CSPs are struggling to take advantage of the commercial opportunity of 5G

Despite the increase in data consumption and mobile broadband subscriptions, overall revenue growth has stagnated as communication service providers (CSPs) struggle to convert the rise of mobile data services into revenue growth. This has put increased pressure on CSPs to identify new digital business models that can provide alternative sources of revenue growth. Network transformation is, therefore, necessary to enable new business opportunities and allow CSPs to remain relevant and gain or maintain value share in the overall mobile communications market.

It was well documented in a recent Gartner report that 5G presents a significant opportunity for CSPs, leveraging the higher performance capabilities over 4G to enable new services for all their customers across traditional and non-traditional market segments, generating new revenue streams and profits. A report by Ericsson entitled ‘The 5G Business Potential’ estimates the 5G-enabled revenue potential to be $1.3 trillion for ICT players, of which $619 (+36%) billion is revenue that can be addressed directly by CSPs.

However, many CSPs are burdened with legacy IT platforms and architecture, siloed processes and a lack of digital skills, inhibiting them from truly harnessing the commercial opportunity of 5G. A recent EY study identified process automation as a principal technology enabler that can help build long-term operational excellence for CSPs, along their digital transformation journey. The same study suggests one of the key pillars of business process automation (along with back-end automation and business process management (BPM)) is intelligent automation.

How can intelligent automation help CSPs improve customer experience and drive growth?

With mobile data traffic estimated to grow by around 50% annually through 2023, existing business processes are expected to suffer from further strain. CSPs can use intelligent automation to automate the bulk of their employees’ repetitive, rules-based, and high-volume tasks for front- and back-office systems, freeing them up to perform more strategic, business-critical activities. Using the capability of intelligent automation to enable built-in cognitive intelligence technologies (such as AI and ML) CSPs can dramatically lower their operational costs, reduce time-to-market for introducing new products and services, and increase efficiency and productivity to accelerate the performance of their workforce, ultimately improving the overall customer experience and driving monetization and growth.

The concept of process automation is already well valued in the telecommunications marketplace, with many CSPs investing in business-led strategic programs to automate manual tasks across different functions. 

So, in the age of 5G, why should operators look to further enhance their automation capabilities?

Find out more and see examples of functions that can be automated to drive a more intelligent lead-to-cash process in this research report.