Our economy and culture have become increasingly reliant on the interconnectivity and services provided by companies in the telecom industry. This reliance has been a driving force of both business and technological innovation in an industry that is quickly coming to understand that any level of downtime or inefficiency results in lost profitability. As telecom companies become increasingly agile and data-driven, the nature of how we do business and provide telecom management solutions to clients will change radically. Understanding several key trends driving the industry currently will help your company make important telecom decisions in the coming years.
Cross-Industry Alliances Support Ascendency of Premium Content
The telecom industry has been greatly disrupted by the over the top (OTT) market. With Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix providing subscribers alternative access to highly targeted streaming content, telecom companies have started themselves to understand the importance of data-driven content development. Success in the telecom industry will come from companies understanding how to properly leverage CRM solutions supported by big data investments coming from strong business intelligence and database warehouses. This will help companies to drive their content and business practices closer to the desired services sought by current and potential subscribers. Once a company defines what its clients are looking for through analytics, they can either create their own targeted content, or more efficiently leverage the growing API economy to allow partnerships with content developers in order to provide access to desired third party services and content on proprietary applications and content delivery platforms.
The Power of 5G Will Change the Industry
Just as companies that embraced 4G network infrastructure from the start were able to profit greatly from the advancement, so too will companies that fully embrace all of the advantages of the next generation of 5G infrastructure. Faster speeds will support live broadcasts and streaming as well as increased security and agility across multiple platforms. According to Gartner and several other industry reports on the IoT industry released in 2017, 57% of companies surveyed intend to leverage 5G to fully embrace IoT, leading to a value chain totalling $3.5 trillion supporting 22 million jobs by 2035.
Technology Trends Worth Long Term Investments
The advancements in the network infrastructure to 5G speeds will support the growth and advancement of several other key technologies expected to thrive in the future telecom industry focused on providing clients with the experiences they crave.
- Augmented Reality: Since the launch of Pokemon Go in 2016 capitalized on AR technology, many companies have started to consider practical and profitable applications of the technology beyond gaming and entertainment. 5G networks will support creation of visual content easily distributed across mobile devices that will re-envision how business can be performed and how client experiences can be improved.
- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: The changing telecom industry will require increased agility and adaptability, which in turn requires increased ability to effectively automate services and operations. Embracing the use of these technologies will allow companies to reduce costs and increase efficiencies around predictive systems maintenance and customer relations management.
- Digitized Customer Support Technologies: Through the use of advanced analytics, many telecom companies are beginning to predict, manage, and resolve customer service issues. Automated help-desks are able to field more calls without affecting client satisfaction levels. As service levels are significant drivers in business growth, it will be important for companies to focus on their ability to affordably increase customer satisfaction levels in order to differentiate themselves from the competition.
A Service Provider In Touch With the Times
TelResources provides telecom management solutions globally from their offices in San Antonio. Agile and adaptive to modern industry trends, TelResource helps clients audit and minimize telecom expenses and manage telecom projects in order to maximize client profitability. Consultations are free, but our insight is invaluable for companies seeking to stay ahead of the telecom industry curve.