Aglocell Assists Mobile Operators to “Mind the Gap” in Automation and AI

London Tube users are admonished to “mind the gap” at every stop, Aglocell assists mobile operators to “mind the gap” in automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

Following a raft of 5G commercial launches in Asia, Europe, and North America a subtle shift has taken place in industry focus. Rather than justifying the elusive 5G business case, the attention has moved on to fine-tuning 5G deployments and optimizing 5G-era costs. The GSM Association (“GSMA”) used the concept of the total cost of ownership (TCO) to evaluate the long-term 5G-era cost evolution in a study published on August 28, 2019.

The study predicted quite accurately that 5G-era TCO is a result of an interplay of a diverse mix of factors including 5G cost drivers such as spectrum and rollout strategies; 5G cost accelerators such as 5G RAN upgrades and densification; and 5G cost optimizers, such as Automation & AI.

Figure 1 below illustrates a synthesis of the generic, industry-wide 5G-era cost optimization insights from the study.

Figure 1. An indicative 5G-era cost optimization framework (Source: GSMA)

Financially minded stakeholders such as CFOs looking at the 5G-era optimization matrix will likely spot important distinctions between the two groups outlined in Figure 1. Group A includes big-ticket, high 5G Network Cost Delta, including higher capability gap items Automation & AI. These are the areas where purely in financial terms, most of the changes in 5G-era network economics are set to take place.

Automation & Aglocell AI-based Algorithms

Automation and AI will provide significant cost mitigation in 5G-era mobile networks, with the potential to deliver up to 25% network TCO savings. In practice automation and AI are two different tools: automation typically refers to rules-based, programmable, zero-touch execution of a (network) process; while AI includes a range of techniques that use algorithms to adapt and execute in specific network operating situations dynamically.

While AI grabs most of the attention right now; actual AI deployments in mobile telecoms remain rare, and modest in scope. There are substantial network TCO savings in the 5G-era to be reaped by utilizing open automation platforms and AI-based algorithms like those provided by Aglocell. These Aglocell solutions have the potential to deliver significant cost savings by bringing mobile networks closer, if not equal, to the ‘zero-touch, lights-out’ data center operations that web-scale digital players such as Google and Amazon have been extracting over the last decade.

Mobile operators’ efforts to optimize 5G-era network economics are contingent on their individual assets and capabilities across major 5G-era cost drivers and optimizers. In particular, the pace of 5G-era cost optimization will depend on the gap between their current (‘as is’) and required (‘to be’) 5G assets and capabilities, which will, of course, vary from operator to operator.

Conclusion

Aglocell provides AI-based solutions that are comprised of proprietary AI-based algorithms that significantly increase 5G/4G network performance. Utilizing Aglocell’s AI-based solutions that interface with open SON platforms and RICs fill the gap in operators’ 5G/4G Automation & AI capabilities.

For more information, visit our solutions page or contact us.