Start from billing? Which system? Which CSP genuinely has one billing system today? Start from CRM? Which one? Start from inventory / activation / order management? Again, which one? It’s the same story. Because CSPs have grown through silos and acquisitions, there’s multiples of everything so you’re literally just adding a system into the mix and 4 years down the line you’re in another consolidation exercise. It’s happened and will continue to happen but in my meetings with service providers, when I challenge these approaches, the CxO organizations are beginning to take note.
There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of 5G with detractors stating that existing technologies, such as 4G or WiFi, are sufficient or that new capabilities supported by 5G, such as Ultra Reliable Low Latency Connectivity (URLLC) and IoT, can be provided equally well by the existing technologies.
Whilst it might be possible to achieve similar types of services, it may be very challenging to do at the same cost point as 5G. With sufficient over provisioning, it is possible to get very good service from LTE or WiFi – the additional cost is derived from the low utilisation of the installed infrastructure. Similarly, with the IoT it is possible to use WiFi, 2G or LoRa networks for connectivity, with the drawbacks of increased size, weight and power consumption in the devices and significant additional infrastructure required to provide coverage.
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