Technological trends in the digitalization of telecom and the achievements of market participants

Technological trends

According to Sergey Sosin, head of the Nexign product management group, to optimize and improve the operation of services, operators use AI technologies and expand the areas of their use.

AL/ML assistants help solve customer requests faster and, as a result, increase their loyalty. AI solutions also affect the level of security of subscribers by reducing the number of fraudulent calls, he shared.

Vendors operating in the telecom market integrate AI capabilities into their products, which allows operators to segment subscribers, make outflow predictions, and use an NBO strategy. By the way, in Nexign solutions, such functionality and some other scenarios are being actively worked out and planned to be launched in 2025. Another trend that allows you to increase the efficiency of the business of telecom companies is the migration of infrastructure to the private cloud, said Sergey Sosin.

This not only reduces operating costs and TSO, but also expands the capabilities of operators to monetize new services, increases the speed of launching new offers, increases the efficiency of using network resources in a situation of growing traffic, the specialist emphasized.

He predicts the further development of IoT in the industry, especially in the segments of housing and communal services and logistics: some operators are already deploying networks for NB-IoT devices based on existing LTE base stations.

5G will also continue its development, despite the ambiguous position of operators on this issue, some players are already launching pilot projects and investing in 5G networks, - Sergey Sosin shared.

In the context of high competition in the market, it remains promising for telecom operators not to increase the cost of services, but to search for new business areas, in particular, digital platforms, he said.

{{quote "Not the first year, some of the major players are completely transformed into ecosystems, increasing their mobile V2S, and platform solutions, cloud technologies and cybersecurity services become one of the key drivers of company growth," the specialist noted. - It is also worth noting the change in approaches to customer service: operators offer various ways to connect services without visiting offices, thus speeding up and simplifying their interaction. }}

The main challenge for Russian telecom is connected with the real world: this is the introduction of 5G, and the purchase of equipment, and the improvement and development of Wi-Fi networks, and other infrastructure projects. This opinion was shared by Nikita Nazarov, technical director of HFLabs.

According to him, companies are taking on important projects for the whole country related to the development of smart cities, the digitalization of transport, the development of biometrics.

If we talk about digital assets, then there are two relevant areas. The first is the clouds. All major telecom operators are actively offering their computing power to the market, the expert emphasized. - Cloud preparation is a serious task in which you need to solve issues with hardware, software for its operation, and with the selection or creation of your own decisions that will be made to the cloud.

The second area, in his professional opinion, is associated with the import substitution of such solutions as billing, storage and CRM. Operators, in the majority, used billings developed by foreign suppliers, and now they are actively switching to their own solutions.

For example, in March 2024, MTS"" announced that it was changing the previous Foris billing system, which it had used for more than 20 years, to its own development. A couple of months later, Rostelecom"" announced the creation of its own billing system to replace the American one. In Oracle turn, VimpelCom acquired the rights to the source code of the Amdocs billing system kernel and plans, apparently, to further develop it independently, the expert commented on this issue.

Thus, companies, on the one hand, move away from dependence on foreign suppliers, and on the other, build billing systems that meet the needs of the time. The need for modern billing is also growing because each of the telecom operators is building its own ecosystem. To do this, they need solutions that can handle a large number of transactions.

Historically, telecom companies collect the most data - for example, compared to banks and insurance companies. They traditionally have the largest storage with a large data spectrum. And import substitution of QCD is associated with the fact that there are debugged and proven technologies for building and working with a large array of data - Oracle Exadata, Teradata, SAP HANA, but the maturity of Russian or open source solutions raises questions.

Another problem is the availability of open source products. So, in May, Tanzu decided to close the source code of the Greenplum database, - said Nikita Nazarov.

It turns out that if a telecom company uses an open source stack, it has a risk of falling into a trap. In addition, the personnel issue also has weight: it is necessary to assemble a team that is ready to develop and support such decisions.

Building a QCD in which to collect all data from the source systems is a large, but nevertheless understandable task, the expert noted. It is important to then extract business value from this amount of data. It, as a rule, lies in synergy - the ability to connect information received from different sources. It is difficult to solve this problem on its own within the framework of QCD. For example, Rostelecom, MTS, MegaFon and Yota use an MDM solution from HFLabs to cross client data.

The expert noted another trend - an increase in the regulatory impact on business and an increase in the number of integrations with state services. For example, last year telecom operators were obliged to identify all users of corporate SIM cards. So telecom operators are faced with the task of "recognizing" their clients and forming client records in which all the data necessary for the state is accumulated.

Ivan Ryl, BSS Development Director of the company Bercut said that given the active penetration of IT in different industries, more and more non-telecom developers appear on the telecom services market. They become drivers of market development, changing the classic idea of ​ ​ telecom products, which, as has been customary for a long time, included only traditional telecommunications services.

He also recalled the trend towards bundling services, when the subscriber uses all the services of the operator as part of a single subscription. For this reason, the market is growing in demand for modern IT solutions that allow you to create convergent offers, as well as the demand for tariff platforms that are capable of charging various types of services: cups of coffee, minutes on a scooter, cinema tickets and much more.

The market's desire to expand and consolidate services - integration between fixed and wireless telecommunications networks, or FMC - encourages companies to switch to modern software that can organize subscriber service on a single billing solution, the expert noted.

Just now, he recalled, Bercut is in the process of implementing such a project for the largest telecom operator in Tatarstan - PJSC Tattelecom.

Of other notable trends on the market, Ivan Ryl noted the search by operators for additional sources of profit amid an increase in the cost of attracting new customers. All this becomes a catalyst for such a phenomenon as the lease of the operator's network for MVNO projects. Due to the fact that it is the partner who invests in marketing and attracting new users, MNO gets a real opportunity to expand the database of its subscribers without spending its resources, but on the contrary, receiving additional monetization in the form of rent payment. For such cases, Bercut offers a comprehensive BSS solution for launching virtual operators and managing several MVNOs at once - its own MVNE platform.

Vitaly Chesnokov, CEO Qsoft noted the following important areas. Cloud and network virtualization - to optimize scalability resources. AI and Big Data - to optimize network resources, analyze consumer behavior, improve customer experience and personalize the offer. Chatbots - to automate customer service, quickly collect feedback. Convenient mobile applications and sites - for easy user rate management, balance checking and ordering services anytime and anywhere. Knowledge bases and content hubs - for the digitalization of the workplace. AI assistants - to automate the operation of call centers. Self-service: developing the capabilities of a personal account to relieve the load from technical support managers and call-center.

The expert predicts growth in 2024 in Qsoft business segments, such as corporate portals + HRM solutions, implementation of knowledge management platforms E-commerce , b2c/b2b solutions, development and MarketplacesInternet implementation of/-magazines, implementation of AI solutions, AI/ML solutions for business assistance, technical support,, chat boats Data-driven approach and business analytics (BI and DWH).

At the same time, the most dynamic will be the spheres of cloud services, data analytics and information protection, - said Vitaly Chesnokov.

The creation and implementation of 5G networks remains one of the most important trends in the Russian telecom industry, said Vadim Sabashny, General Director of LANIT-Terkom (part of the Lanit group). According to him, their integration will provide significantly wider data transmission channels, which, in turn, will stimulate the development of services based on AI. Most of these solutions require significant computing power, so they are implemented in a client-server solution format, which requires a significant amount of data transfer, such as streaming video.

Market players are increasingly using AI technologies to protect customers from telephone scammers and spam, automate routine tasks, optimize network infrastructure, and personalize customer interaction, the expert said. - If we talk about the prevailing practices in the industry, then this is a personalized approach to the client and increased attention to information security.

Roman Romanov, Deputy General Director for Development of Satel, also noted the development of mobile communications and 5G: operators are actively deploying advanced standard networks to ensure high data transfer rates.

Major cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg have pilot zones testing 5G capabilities. For example, one of the largest cellular operators launched several test zones with connection speeds up to 1.5 Gbps. A full-fledged 5G infrastructure in cities with a population of one million is planned by 2028, the expert said.

According to him, telecom operators are now actively introducing solutions for the digitalization of customer experience. The priority is the digitalization of tasks related to customer service in offices, and here operators can adopt the best practices from the banking industry. New business models are emerging, for example, virtual operators that work on the infrastructure of existing operators. Companies are also introducing digital sales practices for additional services to increase average revenue per user.

In the topic of AI, in addition to the client service, Roman Romanov noted the benefits for network management systems, network traffic analysis, diagnostics of possible failures, in general for security and automation of key processes.

Oleg Abankin, Deputy General Director of INTACT noted three trends: DCIM (Data center infrastructure management), Telecom Service Orchestra and SDR (Software defined radio).

For cloud providers and data center companies, developed DCIM systems have long become the de facto standard, which cannot be said about telecom operators. In turn, operators serve a huge number of auto centers, each of which is certainly less than huge data centers, nevertheless, operators begin to have large data centers, and the management practices of such data centers are beginning to be used for ordinary auto centers of telecom operators.

For some, this may seem strange or even unexpected, but a huge amount of server equipment from telecom operators is still a PAC from telecom function providers (IMS, Packet Core, etc.), the expert stated.

According to him, as the life cycle of each of these functions ends, new ones are already "landing" in the cloud controlled by the telecom operator, and the operator faces the question of managing this cloud, and the orchestration of network functions of telecom operators on their own clouds is one of the most important issues that has yet to be resolved.

The radio subsystem of telecom operators remains the most expensive, complex and least automated, the expert shared.

Operators have long been looking for ways to apply the SDR approach to building their radio networks, however, there are not many successful cases in this area, and there are probably no large-scale cases among them.

Nevertheless, operators do not stop their research in this matter and continue to try to shift the "anything-as-a-Code" IT approach to their radio subsystems, "Oleg Abankin explained.

According to him, the lifetime of telecom functions that provide service for subscribers is traditionally quite long, and therefore their modernization is much less frequent than in the classic IT segment. As a rule, according to the expert's experience, IT technologies do not get into telecom immediately, but after some time, during which they manage to develop to a high level.

According to Ivan Ermakov, commercial director of the Basis development company, 5G remains the key technology for telecom operators - the fifth generation mobile communication standard, which provides increased speed and improved data transfer quality. In 2024, MTS subsidiary Irteya announced the development of its own production of 5G and 4G base stations.

Other significant IT technologies with high potential for the telecom industry include the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), the expert said.

He highlighted the growing popularity of software firewalls (firewalls) for filtering traffic, as well as network management systems designed to control and monitor telecommunications network resources. The main challenge for the industry is that most of the proposed solutions of these classes are foreign, and there are few Russian analogues on the market. Therefore, operators often use different hardware and software combinations.

The technical departments of operators responsible for the provision of telecommunications services have their own characteristics. Specialized software in the Telecom Cloud category is a cloud platform with virtual network functions designed for use in the infrastructure of telecom operators. Previously, foreign vendors offered comprehensive solutions, including an application layer, an infrastructure layer, as well as hardware.

Now that these solutions are not available, the task of import substitution of constituent products and the development of new infrastructure has become acute, "said Ivan Ermakov. - Accordingly, the main point of growth will be the transition to Russian Telecom Cloud solutions and their further functional development.

Natalia Lebedeva, head of the QA department of the IT company SimbirSoft, called the main technological trend the commissioning of 5G networks for commercial purposes. According to her, in addition to this global goal, there are trends for expanding and improving services within ecosystems, including through cloud solutions, IoT platforms and video conferencing services.

Separately, she noted the use of AI for both internal processes and the consumer market, for example, the introduction of chat bots and voice assistants, various protection programs that catch suspicious numbers and aggregate complaints-blockers of subscribers to whom calls have reached throughout the database, which cannot be done without AI tools.

Ekaterina Paripa, head of sales at FERRUM IT Group, said that the main request from telecom companies is currently related to the supply of foreign equipment. She noted that operators have strong subsidiaries that develop their own hardware and software solutions. For example, one of the Big Three operators created a virtualization system, but it still has limited functionality and does not correspond to the capabilities of VMWARE. The other creates its own backup systems.

As an integrator, we try to convey that there have been working solutions on the Russian market for a long time, and there is no need, conditionally, to reinvent the wheel, "the specialist shared. - The approach of customization of solutions for specific tasks, which the integrator can undertake, will be more effective.

According to Denis Pereslavtsev, head of the group of complex network solutions and data center networks of CTI, the main market trend is currently an increase in the bandwidth of the last mile to the subscriber: these are the so-called GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks) technologies - technologies for connecting the Internet, digital television and IP telephony at speeds up to 1GB/s, using a single optical cable, as well as the widespread use of 4G generation mobile communication technology to replace the outdated 3G technology.

The introduction of 5G generation mobile networks is still taking place in the form of tests, pilot projects, planned network deployments. 5G technology can solve the problems of growing mobile traffic, increasing the number of devices in the network, lack of frequency spectrum, as well as reduce delays for the implementation of new services, ensure high reliability requirements, open up new applications such as self-driving cars, smart home, ultra-fast mobile Internet, smart city, virtual reality, telemedicine, smart power, tactile Internet.

Among the fundamental practices, the specialist noted the use of containerization, virtualization, automation of network construction and service deployment technologies. Such technologies include SD-WAN, Docker, Kubernetes.

In addition to IoT, mobile operators are widely introducing technologies:

VoWiFi (Voice over Wi-Fi) is a technology that allows mobile users to make voice calls in areas where there is no cellular coverage, but there is Wi-Fi coverage;

VoLTE (Voice over LTE) - voice transmission technology using 4G mobile networks;

VoNR (Voice Over New Radio) - the next generation of VoLTE technology, works in 5G mobile networks;

NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks) - wireless communication systems operating over the Earth's surface, including satellites in low (LEO), medium (MEO) and geostationary (GEO) low Earth orbit, providing full coverage, including in hard-to-reach regions where there are no traditional ground networks.

Exhibition of achievements

As Ivan Ryl said, Bercut is implementing a project with the largest telecom operator in Tatarstan - PJSC Tattelecom, operating under the Letai brand.

We are transferring the service of mobile and fixed-line subscribers "Fly" to a single billing system IN @ Voice Bercut, and in August 2024 announced the completion of the second stage of migration, the expert shared.

According to him, this is a landmark project for Bercut in terms of the seamless transition of the largest operator from a self-written system to a new modern FMC billing Bercut. Thanks to the modernization, a ON huge number of various services will be available to the operator's subscribers within the framework of a single product offer. Already following the results of two stages of the project, the company's client noticed an acceleration of some processes. For example, the time spent on drawing SIM up a card has been halved (no more than three minutes).

Another example of the expansion of telecom offers by atypical services is the "multi-subscription" - the Bercut project with one of the Big Four operators. In a specific case, the multi-subscription product has become unique for the Russian market, presented in the form of a mixture of telecom and non-telecom services, digital and offline services. In fact, the operator created a marketplace with a set of partner and operator services, the main difference of which was its availability to subscribers, regardless of which network they are registered in. At the same time, subscribers are provided with flexible opportunities to manage their subscription: everyone can collect their own bundle of services from the operator and his partners, including material services such as a subscription to their favorite coffee or movie tickets. If desired, the composition of the annual subscription can be changed and only the services of interest can be paid. The implementation of such a scenario is possible due to the functionality of the Convergent BSS Bercut universal billing platform: it allows you to identify subscribers not only by generally accepted mandatory parameters - binding to a specific SIM card or IP address - but also by any other features, such as full name, login and others.

CEO Qsoft Vitaly Chesnokov noted the creation of an AML system for PJSC MegaFon"" and cooperation with PJSC Rostelecom"."

In the first case, the company created a web application to reduce the manual work of operators when fulfilling the requirements of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of 07.08.2001 "On Countering the Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime and the Financing of Terrorism." Now the mobile operator has the ability to automatically send the data necessary for reporting to government agencies to Rosfinmonitoring. At the next stage of the project implementation, the system will be replicated to the subsidiary of MegaFon PJSC - Yota.

In addition, Qsoft has been developing and maintaining Rostelecom's corporate information website and many related Internet projects of this company since 2006. Over the years of active cooperation, Qsoft specialists have created more than ten different online resources for PJSC Rostelecom, including the sites of Rostelecom's regional divisions, the web resources of the annual All-Russian competitions for journalists, the website of the All-Russian competition "Internet Security," a site reflecting the preparation and configuration of video surveillance systems for elections - "Web control," section "Procurement," integrated with the "Unified Electronic Document Management System" (ESED), on which Rostelecom publishes tender information on upcoming procurement procedures.

Roman Romanov called one of the top cases of Satel a project to deploy Russia's first LTE network in the 1800 MHz range for a telecommunications operator in Tatarstan. The company delivered equipment and integrated radio access systems, and created two switching centers. 1000 base stations were installed, and the Kazan-Arena sports complex was also promptly equipped.

Another notable case of Satel is the introduction of an access network monitoring system in macro-regional branches (Moscow, Center, Siberia and the Far East) for the largest telecommunications holding. With the help of its own SOVA solution for monitoring the IT infrastructure, equipment polling, analysis of a large amount of data and reporting were automated. The project increased the efficiency of identifying the root causes of accidents, which allowed administrators to quickly fix problems on the network.

Dmitry Yakushev, Commercial Director of RTK-Service, said that the company's Network Technology Competence Center works with a large number of Russian vendors.

We see from the inside their enthusiasm and desire to create truly mature reliable solutions that are predictable in the medium and long term. We help to refine many such solutions directly on customer networks, quickly working out feedback from them and advising vendors, the expert shared.

In 2024, RTK-Service engineers installed the first in Russia equipment for clock network synchronization (TSS) "Sonata" of domestic production on Rostelecom networks, introduced products from Eltex in the construction of network infrastructure for the World Youth Festival (WFM).

The expert emphasized the key role of his own repair base for RTK-Service, which provides a high fix-rate: the percentage of repaired and restored equipment from foreign manufacturers often significantly saves customer budgets compared to the purchase of new equipment through parallel import channels.

Natalia Lebedeva noted several successful cases from other companies on the market, in particular the development of the Yaga project management ecosystem. This IT solution is aimed at B2B-, the B2G market, will replace Jira and Confluence. Another breakthrough in telecom, the specialist considers the transition of operators to eSIM - a digital SIM card that is already built into the device. Among the advantages of this approach: eSim can reduce the subscriber's dependence on a specific operator.

As for the SimbirSoft, the specialist noted the development of an IT broadcast planning system for large streaming services. The main goal of the project is to implement a unified management system for all production processes of the online service and several TV channels based on the internal content management system, which allows you to speed up work processes and reduce the burden on employees.

Roman Shindin, head of the presale group at Tibbo Systems, spoke about the company's largest projects in the field of telecom digitalization: a system for monitoring equipment of a federal Internet provider based on the Tibbo AggreGate platform, the IoT platform for MegaFon PJSC and the Smart Housing and Communal Services solution (based on Tibbo AggreGate).

Tibbo AggreGate collects about 30 thousand new metrics (events) per second. Pod Kontrolem the system there are more than 1 million devices in 45 branches by provider coverage regions in the Russian Federation, the solution is used by more than 5 thousand users. The project was implemented for a large telecommunications group.