The Route to Network Slicing: Automating Orchestration with Cognitive OSS

The telco industry has great expectations of 5G networks, and sees even more potential in 5G services. Yet, we’ve been dealing with 5th generation networks for a long time now, and nothing has changed significantly. The services offered by CSPs are pretty much the same as they were two years ago, and so are the revenue streams. 

This will change with the arrival of network slicing and NaaS (network as a service). 

New revenue opportunities behind network slicing and NaaS

According to research, the vast majority of operators strongly believe that network slicing and network as a service will be game-changers as the real drivers of 5G monetization.

“The implementation of NaaS, as part of operator 5G offers, is expected to drive operator business in many ways. Of the operators surveyed, 94.9% believe NaaS will have a major impact on business growth and monetization. Of these, 28.9% believe that it will be a real game-changer and will completely change the way operators cooperate with their B2B partners.”

The ability to deploy network slices on demand will enable digital and communication service providers to gain new B2B partnership opportunities. By providing dedicated slices, they can cooperate with various industries, from entertainment, through automotive, all the way to healthcare. 

This will also impact B2C, as all of us, as consumers, will be able to take advantage of new opportunities that will come with 5G services, many of them including the use of technologies such as virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR).

“5G is believed to be a catalyst for industries such as utilities, automotive, media and entertainment. However, as each industry’s nature necessitates diverse 5G requirements in terms of throughput, latency and reliability, network slicing is crucial in order to realize this potential.”

The blockers of change - challenges behind deploying network slicing

As exciting as this sounds, we’re not there yet, and the biggest reason is the lack of the right level of automation among telecoms operations. 

Network slicing and NaaS demand automated orchestration and a well-structured OSS/BSS that can capture proven knowledge to automate processes in planning, fulfillment, optimization and assurance. A 2018 report by TM Forum states that up to 72% of 5G revenue growth is dependent on BSS/OSS transformation. This means, to deploy network slicing and NaaS, operators need to transform their BSS/OSS so that it meets 5G requirements.

How can Comarch help? With Cognitive OSS

The integration of Comarch OSS Service and Resource Orchestration with BSS increases the granularity and speed at which CSP providers can support new business and monetization models. This in turn revolutionizes operators’ ability to unleash new network services and monetization possibilities that can support complex B2B, B2C and B2B2x business models.

Comarch Cognitive OSS can not only help operators deploy network slicing, but also enable them to diversify offers and markets, create a user-friendly customer journey, lower their operational costs, and much more.

If you’re interested in implementing solutions that would allow your business to deploy NaaS and network slicing, visit our “Telecoms Journey Towards 5G Monetization” campaign website, and discover the first episode, featuring the subject of network slicing and orchestration.