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Onomondo and SIMCom lower the entry bar for IoT

Nick Booth
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Onomondo and SIMCom lower the entry bar for IoT

Almost any device can work the IoT now

Danish Internet of Things (IoT) specialist Onomondo is on a mission to help create $12.6 trillion of valuable work by 2030, mainly by cutting the waste from industrial processes. It’s contribution to the challenge is to empower more devices to become useful IoT team members, and it aims to execute on the plan by making them all interoperable, through the invention of the SoftSIM. This is the machine equivalent of the English language for human communication in business. You can keep have whatever syntax you like, in any stack, as they will be connected by  machine consciousness called SoftSIM.

Interoperability is crucial to getting the full power from the IoT, but current technology stacks are mostly fragmented and siloed, according to Onomondo. This means there are too many barriers to IoT adoption today, ranging from management costs, pointless skill shortages and slow installation times. These delays are mainly caused by intransigence across the ecosystem. No matter how advanced hardware or the cloud is, these minimal advantages are neutralised if the connectivity component is in solitary confinement in a legacy telecoms prison.

Onomondo has sought to rethink what’s possible within IoT connectivity through its latest innovation – SoftSIM – and a new collaboration with SIMCom. 

The SoftSIM, Onomondo claims, is the world’s first IoT SIM that does not believe in the omnipotence of the software or hardware-controlled SIM. Unlike eSIMs, or eUICC, it needs no hardware or chips at all but resurrects the modules that already exist on IoT devices. So Onomondo’s IoT SIM can be stored and executed as a sort of faith-based set of raw instructions. For users, these IoT codes unify the flock of devices who abandon their habitual lock-ins and unnecessary costs thanks to Onomondo’s operator-agnostic approach. 

The technical explanation: By integrating SoftSIM with A7672X, SIMCom’s LTE Cat 1 module, those looking to deploy and scale IoT deployments will now have access to plug-and-play connectivity, which is pre-enabled from the manufacturing line. This hugely simplifies all collaboration between the connectivity and hardware layers of the IoT ecosystem, SoftSIM is not only radically re-engineering the manufacturing process and expediting progress, it slashed the overall Bill-of-Materials (BoM), according to Mads Fischer, SIMCom’s Europe Sales Director for Europe.

“We all knew that everyone from across the IoT ecosystem had to work more closely,” said Fisher, “but the connectivity element has always felt as though we were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. It lagged behind the progress being made elsewhere, particularly on the cloud side.”

“SoftSIM breaks down these barriers, allowing key players like us on the hardware side to provide a better end-to-end solution for our users,” said Fischer. “For any of our customers looking to adopt faster, while reducing costs, this partnership is really the next step in achieving this at scale.” 

Onomondo spen years rethinking existing IoT connectivity architecture by integrating more than 700 operators at the Radio Access Network (RAN) level across more than 180 countries. On top of its global IoT network, Onomondo has built a suite of tools to help the user develop, deploy and operate at scale. As a result, SoftSIM is entirely different from other so-called eSIMS or iSIMs available today, claimed Ononomdo, since it completely removes the SIM chip from the equation.

The IoT market has almost been conditioned to think of connectivity as something that needs to be designed around and made to fit, according. Michael Karlsen, co-founder and CEO at Onomondo. But he refused to accept this. “When we tell users that they can double their devices’ lifetime, half battery consumption, drive down debugging time and cut costs, all from functionality within the network itself, that’s when everyone starts to realise that the siloed nature of what went before was wrong.”

Last year, Onomondo announced a new $21m growth investment led by Verdane. The company also plans to scale its team from 50 to 100 over the next year, helping to expand its customer base, which currently includes the likes of Bosch, Carlsberg and Maersk.

Netflix chief argues fair-share is unfair

Annie Turner
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Netflix chief argues fair-share is unfair

Points out the video streaming firm has invested more than half its income on content

Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix, waded into the fair-share debate in his keynote on Tuesday at MWC. He argued that the growth in internet usage is a big opportunity rather than a reason to force content and service providers to help fund increasing the capacity of networks in future.

He said, “Some of our ISP partners have proposed taxing entertainment companies to subsidise their network infrastructure. But as Commissioner Breton said yesterday…it shouldn’t be a binary choice between big telco or entertainment companies.”

Investing in content

Peters stated Netflix has invested more than $60 billion on creating content in the last five years – than 50% of its revenues during that peroid.

He continued, “Some of our ISP partners are worried about rising cost, but let’s look at the stats: internet traffic has consistently grown at around 30% a year over the past five years. ISPs have managed this growth, keeping their cost flat over the same period by using efficiency gains within the network.”

Peters also pointed out, “Our margins are significantly lower than those being achieved by either BT and Deutsche Telekom. We could easily argue that these telcos should pay entertainment companies for the cost of the content, because a tax like that would have a significant adverse effect.”

Future unfairness versus bundling

Nor was he done yet: he said that if fair-share goes ahead, taxes would only be applied to firms like Netflix that stream content, but in future linear broadcasters will also shift to streaming – a process that in fact is well underway. The BBC’s iPlayer is a good example.

Peters added that Netflix has commercial partnerships with more than 160 telcos and ISPs worldwide and many of them bundle Netflix into their consumer offers. “Consumers love these joint offerings,” he noted, adding, “It shows the value that we can have through collaboration”.

Crisis sparks collaboration between telco and energy sectors

Michelle Donegan
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Crisis sparks collaboration between telco and energy sectors

The energy crisis has forced telcos to look for more look aggressive ways to reduce power consumption

The energy crisis could and should drive collaboration between the telecom and energy sectors, according to Telia and Vodafone.

Sharing the stage at Mobile World Congress, Allison Kirkby, CEO of Telia, and Margherita Della Valle, interim CEO and CFO of Vodafone Group, discussed how they are dealing with soaring energy costs and how the crisis is opening opportunities for working more closely with energy providers.

As energy infrastructure needs to be “modernised and decentralised,” there is likely to be “convergence” between the two sectors, said Kirkby and pointed to 5G private networks as a way telcos can help to secure and digitise those assets.

“Modern societies need very strong digital and energy infrastructures…That backbone needs to come more and more together because of its importance from a sovereign…and security point of view,” she stated.

Collaboration between telcos too

Della Valle said it was essential for there to be collaboration between energy and telco providers, but also among telcos themselves. She mentioned an initiative that has been running since the summer for “telcos in every market pooling their energy needs so that we can support even bigger renewable projects as anchor tenants with energy providers.” But she did not provide further details about the status of the project or how widely it is adopted.

High costs call for drastic measures

Both telco chief executives shared the brutal financial reality of the surge in energy prices.

In a sign of how things have changed in the last year, Kirby said she had never discussed the cost of energy in her 15-year career in the telecom industry because it was always stable and new technology generations brought efficiency gains. But that had changed “overnight.”

Telia’s annual energy bill went from SEK 1.3 billion to more than SEK 2 billion, she said. Similarly, Della Valle said Vodafone used to spend €600 million per year in Europe on energy and now that number is around €1.3 billion.

In response, both operators have accelerated energy-saving technology projects, including retiring legacy copper and 3G networks.

The mother of invention

Telia recently started trials with energy startup Polarium to test a smart battery energy storage system based on Lithium-ion technology. The system allows Telia to conserve energy use but also contribute energy back into the power grid from its own networks.

“The energy crisis has accelerated the need for smarter energy consumption, reduced emissions, and it’s also putting much more emphasis on resilience and the security of both the digital infrastructure and the energy infrastructure,” said Kirkby.

Della Valle said Vodafone invested €100 million in 2022 on energy-efficiency initiatives, such as “new algorithms to manage cooling in our data centres and base stations” and “dynamically turn capacity on and off” at base station sites as traffic levels go up and down to use less power when it is not needed. She also flagged an open RAN solution that Vodafone is showing at MWC23 that “consumes 35% less energy than normal 5G equipment”.

What we need is more IoT

On the other hand, the telcos are also seeing opportunities to deliver services to business customers that can help to reduce their energy costs, particularly Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Kirkby said Telia has seen more demand from the property sector for IoT “heat optimisation” tools and from the transportation sector for efficient fleet management. Della Valle said one of the biggest applications for Vodafone was in fleet management.

Vodafone Business and Lenovo Connect partner to offer customised IoT

Annie Turner
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Vodafone Business and Lenovo Connect partner to offer customised IoT

The service will launch in Spain then expand across Europe

Vodafone Business announced a partnership with Lenovo Connect to offer customised global IoT service integrated with Lenovo Connect solutions. Customers with Lenovo smart devices will be able to securely connect to the internet via Vodafone’s global IoT network across multiple countries, starting in Europe. 

Lenovo Connect wanted a solution for its customers with access to secure connectivity and so it can manage, monitor and securely distribute its content. The service, which initially launches in Spain, will connect over 40,000 devices. It will be available for Spanish customers from May 2023 and expanded across Europe subsequently.  

The multi-year contract between the two is part of Lenovo’s digitalisation and will mean customers have secure connectivity on-the-go via their smart devices. To comply with country specific regulations, the companies have developed a local communications service model, overseen by a global IoT management and platform.

SIM embeds IoT in devices

Vodafone Business will provide a SIM for IoT Global Data Service Platform (GDSP) fitted into each Lenovo device that integrates it with the IoT platform through the Lenovo Connect App. 

In preparation, Vodafone Spain customised its global Managed IoT Connectivity platform to manage IoT connectivity within the country to ensure service compliance with Spanish regulation and Lenovo Connect’s ambition for devices to be ‘always connected, connected everywhere’.

Vodafone Business claims the partnership reinforces its leadership in IoT connectivity, which so far has more than 159 million IoT SIMs. The European IoT industry is projected to reach $12.3 billion by 2031, having grown 19% from 2022 to 2031.

Lenovo Connect was established in October 2015 and a subsidiary of Lenovo LCIG. It offers global connectivity and service resources to create solutions that integrate IoT, cloud, big data, AI, and global service. Lenovo Connect focuses on smart interactive devices and smart connected vehicles, and is exploring 5G application scenarios.

Digital transformations

Vinod Kumar, CEO at Vodafone Business said: “Our purpose is to help organisations digitally transform their business with a unique level of service and expertise. In collaboration with Lenovo Connect, we will deliver a resilient and customised pan-European service for customers built on fast connectivity and greater privacy and security.”

According to Wang Shuai, VP of Lenovo Group and CEO of Lenovo Connect, said. “Lenovo Connect and Vodafone will leverage technology, complementary resources and platform integration to build higher-quality, international, intelligent connectivity services to help enterprises embark on their digital and intelligent transformation journey.”

Hyperscalers show off telco-friendly tech and credentials

Annie Turner
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Hyperscalers show off telco-friendly tech and credentials

Fair-contribution debate takes centre stage but cloudcos’ eyes remain on the telco prize

Although Barcelona is echoing with dire warnings about what will happen unless Big Tech pays its way, the cloud units of the same firms are demonstrating their telco-friendly tech. Whatever the outcome of the European Union’s consultation on the subject, this is a massive market that they can only tap by working with the operators.
 
Amazon Web Services 
AWS beat the rush and made several announcements last week including a private wireless partnership programme in which Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, Orange, T-Mobile and Telefónica are participating. The Integrated Private Wireless on AWS programme is designed to combine its own infrastructure and services with operators’ 4G and 5G networks plus the assets and expertise of its 100,000 or so partners across 150 countries as required.
 
The idea is to simply and speed up the deployment of private mobile networks. The AWS ecosystem could be a huge boon as it’s an aspect operators typically struggle with and should mean they don’t have to start from scratch with each customer.
 
Valérie Cussac, Executive Vice President Smart Mobility Services, Orange Business, noted, “Orange is pleased to leverage its leading-edge Pikeo initiative and partnership with AWS to launch its new solution, Mobile Private Network cloud. With our operator-integrator expertise, Orange Business can orchestrate, integrate and operate 5G private networks on AWS and edge infrastructure to unleash innovative use cases, combining private 5G, IoT, cloud/edge, data and AI.”

Telco Network Builder
 
Amazon also launched a managed service for deploying and managing networks, AWS Telco Network Builder. One of the main objectives here is to make deploying telcos’ functions on cloud more efficient by using common terminology and languages. For example, AWS says Telco Network Builder supports multiple specifications developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
 
There are no upfront commitments or fees to use AWS Telco Network Builder, and customers pay only for the AWS services used to manage their network, AWS says. Amdocs, Cloudify, Infosys, Mavenir and O2 Telefónica are all investigating the Builder’s possibilities.
 
Bas Hendrikx, Head of Cloud Center of Excellence at O2 Telefónica. “We are exploring AWS Telco Network Builder to enable us to leverage automation to deliver new 5G network services faster and manage our networks more efficiently”.
 
Products already in use by various operators include AWS Private 5G, AWS Cloud WAN, AWS Outposts (to ease edge deployments) and AWS Wavelength (for ultra low-latency applications).
 
Microsoft Azure 
This cloudco made a flurry of announcements at MWC intended to benefit telcos and their enterprise customers. The Azure Operator Nexus cloud platform allows operators to run workloads on-prem or the Azure platform. This was ‘behind the curtains’ last year but is now public with AT&T as its customer reference. The US operator is running its 5G Standalone core on the platform. Ericsson, Mavenir and Nokia are all offering core mobile applications via this platform.
 
The new Azure Communications gateway managed service can connects the PSTN network to Microsoft Teams, and Azure Operator Voicemail enables operators to migrate their voicemail systems to the Azure platform.
 
Private wireless networks are also high on the Azure agenda. Azure private MEC and Azure Private 5G Core have been launched into the market, although Azure already provided private MEC to enterprise users via telcos including BT, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat as was, now e&, STC and Telefónica.
 
Azure is demonstrating a RAN observability capability, which is not yet available. This integrates the RAN’s key performance indicators (KPIs) with online dashboards to provide partners and enterprise customers with network insights and analytics for private 4G or 5G networks from one Azure portal.
 
Google Cloud 
By far the smallest of the three biggest cloudcos, Google Cloud unveiled Telecom Network Automation at MWC which is intended to accelerate network and edge deployments. It does this using cloud-native automation based on Kubernetes and the work done by Nephio, the open-source project that Google Cloud founded in partnership with the Linux Foundation in 2022.
 
The hyperscaler also launched Telecom Data Fabric for migrating operators’ workloads to the cloud faster and more efficiently, plus the Telecom Subscriber Insights analytics platform.

Last week Deutsche Telekom, Google Cloud and Ericsson announced they have deployed Ericsson 5G Core cloud-native network functions (CNFs) on-prem using Google Distributed Cloud Edge.

Oracle Cloud
Oracle and VMware have announced that they want to help telcos modernise their networks by incorporating Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) including OCI Dedicated Region as an integral part of their 5G network function architecture. 

VMware Telco Cloud Platform – Public Cloud, with an integration with Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, will help deliver greater flexibility for CSPs to design and implement their end-to-end networks with rich ecosystem of VMware verified network functions, enabling them to deploy services in Oracle’s public cloud with 40+ global regions or with Dedicated Region to create a dedicated cloud on-premises.

DT in no doubt about Open RAN

Michelle Donegan
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DT in no doubt about Open RAN

If positive thinking were enough to overcome open RAN challenges, Claudia Nemat could solve a lot of problems

In her characteristically vivacious style, Claudia Nemat (pictured in full flow), Board Member for Technology and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom (DT),  was emphatic about DT’s commitment to open RAN. She was speaking at her keynote address on the German operator’s stage here at Mobile World Congress.

“We believe in open RAN. We are committed to open RAN. And we will make sure it will reach the same level of performance that we need,” she said.

The operator announced that it will roll out commercial open RAN networks this year and revealed some of the vendor that will be involved in the deployment. In Germany, DT has selected Nokia and Fujitsu, and for its European markets, it has chosen Mavenir.

Short on detail

But scant details were provided beyond that. When questioned about the size of the commercial rollout during the Q&A, Nemat was coy, saying only that it would be “big enough to allow scale.”

DT has been running a multi-vendor 5G open RAN pilot in Neubrandenburg, which it calls O-RAN Town, since June 2021 with Mavenir, Dell, Intel, NEC, and Fujitsu.

DT described open RAN as the “technology of choice for future networks” and positioned the tech as a “catalyst to move Europe forward in the digital age together with partners.”

Earlier in the day, DT CEO Timotheus Höttges called out disaggregation and investing in software as key for modernising telco networks. He wants to “stop the black boxes” from existing suppliers in mobile and fixed networks not only to bring in competition from new vendors but also to lower costs and improve network operations efficiency.

“Disaggregation of the black boxes will help us use capex more efficiently,” said Höttges.

Wake up, Europe!

Höttges lambasted European industry for being stuck in its own “comfort zone,” and not doing enough to close the tech and digitalisation gaps with the US in particular, as well as Asia.

“Dependency is easy, sovereignty is not. We have to wake up and get out of our comfort zone on the European continent … When something is not working, don’t look out the window and ask other to fix it. Look in the mirror and ask what can I do to improve it?” he said.

As part of his plea for change, he touched on some familiar telco themes. He said that “economies of scale matter” and to facilitate that, there needs to be consolidation in European telco industry.

Höttges also added his voice to the fair share debate and said “impartial regulation” was needed. With six companies generating more than 60% of the traffic on our infrastructure, he asked, “Why can’t the hyperscalers, the streaming platforms, contribute at least a little bit to the effort and infrastructure that we’re building?”

Orange unveils findings from Europe’s first end-to-end 5G SA network

Annie Turner
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Orange unveils findings from Europe’s first end-to-end 5G SA network

The network, Pikeo, was the first of its kind in Europe at the time of its launch in June 2021

Orange says it has reached a major milestone on its journey towards software and data based, fully-automated networks, with the results of its end-to-end cloud-native 5G SA experimental multi-cloud network.

The experimental network has run over two locations in France for internal use by employees. The trial will soon be extended to a third site in Spain for internal use.

Pikeo is multi-cloud and deployed:

• as an on-premises Orange Telco Cloud infrastructure, operated by Orange, leveraging the SUSE/Rancher open source Kubernetes distribution. The implementation contributed to the first beta release of Sylva  – the Linux Foundation’s telco cloud solution.

• on AWS or using a hybrid architecture with AWS – the core network is deployed in an AWS Region completely or with an optional local AWS Outposts to be consistent with Orange Innovation locations to control user traffic. The second option offers enterprise customers low latency or particular security measures and local requirements.

Transformational activities

Orange reckons its software and data-based telco vision will transform its activities, shaping how it builds, deploys and operates its future networks. Automation, disaggregation, cloud, data and AI will all play a key roles in delivering networks that operate much faster, for example:

• deployment 300 times faster;

• detection of anomalies 100 times faster; and

• immediate security updates as required.

The successful implementation and operation of this greenfield network for more than one year has provided Orange with invaluable experience and knowledge on the automation of cloud native 5G SA networks. The experiment also developed Orange’s know-how in integrating technologies from partners such as Dell Technologies, AWS, Casa Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, as well as Amdocs, Arista, Mavenir and Xiaomi. This included clarifying “what this means in terms of skills and transformation”.

Progressing Open RAN

PIkeo also allowed Orange to demonstrate the growing maturity of Open RAN technologies, paving the way for field deployments “in the coming years”. The launch of the first field trial in a rural area in Romania last week apparently shows Orange’s confidence that Open RAN is ready for deployments on operational networks.

Leveraging automation and AI, Orange’s experimental network demonstrated that:

  • the 5G network (core and RAN) can be automatically redeployed in less than one hour, rather than days or weeks on a legacy network, thanks to the DevSecOps pipeline.
  • automated anomaly detection for mobile networks is much faster – operational teams have access via a dashboard for automated, explainable anomaly detection using AI to reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) and help identify the root cause by correlating RAN, core and infrastructure metrics.
  • energy consumption can be optimised by automatically switching off the 5G private network of a company or facility in the evening and switching on in the morning, where relevant for companies.
  • dynamic end-to-end slice management of critical communication services was modelled and demonstrated on the 5G SA core network with isolation, using security and traffic prioritisation principles.
  • a zero-trust security model was successfully implemented with identity and access management leveraging Orange identity, automated vulnerability detection and integration with security incidents & event management (SIEM).

Working with AWS

In parallel, since mid-2022, Orange has worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to demonstrate the feasibility of running network functions over a public cloud. Orange views this as a key measure of maturity concerning how Orange and hyperscalers can work together to deliver solutions to enterprise customers.

There are two fundamental elements involved:

• a zero-trust security model using Orange identities and Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM);

• optimising energy efficiency with an on-demand use of AWS resources cloud infrastructure.

Orange has extended this trial in 2023 to further investigate the potential of automation through AI, as well as to evaluate vertical use cases.

Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group CTO and SVP Orange Innovation Networks (pictured), says: “We are proud to showcase the benefits of a fully automated, cloud-native multi-cloud 5G SA network at this year’s Mobile World Congress.

“The experience gained from the Pikeo project and the expertise of Orange Innovation teams will be leveraged in the new Mobile Private Network cloud experimental offer launched by Orange Business. As Orange seeks to fulfil its ambition to become the telecom reference for resilient, green, software and data-based networks, the results of this trial to date mark a major milestone in achieving this.”

MTN chooses Nokia to accelerate 5G build-out in South Africa

Annie Turner
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MTN chooses Nokia to accelerate 5G build-out in South Africa

The deal replaces incumbent supplier and begins RAN modernisation programme

For the first time, MTN South Africa has selected Nokia as one of its 5G RAN equipment providers. Under the deal, Nokia will modernise the 2G, 3G and 4G radio network and expand MTN’s 5G radio network across 2,800 sites in central and eastern part of the country.

Nokia will provide equipment from its AirScale portfolio, powered by its latest generation of ReefShark chipsets including 5G AirScale baseband, massive MIMO active antennas and remote radio heads (RRH) covering all urban and rural scenarios.

Nokia will also provide its self-organising networks (SON) solution for optimisation and network assurance.

Training programme

The vendor is also establishing a training programme to drive digitalisation in the country and across the African continent, open to 5,000 applicants. The program will focus on product development and foster entrepreneurship, and is aligned with the Finnish National Agency of Education. Graduates will receive a diploma to help them further career opportunities.

Michele Gamberini, MTN South Africa’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, said: “We need next-generation technologies, such as Nokia’s AirScale portfolio to ensure that South Africa is a leader in the digital era across the African continent and globally.

“Our partnership with Nokia allows us to rapidly expand our 5G network so that our citizens and their businesses can leverage the digital economy and reap the benefits of a modern connected life.”

MTN South Africa is part of MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator with operations in 17 countries serving 272 million subscribers.

Ooredoo Tunisia strives to strengthen customers’ loyalty and engagement  

Annie Turner
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Ooredoo Tunisia strives to strengthen customers’ loyalty and engagement  

Solution relies on machine learning for customer journeys and interactive best-fit offers

Ooredoo Tunisia is partnering Comviva with the aim of strengthening customers’ loyalty and engagement. 

Comviva will deploy its flagship MobiLytix Marketing Studio platform supported by data science services. The platform will run real-time data on customers’ interaction with a unified customer profile to provide “real-time, contextual digital experience across all customer touchpoints”.

The plan is that Ooredoo Tunisia will increase customers’ loyalty through more personalised offers, by segmenting the customer base across various categories, including an interactive best-fit offer. This should lead to better value propositions and increased revenue.

Data science in the mix

Comviva will also provide data science services with AI and machine learning models to speed time to market and accelerate the adoption of AI.

Mansoor Al Khater, CEO of Ooredoo Tunisia said, “We are making substantial investments in modernizing our marketing technology stack, to support the tremendous growth and engagement in digital channels. This partnership will allow Ooredoo to build a set of capabilities that empower our consumers on their digital journey.”

Sunil Mishra, CMO of Ooredoo Tunisia, added, “It is critical to provide a seamless experience whether a customer is completing a transaction in person, online or [via an] app. With this collaboration, we will deliver a best-in-class digital experience across all customer touch points [and] help us deliver real-time personalised marketing programs to enhance customers’ loyalty and engagement.”

How will ChatGPT impact the telecoms industry?

Kate O'Flaherty
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How will ChatGPT impact the telecoms industry?

ChatGPT has grown faster than TikTok: how can the AI-enabled platform benefit telecoms operators?

The growth of the AI-enabled chatbot ChatGPT has been so rapid, it has surpassed even TikTok’s record rise, taking just two months to reach 100 million users. The popularity of OpenAI’s platform is attributed to its simplicity, as well as its ability to boost efficiency in multiple industries – including telecoms.

So how can ChatGPT benefit telecoms firms, is the hype warranted and what challenges need to be overcome to get the most out of the tech’s industry’s latest trend?

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT’s skills go beyond the average chatbot. The platform is apparently able to write and debug computer programs, compose music, fairy tales and student essays, as well as write poetry and song lyrics.

Customer service

First and foremost, ChatGPT’s chatbot capabilities offer a potential boost for customer service. “Telecoms companies can provide instant and accurate responses to customer inquiries, reducing wait times and improving satisfaction,” says Noam Fine, Head of Vonage AI.

ChatGPT can help to automate routine and repetitive tasks, freeing up customer service agents to focus on more complex queries. The technology can also provide valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences, allowing telecom companies to better understand users and tailor offerings to meet their needs, says Fine.

Integrating ChatGPT into organisation-wide processes can lead to increased efficiency, cost savings, and improved customer satisfaction, agrees Kelvin Chaffer, CEO of Lifecycle Software. “Super-chatbots such as ChatGPT have the potential to be integrated into existing customer service chatbots that can supply immediate, in-depth answers, in addition to providing a conversational aspect,” he says.

Game changer

Taking its multiple capabilities into account, ChatGPT could be a “game changer” across service, maintenance and many other functions, says Matthew Bloxham, senior telecom, media and technology analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “The technology may even have a role to play in proactive customer outreach for renewal or retention offers,” he adds.

ChatGPT and similar models could also drive software development in telecoms: With the right prompts, it can write coding for teams. In addition, the technology could play an imperative role in fraud detection, Chaffer says. “Teams can train ChatGPT to identify and flag potential fraud cases in real-time, which could be a massive aid in reducing financial losses for telecoms companies.”

Network monitoring is another possible use for ChatGPT, says Cyrille Joffre, Chief Operating Officer at Sure: “It could be used to interpret and analyse large amounts of data to improve network monitoring, helping to detect and diagnose issues more quickly.”

Meanwhile, ChatGPT could help analyse and interpret data to improve network planning and optimisation, by identifying potential issues and suggesting solutions, Joffre adds.

ChatGPT challenges and risks

The potential is vast, but there are risks and challenges to take into account when considering the up and coming technology. Right now, businesses should be wary of organisations claiming that ChatGPT can be implemented to solve customer interaction or company specific content problems, says James O’Hare, MD at LINKMobility. “Currently models are static, meaning the data is out of date quickly or in some cases, not included in the model.”

One of the biggest issues with ChatGPT is its tendency to perpetuate biases and harmful stereotypes that are present in the data it was trained on, Joffre says. “This is because language models like GPT-3 are trained on large amounts of text data from the internet, which often contains biased and stereotypical language. This can lead to biased and stereotypical text.”

At the same time, it’s important to consider ChatGPT’s security weaknesses, says Chaffer. “As these bots are highly skilled in imitating human conversations, it opens the doors for hackers to utilise and repurpose the bots for customer impersonation, data theft, ransomware and a host of other security concerns.”

Another issue is the technology’s cost and computational requirements. “Training a model requires massive amounts of computing power and resources, and access is limited to a small number of large organisations and research institutions that have the resources to pay for it,” Joffre explains.

There are also legal risks to consider, says Raymond Sherry, an associate lawyer at Browne Jacobson in Dublin. For example, he says, thereare IP issues in both the input datasets used for the algorithm and the outputs of ChatGPT. “One currently unanswered question is whether the data that the technology was ‘fed’ was licenced, owned or otherwise held under a proper legal entitlement.”

Taking advantage

It’s early days for ChatGPT and while its benefits aren’t entirely based on hype, there are several factors for telecoms firms to consider before jumping on the bandwagon.

It’s a good idea to assess business priorities first, says Christy Kulasingam, Business Strategist and Founder of Radbourne Consulting. “Deploying ChatGPT just because it is popular is not going to ensure its success. The first step should be defining your business priorities and working out exactly what it is about ChatGPT that could add value to your business processes.”

At the same time, operators need to understand and accommodate the security vulnerabilities that can come alongside emerging technology – such as unencrypted communications, data alterations, the existence of HTTP protocol and data handling, Chaffer adds.

Meanwhile, operators must safeguard sensitive customer data such as billing information, account details and call records. “Allowing chatbots unrestricted access to this type of data would increase the risk of a breach and compromise the security of customer information,” says Fine.

More broadly, it is important for individuals and organisations to be proactive in moderating the use of AI and ensuring it is used ethically and responsibly. “This requires a deep understanding of the capabilities and limitations of AI, as well as a commitment to using it in a way that promotes transparency and accountability,” Fine says.

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