How would you describe the state of your OSS/BSS transformation? Would you say it’s ready and willing to enable you to capitalize on the  benefits of 5G technology? Or would you say it’s more of an inhibiter, preventing you from realizing the full potential of a 5G world efficiently and cost effectively?

In this first in a series of three blogs, I’ll take a deeper look into the topic of OSS/BSS transformation and the impact of being an enabler or an inhibitor could have on you as 5G and the next wave of the digital era gain more and more momentum within our industry. It will become evident that the need to accelerate the integration aspects of that transformation in order to reap the benefits associated with an increased time-to-revenue and reduced time-to-market should be top of mind for all service providers.

Our current network environment is going through another evolutionary wave of change---a change that represents the most significant transformation to date. As the telecom industry transitions from 4G to 5G networks and services, the evolution of the 5G technology itself is creating new opportunities for you by opening doors to new market sectors while driving demand for both service and new telecom applications. Many industry associations have conveyed that the advent of 5G technology will deliver significant performance improvements while acting as a launchpad for new and innovative revenue-generating services that can be delivered efficiently and cost-effectively. According to a McKinsey 5G survey issued in 2018, “large-scale deployment of 5G is right around the corner, with approximately 92 percent of respondents planning deployment by 2022.” One interesting item to note from the survey was that 56 percent of the service providers surveyed in North America were planning to deploy before the year 2020.

In addition, industry association TM Forum revealed back in July 2018 that “Up to 72 percent of 5G revenue growth is dependent on transformation of operational and business support systems (OSS/BSS). The business benefits of 5G are reliant on the development of better, automated, and integrated management and operational capabilities. The report continued by stating that failing to modernize OSS/BSS could result in an immediate and negative impact on revenue, with up to 67 percent of potential revenue at risk.”

The above projections help paint a picture by providing an order of magnitude on the percentage of revenue gained or lost as a result of your operational support preparedness. Your OSS and BSS must transform in order to maximize your revenue opportunities from 5G. As networks and operations become more software-defined, the ability to handle the added layers of complexity in delivering 5G solutions in terms of quality of experience, resource efficiency, reliability, and cost efficiency need to be taken into account.

As a result of the accelerated development and market growth evolution related to 5G, you need to seek out and secure innovative methods and platforms to launch applications faster (from years to months to weeks) and enable near real-time remote diagnostics to support the ability to provide superior subscriber experiences. In the next set of blogs, I will broach these issues as well as explore ways to dramatically simplify your network operations while accelerating your future back office integrations.

Please be sure to watch our Market Talk webinar entitled “Blueprint for Success – OSS Integration Reimagined” where the topic of OSS/BSS transformation will be discussed in more detail.