Mobile bandwidth, SDN will drive telcos in 2020: report

A blend of faster mobile bandwidth and software-enabled networks will reshape Australia’s telco sector in 2020 and provide new opportunities for operators, according to new research.

The Top 5 Telecommunications & Mobility Trends for 2020 report, compiled by Ecosystm, spotlights technologies such as 5G that will change networks and the user experience.

“While 5G will see some significant steps forward over the next couple of years, it will still be largely a marketing tool in 2020. 5G will grab user attention, while new services and greater speeds will be made possible by enhanced 4G networks,” said Liam Gunson, Director, Product and Solutions, Ecosystm.

According to the report, 5G’s initial benefits will be boosted speeds and capacities, rather than new applications such as robotic telesurgery.

Gunson added that the networks’ new capabilities will see operators experiment further with fixed wireless for home broadband.

Conventional LAN and WAN technologies will be influenced by advancements such as GPON, POL, 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and SDN, which will alter the capability and economics of enterprise networks.

Not surprisingly, the report suggests that 2020 will be the year in which the IoT’s potential will begin to bite, enabled by AI and edge computing.

Edge computing, in particular, will be essential for the successful rollout of 5G.

SDN, AI and other advancements will give providers the flexibility to offer a wider range of products and services to an expanded range of B2B customers.

“Success in the telco provider sector will become a game of scale and operators are likely to consolidate to achieve this,” said Gunson.

“Operators who can improve their channel/partnership capabilities to work with B2B customers, as well as the ability to develop and attract the software skill sets required for a software-defined world, are likely to be best placed to succeed.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Mats