The Evolution of convergence
Communications technology has evolved rapidly over the past few decades, driven by continuous advancements in connectivity and computing. What began as separate networks for telephony, data and television have now increasingly converged into integrated digital platforms. This evolution towards convergence has been accelerated by the transition to internet protocol based networks which now carry all forms of information through a common set of standards and protocols. By adopting IP as the underlying transport mechanism, telecom operators gained the ability to offer their customers a variety of integrated services through a single network and billing relationship. This set the stage for the rise of Multiservice Provisioning Platform across the industry.
Bundling multiple services
One of the early strategies adopted by telcos was to bundle different communication services together and offer discounted packages to subscribers. Customers benefited from convenience and savings through these bundles, while operators gained revenue synergies by cross-selling additional products. Over time, the scope of bundled offerings expanded significantly to include fixed or mobile telephony, broadband internet, IPTV, OTT video and other digital services. Triple and quadruple play bundles providing television, telephony, internet and additional services through a single bill became popular globally. Bundling helped reinforce customer stickiness and increase average revenue per user for telecom companies. It also allowed incremental uptake of new services among existing subscribers.
Convergence of access networks
For Multiservice Provisioning Platform to truly take off, infrastructure consolidation was essential. Telcos began upgrading their legacy copper and coaxial networks to fiber which supported higher bandwidth as well as integration across platforms. Fiber-to-the-home deployments delivering gigabit speeds became mainstream in developed markets, significantly enhancing the utility of bundled offerings. There was also convergence at the edge, with technologies like VDSL vectoring and DOCSIS 3.1 pushing the capabilities of copper and cable networks respectively. On the wireless side, the transition to 4G/LTE and forthcoming 5G networks established a common IP platform for delivering fixed and mobile broadband seamlessly. This network convergence formed the essential plumbing for telcos to dynamically allocate and optimize bandwidth across services.
Platformization of operations
To efficiently manage integrated multi-play services from the backend, operators went through extensive IT/workflow transformation. Legacy systems were replaced by converged digital platforms that spanned functions like subscriber management, billing, service fulfillment and assurance across fixed and mobile domains. Core networks too evolved through virtualization and softwarization, allowing flexible resource allocation to diverse applications. Automation became critical to handle complex multi-service configurations at scale. Telcos also adopted a platform mindset in their go-to-market strategy, opening up capabilities through APIs for third-party developers. This shift towards centralized programmable platforms made it possible to rapidly combine existing and new services in innovative ways based on subscriber personas.
Content aggregation and distrubution
Another transformative trend was the rise of OTT players bringing popular internet content direct to subscribers. To compete, telcos expanded their role beyond connectivity into curating and aggregating premium broadcast, video and audio content from various sources. They leveraged their distribution networks to offer unified access through set-top boxes, mobile apps and web portals alongside traditional linear television. Operators also began originating their own branded content through partnerships and internal studios. Multiscreen distribution models emerged, complementing traditional linear broadcasts. With control over first-mile infrastructure as well as content pipelines, telcos established themselves as one-stop solutions for consumers' evolving media consumption needs.
New avenues of growth
The Multiservice Provisioning Platform business model opened significant new revenue pools for telecom companies going forward. Beyond traditional communications, areas such as cloud and edge computing infrastructure, IoT connectivity, industrial automation, cybersecurity, digital advertising and smart city solutions now fall under their expanded purview. Operators are well positioned to capitalize on opportunities across enterprise connectivity and digital transformation with their nationwide interconnection and ability to combine technology with domain expertise. New areas also include monetizing network metadata through advanced analytics as well as mining subscriber usage patterns to offer hyper-personalized recommendations. Going ahead, 5G promise of ultra-low latency will accelerate this structural shift towards a multi-industry business approach encompassing technology, media and services at large scale.
Customer experience comes to the fore
For multiline, multimedia propositions to succeed, customer experience becomes the prime differentiator in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Telcos invested heavily in digital interfaces across sales, support, care and self-service to provide a unified omni-channel journey. Billing complexity was addressed through transparency of bundled rates and all-inclusive pricing models. Emphasis shifted to proactive service management from traditional reactive fault management. Leveraging AI/ML platforms, telcos gained the capability to anticipate and resolve issues, manage subscriptions dynamically based on usage and automatically update offerings based on evolving customer needs over their lifecycle. Emerging technologies like augmented/virtual reality also further enhanced the experience through intuitive visualization and interactions. Going forward, customer experience will remain paramount in driving loyalty and average revenue increases as the boundaries between industries continue to blur.
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