AI in Telecommunications Innovation

Excited to share the 3rd installment that I wrote for The Fast Mode on AI in the RAN with a focus on going beyond automation, embracing openness, and having the right workforce. Here is a summary of the article: 1. RAN Automation's Limitations: Traditional RAN automation, though well-intentioned, often struggles to keep pace with the dynamic demands of modern communication networks. While it aims to optimize network performance and troubleshoot issues, its rigid nature limits adaptability to rapidly evolving conditions. This results in frequent shortcomings, leaving network operators seeking a more intelligent and responsive solution. 2. AI's Data-Driven Intelligence: AI thrives on data, leveraging vast amounts of network logs, user behavior patterns, and performance metrics to make informed decisions. By dynamically adjusting parameters and predicting potential issues, AI optimizes network performance, ensuring seamless connectivity even during peak usage. 3. AI's Self-Awareness and Adaptability: A significant advantage of AI lies in its self-awareness and adaptability. Unlike traditional automation, AI can autonomously diagnose issues, apply corrective measures, and optimize network parameters in real-time. This self-healing capability ensures uninterrupted connectivity without human intervention, positioning RAN as an agile and reliable entity in the digital landscape. 4. Collaboration and Ecosystem: The success of AI implementation in RAN hinges on collaboration and cooperation among various stakeholders within the telecommunications industry to open up the RAN. From Communication Service Providers (CSPs) and vendors to regulators and researchers, building a collaborative ecosystem is essential to unlocking the full potential of AI in RAN management. 5. Transformation Beyond Automation: While traditional automation focuses on optimizing existing processes, AI represents a paradigm shift towards transformational change in RAN management. Beyond mere efficiency gains, AI has the potential to revolutionize how networks are managed, transforming them into intelligent, adaptive, and self-healing entities. AI represents a paradigm shift in RAN management, offering unprecedented levels of intelligence, adaptability, and reliability. By harnessing AI's power, network operators can overcome the limitations of traditional automation, ensuring optimal performance and seamless connectivity in today's dynamic communication networks. That can only be done through access to data, the right workforce, and openness of all the components. #ai #telco #openran #data

Unlike other industries #AI adoption is not going to be optional for #mobile... Credit: Sean Kinney RCR Wireless News Choi described multi-radio access spectrum sharing (MRSS) as the mechanism to govern shared spectrum across 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, satellite-based, and other radio access mediums. “As we move toward 6G, we are entering an era where spectrum sharing, massive bandwidth, and ultra-dense deployments make…conventional, manual network management completely impossible.” AI models can predict spectrum occupancy and demand patterns based on historical and real-time data to enable proactive spectrum allocation before congestion or interference occurs. Reinforcement learning agents can continuously calibrate the optimal way to allocate spectrum across different access technologies. And AI agents, working across radio and edge sites, can autonomously balance traffic loads. “Without artificial intelligence technology, the complexity and speed required for the efficient MRSS operation in 6G would be practically unmanageable, making AI-native RAN architecture in 6G an essential foundation for the future,” Choi said. https://lnkd.in/gjzWCRBv

Telecom giants like AT&T, SK Telecom, Vodafone, and Bell Canada are already launching GenAI trials. These trials mark a pivotal shift in the industry, with companies betting big on the synergy between solid data foundations and effective AI strategies. For instance, Bell Canada is leveraging predictive AI to foresee environmental events like snowstorms, enhancing workforce readiness and preempting network outages. Such proactive measures not only improve service reliability but also streamline operational efficiency, ultimately benefiting both businesses and consumers. One estimate is that by January 2025, 60 percent of executives will be testing out genAI solutions. What's noteworthy is the rapid deployment capability of genAI pilots, which can go from concept to implementation in just a few weeks! 🚀 The telecommunications industry grapples with outdated practices and processes, but genAI is ushering in a new era of profitability. By enhancing customer revenue through improved lifecycle management and cutting operating costs, genAI can boost incremental margins by three to four percentage points in two years and even up to eight to ten percentage points in five years. 💼💡 As telecom leaders embrace GenAI, they must also address critical questions surrounding data accessibility, technical infrastructure, ethics, and sustainability. By fostering a robust GenAI environment and staying vigilant about ethical implications, telecom companies can position themselves at the forefront of innovation while ensuring responsible and sustainable growth. #AI #Innovation #GenAI

AI in IT Ops is splitting into two camps - and your strategy decides your outcomes. 1. Reactive / Assistive AI Adds intelligence inside existing workflows: ticket triage, summarization, alert deduping, faster RCA. It accelerates humans and trims MTTD/MTTR - but only after something breaks or a user raises a hand. 2. Proactive / Autonomous AI Continuously watches telemetry, spots weak signals, predicts incidents, auto-remediates drift, tunes capacity before users notice. It reduces tickets altogether, not just handles them faster. Why it matters: - Fewer outages > Faster fixes - Prevented tickets free cycles for strategic work - Continuous optimization lowers infra & licensing waste - Better employee experience (issues “never happen”) Question for IT leaders: What % of your current “AI” effort is still reactive? Shift even 10–20% of that energy to proactive and measure avoided incidents, not just closed ones.

Telstra, Australia's leading telecommunications and technology company, is revolutionizing customer service with Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search! 📡✨ 🌟 Key Takeaways: 🔹Elevated Customer Service: With Azure OpenAI, Telstra developed two groundbreaking tools, Ask Telstra and One Sentence Summary, enhancing speed and effectiveness in customer interactions. 🔹Impressive Results: Early rollouts show 90% of employees saving time and 20% reduction in follow-up contact. Plus, 84% of customer agents confirm improved customer interactions. 🔹Seamless Support: These AI tools are empowering Telstra agents to provide seamless support, making customers happier than ever! 🔥 Why It Matters: 🔹Faster Responses: Azure OpenAI and AI Search dramatically speed up information retrieval, enabling agents to assist customers more efficiently. 🔹Empowered Agents: These tools help new agents onboard faster and make seasoned agents more effective. 🔹 Customer Satisfaction: A win-win for both Telstra and its customers, improving overall experience and satisfaction. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e-DDDVeq #AzureAISearch #AzureOpenAI #GenerativeAI #Telecommunications

This week, at Mobile World Congress, we announced updates to our Azure for Operators portfolio, designed to help the telecommunications industry create exceptional customer experiences and innovate for future growth. Azure Operator Call Protection, a new service being offered in public preview, uses AI to help protect consumers from scam calls. Scam calls are growing exponentially, often impacting the most vulnerable members of society, and generated $850 million in reported fraud losses last year. We also announced the limited preview of Copilot in Azure Operator Insights, a generative AI capability helping operators move from reactive to proactive and predictive in tangible ways – meaning they can resolve network issues more quickly and accurately, ultimately improving customer satisfaction. Read more about these and other exciting innovations we have built for the telco industry, in Jason Zander’s blog. https://lnkd.in/gujUp3De #MWC24 #AI #Telecom

Are you aware of the rapid advancements in telecommunications technology driven by AI and cloud computing? Ericsson's collaboration with Google Cloud has led to the development of the Cell Anomaly Detector. This groundbreaking tool proactively identifies and addresses cell issues in radio access networks with an impressive accuracy of 98%. This innovative solution has significantly improved network performance, reduced customer complaints, and minimized operational expenditure for over 60 network operators worldwide. 📈 The integration of advanced cloud services such as Vertex AI and BigQuery has expanded Ericsson's Cognitive Software capabilities and leveraged the benefits of serverless services to optimize the total cost of ownership for communication service providers. Additionally, adopting MLOps has enhanced solutions' efficiency, scalability, and reliability, streamlining ML model maintenance and accelerating time to market. How do you envision the future of telecommunications technology with the integration of AI technologies and cloud services? #AI #CloudComputing #Telecommunications #Innovation

Sharing my recent interview with Muntazir Abbas at The Economic Times Times, where I discussed how #telecom providers are accelerating #AI adoption, modernizing infrastructure, and preparing for a #6G-enabled future.   Key highlights from our discussion: 🔹 97% of telecom organizations are already using AI across operations. 🔹 Nearly 80% of telcos scaling generative AI projects have exceeded their budgets — a clear sign of both urgency and opportunity. 🔹 #EdgeAI and private cloud are quickly becoming critical enablers for real-time insights and secure innovation.   Traditional network infrastructures and legacy tools weren’t built for AI and emerging technologies. As IT complexity grows, success will depend on modernizing existing infrastructure and strengthening #cybersecurity and data integrity frameworks. Telcos and enterprises that act now will be best positioned to meet rising expectations for this next era of connectivity.   Read the full interview: https://lnkd.in/gy8j4AEi   #TheHeartOfProgress