Tsifra goes to telecom, and telecom goes to digital. The world is on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution, and the Russian government is conducting a large-scale digitalization of the country. Telecom is forced to survive in the face of radical changes in the work and interests of customers and partners. Competition from representatives of new technologies is growing. We suggest looking at the vector of digital transformation and paying attention to internal resources for developing the business of telecom operators.
IT power
The telecom industry is under the vigilant control of the state and is constantly regulated, so it is difficult to talk about the digital transformation of telecom operators without reference to similar trends within the country. The introduction of "digits" at the state level is one of the priority tasks of the government, starting from transformational work in all areas and ending with the national program "Digital Economy". The latter is designed for six years and includes:
- development of the 5G network;
- development of a scheme for the development of communication networks;
- certification, classification of data centers and determination of infrastructure requirements;
- creation of an IoT regulation system;
- creation of big data processing standards;
- commissioning of a single cloud platform;
- strengthening cybersecurity.
By the end of the program, 100% of medical, educational and military facilities will become broadband subscribers, and Russia will increase the volume of data storage and processing by five times.
At the same time, unmanned vehicles are being tested in Moscow, the Unified Biometric System for Banks has been launched, and unified registries are being developed. Federal departments are starting to maintain centralized accounting based on cloud solutions. The Central Bank outlined a strategy for the development of financial technologies through the Open API and the creation of digital platforms.
The government has taken up the digital transformation of the country, spreading it to , , , and other areas. In 2020 they will introduce in 2024 - Russia already has a high level of the e-government development index, and Moscow took first place in the ranking in 2018. The global digital transformation of Russia is no longer an empty phrase. I believe that the requirements for the modernization and digitalization of enterprises will soon be enshrined at the legislative level. This will also affect telecom, both in the industry and in business as a whole.
Global trends
The state understanding of digital transformation corresponds to what the world community means by this term. Back in 2016 that 40% of companies will not survive the digital revolution if they do not accept the new rules of the game. Automation of business processes and electronic document management is only a necessary minimum for competitive struggle. The main components of digital business transformation according to users:
- Artificial intelligence;
- cloud services;
- Internet of things;
- big data processing;
- Use of 5G;
- Investments in data centers;
- Information Security;
- Modernization and improvement of infrastructure;
- Changing the corporate culture and strategy of the company;
- Openness to partnership and creation of joint products or services.
First of all, digital transformation will affect retail, manufacturing, the financial sector and IT. But it will affect all industries and business areas, and this is a chance to benefit from new requirements.
Growth points for telecom
OTT
The first steps towards the fourth industrial revolution can solve the sore problems that telecom operators face. For example, the intensified struggle with OTT providers that are capturing the market.
Television users increasingly prefer watching movies and TV series at a convenient time, and on YouTube content is viewed . A variety of videos of an entertaining, educational, informational nature attracts the audience, bringing more and more profit to OTT players. The growth rate of the pay TV subscriber base is decreasing every year.
Subscriber base growth by technology, 2018/2017:
The winning option in such an environment will be the openness of the infrastructure and the company to partnership. Signing contracts with OTT providers will allow you to stop being an intermediary and become an active participant in the process. There are many options for agreements - from bonus and discount programs to organizing a higher network bandwidth. Infrastructure adaptability and optimization play a key role here. It is worth keeping an eye on the opinion leaders of the young audience - video bloggers. Collaboration with trendsetters who generate video content can be a gold mine.
Big Data
Telecom operators process huge amounts of data, and it's a sin not to monetize your experience. In the era of digital transformation, the ability to work with big data determines the quality of interaction with users and partners, helps to personalize offers and increase advertising conversion. The collection and analysis of information is important for the B2B segment, and the demand of corporate clients for these services is growing.
IoT
The dynamics of the market has been demonstrating stable growth for the past five years.
M2M communication is a promising development for telecom. The main requirements for cellular communication between devices are: minimal traffic delay, special radio technologies and the same infrastructure openness to create an ecosystem with developers and software platforms. Part of the business will have to be restructured for the specifics of machine maintenance, including the development of new communication modes.
data centers
Digital transformation is carried out not only through customer relationship management and internal automation, but also through the construction of new business models. Such a model for telecom operators could be investing in data centers and providing cloud services to customers.
Big Data is constantly processed by B2B companies, and the production capacity is not always enough for the smooth operation of the servers. Cloud computing saves customers space and money, so more and more services and software are being developed in this format.
Infrastructure and partnership
Telecom operators will find themselves at the intersection of digital innovations and familiar tools. In order to adapt to the new scheme of work, it is necessary to optimize the infrastructure with an emphasis on openness and be ready to cooperate with representatives of breakthrough technologies. The modernized infrastructure is easier to monetize - an additional source of income can be the creation of MVNE and partnership with virtual operators. And automation of work with resellers will reduce labor costs, increase control and loyalty of partners, which has a positive effect on building up the base.
Small, but remote
Not all of the listed growth points are suitable for startups and small players in the telecommunications market. Meanwhile, βentranceβ to the industry has ceased to be prohibitively expensive, thanks in part to cloud services. Rented IT facilities, billing and software will cost many times less, and our own outdated technologies do not drag newcomers to the bottom. It is easier to start, and there are more than enough ideas and ambitions. Innovators are ready to βrideβ the wave of digital transformation and immediately focus on, for example, the Internet of things, video content or affiliate programs.
Internal transformation
"Digit" is also being introduced into the internal business processes of the company.
- Processing your own data arrays gives a complete picture of the life and interests of the subscriber, allowing you to set up advertising campaigns with maximum conversion and create offers that meet the specific needs of the user. It is important to organize the scalability of systems in order to ensure the collection and analysis of big data 24/7 in a business development environment.
- The introduction of IoT and Artificial Intelligence into work will eliminate the human factor and replace employees performing routine operations. The number of errors and staffing costs will decrease.
- It is also useful to use cloud technologies in your needs to offload servers and save money.
- , by 2021, 20 zettabytes of data per year will be processed on the global Internet. This amount of information needs to be protected, and cybersecurity comes to the fore in the era of digital transformation. Protection is also organized on . I advise you not to neglect protection against fraudsters and theft of subscriber data and use software adapted to modern threats.
"Modern problems require modern solutions"
Digital transformation will take place in the state, and entrepreneurship, and thinking. The ability to quickly adapt to changes guarantees the company leadership and maintaining market share. This ability is required from the telecom and the government, developing standards of work and registers of the equipment used. Maintaining conservative views and ignoring the approach of "Industry 4.0" may threaten the company with a takeover, bankruptcy or outflow of subscribers.
Just as banks and fixed-line operators have recently gone into MVNO, telecom operators now need to go into IT. Telecom can use almost all the innovations of digital transformation to optimize its resources and create new sources of income. The vector of development should be aimed at working together with partners, developers and even competitors, as well as at controlling changes in customer interests and targeted satisfaction of their needs.
Source: habr.com