The telecommunication sector is on the verge of digital transformation.

The telecommunication industry these days is experiencing tremendous technological breakthroughs. The industry is on the cusp of crucial digital transformation as telecom companies continue increasing the adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, IoT, Cloud Computing and others. In this latest technologically advanced and interconnected world, being adaptive to changes by evolving with time makes businesses relevant and resilient. In 2020 and beyond, trends such as the 5G revolution and the advancement of IoT will redefine the sector growth, while the need for quick and personalized customer service can pose challenges.

Let’s have a look at top industry challenges and trends that will have a viable impact on the future of telecom.

Challenges

Demand of Quick and Personalized Customer Service

One of the biggest challenges modern telecom services providers face is to deliver personalized customer services. With ever-changing customers’ perception over communication with others, providing quick and empathetic assistance becomes indispensable for companies. Letting go of this opportunity can cause frustration among customers, lead to long waiting times and create untrustworthiness over a company’s services. Thus, delivering immediacy, personalization, and omnichannel communication is more important than ever, especially during the crisis induced by COVID-19.

Concern Over Data Security

Making sure data security and privacy is one of the key priorities for telecoms. As they monitor call and communication quality to ensure that customers get the kind of telecom experience that they deserve, this can also open access to malicious actors to exploit customer data. According to the report, 43 percent of telecommunication organizations have suffered a DNS-malware based attack, while on average, companies only deployed 4 of the 11 critical patches recommend by the ISC in 2016, making them particularly vulnerable to zero-day attacks.

Regulatory Challenges

Complying data regulations is the most crucial step to deliver services for the consumer-facing industries. And the telecom industry is not an exception. Since the industry deals with customer data to provide seamless communication needs, they need to ensure that their networks can safeguard the data and follow regulatory guidelines. Moreover, while businesses keep a close eye on customers’ calls, the data they capture needs to be carefully evaluated, analyzed and stored as per the guidelines that will continue to become stricter in the years ahead.

Trends

5G Network Revolution

The telecom sector is about to bring 5G communication network, the most recent iteration of broadband connection. Already, some network service providers have reached the trial phase. This fifth-generation of communication network will bring various major upgrades, including greater speed to move more data, reduced latency for shorter load times, and much higher connection density. 5G could be instrumental for creating revolutionary applications across fields such as autonomous driving, virtual reality, and augmented reality, among others. This communication network standard will also enable networks to handle immense numbers of connected devices.

Heightened Adoption of IoT

The adoption of IoT and other related technologies are all set to witness massive growth. IoT typically encompasses a network of connected devices, able to communicate with each other, and which can be controlled and monitored remotely. It is expected that there will be an estimated 30 billion connected IoT devices worldwide by 2021. A majority of telecom industry players are likely to augment their adoption of IoT to exploit significant benefits the technology offers. This will also enable telecom giants to monitor their data centers and base stations remotely while minimizing downtime for their networks.

More Partnerships

For the last several years, mergers and acquisitions have been a mainstay of the telecom industry. With increasing competition in the industry, telecoms are seeking alliances with other network services providers to deliver effective service and remain resilient. In the recent M&A trend in the telecommunications market, the ongoing regulatory liberalization and privatization of the industry were the significant aspect of the alliances. These changes have brought fierce competition and are resulting in decreases in profit across both the domestic and cross-border telecommunications service markets.