What Are 3 Essential Elements of a Simplified Broadband Network?

Broadband service providers (BSPs) share a common goal: growing their business and community by expanding existing markets and entering new ones. Growth also increases competition. To focus on retaining subscribers and attracting new ones, BSPs must build, deploy, and integrate broadband networks that help them deliver superior subscriber experiences.
 

Deploying a traditional broadband access network may appear cheaper initially, but several operational drawbacks hinder BSPs from delivering the value-added services that subscribers demand. These include:
 

• Complexity from multiple components to buy, license, integrate, configure, and operate.
• Inability to deliver value-added services to the market efficiently because it wasn’t designed to do so.
• Requires significant effort to introduce and update new services, delaying time-to-market.
• Limited ability to scale and grow cost-effectively due to the need for forklift upgrades.
• Inadequate insights into network performance and the behavior of subscribers and services.

BSPs are abandoning traditional access networks because of these pitfalls that detract from achieving business goals and weaken their competitive edge. So, what’s the alternative to a traditional access network? A simplified broadband network that streamlines operations, improves network efficiency, and frees up time to focus on revenue growth.
 

What is a Simplified Access Network?

A simplified broadband access network streamlines integration by consolidating service-enabling functions and moving them closer to the subscriber, reducing the number of network systems. A simplified broadband network has three essential characteristics.
 

1. Network Foundation: Like building a house, the foundation is first. Start with a simple end-to-end, pre-integrated network foundation. Simplified networks leverage automation to support operational efficiency throughout the service and subscriber engagement lifecycles—boosting productivity. This includes basic automation features that are necessary to operate, such as: 

• Automated network service provisioning: This enables the quick onboarding of new subscribers, eliminating truck rolls and limiting the need to contact support.
• Automated service IP address management: This eliminates the manual task of tracking subnets, freeing up stranded IP addresses, and allowing personnel to focus on growth projects. 
   

2. Delivers Actionable Insights: A simplified access network must be on an end-to-end broadband platform with real-time observation points to capture information about the systems, services, and subscribers. These actionable insights answer what, what if, where, when, and how questions that help BSPs:

• Ensure subscribers, services, and networks are in good health and operating correctly.
• Identify and solve issues promptly, even before they affect subscribers.
• Identify what services subscribers need and determine the best way to provide them. 
• Identify ways to optimize the network’s overall operational performance.
   

Focusing on data-driven insights enables providers to take corrective action quickly, reduce service downtime, and boost productivity. BSPs can also leverage network data to make strategic decisions that maximize ROI. Delivering highly available broadband services also enhances subscriber experience and brand loyalty.

 

3. Delivers Value-Added Services: With a broadband platform, BSPs can deliver value-added services that help differentiate from the competition. A broadband network platform enables the same workflows and processes across all market segments. This allows BSPs to build, operate, optimize, and monetize service delivery and subscriber management throughout the lifecycle. The ability to quickly offer new services is a competitive advantage that allows you to outmaneuver your rivals.

Simplified networks offer deployment flexibility, touchpoints for capturing data, and value-added services. With this solution, BSPs can reduce operational costs, improve network efficiency, and enhance the subscriber experience.

To learn more about simplified access networks, download our eBook: The Simplified Network: How to Deliver the New Era of Broadband Service.