Category: Articles

Communications service providers (CSPs) have worked doggedly over the last two decades to prepare for a new, data-led mode of operation. The plumbing is now done but extracting actionable insights from data lakes and then trusting that for fundamental operational processes is the next giant step operators need to take, writes George Malim.

Communications service providers (CSP) are surrounded by challenges from all directions, writes Robin Duke-Woolley, the chief executive of Beecham Research. Their central service offering has commoditised, growth is constrained by market saturation and they have no option but to invest billions in capex in the next generation of mobile technology. Against this unappealing background, they have to deliver great experiences or customers will walk.

Communications service providers (CSPs) are now well aware of the power of the data they collect regarding their customers and see it as a key means to run their operations more efficiently, achieve compliance, improve customer experiences and ultimately enhance their profitability. The telecoms industry, however, is composed of a complex web of organisations created through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and infrastructure that involves multiple generations of technology. This makes the process of enabling data-driven decision making multi-layered and encompasses cultural as well as technological challenges.

A large communications service provider (CSP) that serves more than 50 million individual, business and government subscribers was faced with the challenge of optimising its customer acquisition policies by offering new customers equipment and service packages tailored to each individual’s credit risk. This is a critical new battleground for telecoms operators as markets exceed saturation and the fight to attract new customers centres on making attractive, tailored propositions.

All businesses are the products of courageous decisions but decision makers at communication service providers (CSPs) are very brave indeed, writes Nick Booth.

Connectivity is everywhere so it should be simple to specify the connections you need for your IoT deployment. However, the decision process remains complicated and fragmented, reflecting the complexity of IoT deployments themselves, writes George Malim.

Connectivity choices for IoT, particularly cellular-related, are changing rapidly with new options now coming to the market, writes Robin Duke-Woolley, the chief executive of Beecham Research. This report reviews these with reference to the European market and taking into particular account views expressed by Mohsen Mohseninia, the vice president of International Market Development for Europe at Aeris Communications, a long-established mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) based in San Jose, California that specialises in IoT connectivity and operates globally. Aeris manages more than 14 million cellular IoT connections, including within the auto sector, transmits over one billion IoT messages per day through its dedicated network and has operational connectivity reach in 190 countries.

Mohsen Mohseninia is the vice president of market development Europe at Aeris, the provider of IoT services that include the Aeris Fusion IoT Network and Mobility Suite, which span from connectivity up to vertical solutions for things that move. Here, he tells George Malim how organisations can demystify the growing array of connectivity technologies and select those best suited for their deployments, not just for today but taking into account future needs, innovation and business models.

Connectivity is a subject of concern among those engaging in the Internet of Things (IoT) and the situation is only getting more complex as new options come to market and the volumes of devices to connect increase, writes Nick Booth.

With a global IoT market of 4.8 billion endpoints by the end of 2019, according to Gartner, clearly not all IoT applications need 5G. It will, however, enable some that are either not possible or pragmatic now, and transform the scale and scope of many that are, Annie Turner finds.

LTE-M is poised to dominate the Internet of Things (IoT) for years to come, replacing GSM and CDMA protocols. One reason is the cost ― to date, cellular technologies have not been optimised for IoT deployments, leading to higher hardware and operational costs.

Wi-Fi currently remains the most prevalent wireless technology in enterprise networks, but private 4G LTE cellular technology, and soon 5G, can be much more reliable and cost-effective when it comes to various industrial use cases around IoT, writes Antony Savvas.