Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are seeing a sharp decline in voice, data and messaging service revenues which are reflected in eroding voice revenues and reduced rate realization for data. Smart mobile devices are witnessing dramatic enhancements and with a steep decline in costs, these are enabling easy access to information.
Data subscriptions are gathering steam in the backdrop of growing LTE networks and with 5G around the corner, promising faster mobile broadband.
With the growing demand for rich content, CSPs are reporting exponential growth in data traffic and consumption but the growth in demand for data will not bridge the gap created by the fall in prices. Hence, there is an urgent need for CSPs to change their primary game from data to digital services to garner new revenue streams.
CSPs are fighting back with products that are becoming more generous with unlimited voice calling, and innovative alternate voice and data services. However, there are some key issues to be managed in the near-term.
It is evident that Voice and Video over IP will continue to grow and become a major component of digital services. However, a number of additional service categories are trending, viz. unified collaboration, cloud applications, IoT, vertical applications, e-learning and so on. There are compelling reasons such as - stability, quality, security, service experience, and continuity of services – as to why customers will want to use a CSP for these services.
There is no silver bullet for the transformation to a digital service provider. It is known that a calibrated approach is needed to enable this transformation. Being Collaborative, Adaptive, Ubiquitous, Spontaneous and Elastic will ensure that the path towards this transformation will be safe.
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Viswanathan Ramaswamy
Vice President, Technology Solutions & Global Practice, Wipro Limited
Viswanathan has over three decades of industry experience in the telecommunications field ranging from R&D to project implementation to network operations. In this current role, he is responsible for building capabilities to handle transformational initiatives, such as telecom digital transformation, IT/Network convergence, telco cloud, etc.
He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering.