Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

Over the last few years, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have been very vocal in announcing their rollouts of 5G data services. On the subject of 5G voice services, however, they’ve been largely silent because, frankly, there hasn’t been much to say. 5G network transformation has focused on data, since faster data (and not faster voice) is what customers expected from 5G. But customers also expect to be able to make voice calls on their 5G phones when they roam or travel.

Over the last few years, cloud-native has become a popular buzzword in the tech industry. There are cloud-native applications, cloud-native network functions, even cloud-native storage. But, like many buzzwords, the true meaning of cloud-native has itself become clouded by overuse.

One of the highlights of my summer is a trip I took to visit some of our rural customers as part of a larger customer appreciation tour other members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and I embarked on. Independent service providers hold a unique place in the telecom ecosystem, often forming the backbone of their communities, and this was a wonderful way for us to connect on a personal level.

Our Global Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Joni Roberts, was interviewed by Monica Sanders for an article published on Medium.com. The article explores the concept of the “Digital Divide”, what it is, who it affects and how we can address it with technology, expertise and funding.

The “cloud native” conversation is transitioning from the enterprise data center into the telecommunications world, just in time for a new generation of 5G and AI/ML enabled telecom services. Couched in that conversation are some important nuances about what constitutes a truly cloud-native solution versus a cloud-capable solution.

Along with my colleague Jonathan Homa and Jimmy Yu of the Dell’Oro Group, I recently participated in a webinar in which we discussed the roles played by Coherent Routing and Optical Transport in supporting the rapidly increasing demands placed on the IP Optical middle mile network.

During a recent webinar, Ribbon's Jonathan Homa, Senior Director, Solutions Marketing, and David Stokes, Head of IP Portfolio Marketing, discussed the pivotal role the middle mile network plays for Service Providers in taking advantage of the hugely increased access capacity recent investments in fiber and 5G offer. Service Providers require efficient, cost-effective solutions for this critical link in network connectivity.

I recently wrote about how AI can support unified communications in the enterprise, but its applications are much broader than that, and communications service providers also have the opportunity to benefit. In a recent Gartner survey, 95% of telecom CIOs said they plan to implement AI/ML technologies by 2026 and 79% said they plan to increase their AI/ML investments.

While last month’s Enterprise Connect 2024 (EC24) show seemed a bit light in terms of headline news, it did offer one high impact storyline around the integration of AI services with the PSTN. EC24 showcased the addition of AI services, including transcription and meeting minutes, to PSTN call using popular UC services (Teams, Zoom, Webex, Ring Central). While these have been in place for conference calls for almost a year, AI for one-to-one calls via the PSTN is new in 2024.