Industry giants such as Google, Samsung, Apple, and others started offering new application services at the beginning of 5G. But why are communications service providers (CSPs) just starting to feel the impact of these market entrants? The global pandemic transformed the world and the ways we want to connect with one another; 5G-era technology now plays a crucial role in the evolving landscape of next-generation communications.

Today’s 5G-era technology enables tailored connectivity solutions for enterprise customers and opens new market segments for innovative consumer services. Here are a few of the ways this evolving technology helps the world communicate:

• 5G slicing offers an innovative way to deliver differentiated services to the end user with deterministic quality of service (QoS) parameters along with the flexibility to efficiently allocate network resources, thus maximizing network and operational efficiency.

• User Equipment Routing Selection Policy (URSP) extends network slicing by dynamically selecting the most suitable network slice for each user device based on QoS, preference, and security needs. For example, the private profile for off-work entertainment and the professional profile for corporate applications or accessing specific network resources.

The need for dynamic network slicing, complemented by URSP, will significantly increase as device vendors enable multiple consumer slice support. This move will allow end users to enhance their experience across a wide range of applications such as gaming, streaming, enterprise communications, AR/VR, etc., where these applications can be served through B2B2C mechanisms enabling new dynamic monetize streams for the 5G slicing services. 

Due to the dynamic and adaptive nature of the 5G network, this poses several challenges to maintain the desired quality of experience for the service:

• Different slices may serve diverse applications needs with varying usage patterns over time some of which require robust security measures.

• Varying user demands could lead to challenges in either resource overutilization or underutilization.

• The availability and quality of network slices can be affected by network congestion and inter-slice interference.

• Dynamic SLAs that could be defined directly by users could interfere or even could degrade to unacceptable level during peak hours or some local events.

To consistently provide the desired quality of service for different types of applications, such as data speed, capacity, latency, reliability, and security, while optimizing network resources, it is crucial to have autonomous operations that can select the appropriate routing and make automatic adjustments to changing network conditions. This creates a seamless and high-quality network experience without the need for human intervention. Even moving beyond, new AI enable platforms helps to predict traffic patterns and allocate network resources dynamically before congestion will appear or forecast service availability in advance.

Nokia’s Slicing Solution accelerates the user experience by automation of consumer slice creation and URSP policies configuration. Automating the creation of dynamic network slices can be a complex process that involves hundreds of configuration actions across a disaggregated network. However, with automation, the time required to design and deploy such a service can be significantly reduced, from several days to just a few minutes. This not only saves time, but also ensures a consistent and reliable service delivery.

Nokia's Digital Operations Center plays a crucial role in Nokia's comprehensive network slicing solution that covers BSS, OSS, Core, 5G RAN slicing, and transport domains. It simplifies network operations by abstracting network complexities, making it easier to create value in the open digital ecosystem. This platform helps build new services quickly by connecting the disaggregated network via business intent-driven operations. It also enables faster root cause and service impact analysis for existing events and forecasts potential anomalies for future outcomes. Additionally, it incorporates closed loops that automate network and service management at scale.

Nokia’s Digital Operations Center cloud-native software provides faster time to market with pre-integrated slicing management solutions that is extensible with pluggable content along with the flexibility to integrate with multiple vendor environment using its rich SDK libraries for customizations and non-standard integrations.

Time for Telcos to accelerate the move to AI-driven autonomous operations:

With the growing 5G subscriber base, new market models for enterprises, and the rise of consumer applications with different QoS needs, network slicing is a critical capability of 5G-era networks, Network slicing can drive a first-mover advantage for CSPs in new enterprise applications and consumer slicing with URSP. This is the perfect time for CSPs to capitalize on their 5G investments and open their networks to innovation with dynamic, intent-based slice management. This approach offers high performance through AIOps-driven autonomous operations.

Nokia's Digital Operations Center plays a crucial role in unlocking the exponential potential of networks by delivering business needs with openness and innovation. Our software offers rich orchestration and assurance capabilities, powered by unified inventory, providing a strong value proposition for service providers and helping them to thrive.