NTT DATA’s Foresight on Telecom Network

NTT DATA’s Telecom Industry, like other industries, has been providing services to IT space of telecom operators. In other words, our services for telecom operators include consulting, implementation, and operation services for business support systems such as CRM, contract management, rate calculation, service assurance, etc.

On the other hand, the vast amount of CAPEX and OPEX of telecom operators has always been invested in their telecom NW, not in IT. Roughly speaking, 80% of their investment is in telecom NW, and only 20% in IT. However, until now, the NW space has been dominated by vertically integrated solutions from network element providers (NEPs), leaving no room for IT service providers such as NTT DATA in this NW ecosystem. This vendor lock-in situation prevailed in telecom NW up to 4G. However, vendor lock-in is not convenient for telecom operators, and they themselves have been searching for a way out of this situation for a long time. One of them is the introduction of Open Architecture.

Open Architecture for Telecom Network

When the interfaces between network elements are defined as vendor-specific (and that is exactly the situation until now), the telecom network to be built must be unified under a particular vendor’s solution. On the other hand, if the interfaces were standardized, it would be possible to mix solutions from different vendors in the telecom network, giving telecom operators more choice and freedom in network procurement. It opens up the possibility of procuring optimal solutions, such as partial quality and performance improvement through partial procurement or procurement of more energy-efficient equipment. This is the biggest benefit of introducing Open Architecture to telecom NWs.
Telecom operators will apply this idea to each of the components of their telecom NWs. For example, network equipment, which has traditionally been provided by NEPs as integrated HW and SW, is now undergoing an initiative to open up this as well: Disaggregation. This separation of HW will also benefit telecom operators, as they will be able to use general-purpose HW instead of dedicated HW by NEPs. In parallel with Disaggregation, Cloudification, which replaces the infrastructure part of the telecom network with Cloud, is also in progress. Open RAN is the application of Open Architecture to the radio section of the telecom network, or radio access network (RAN).
Just as the network generation is being updated from 4G to 5G, these technology trends are being realized on a global scale in the telecom industry. Initiatives discussed by industry groups such as TM Forum, Telecom Infra Project, and ORAN alliance, are being commercially implemented.

For NTT DATA, this global trend is a tailwind. The introduction of Open Architecture means the need for integration. Recall NTT DATA’s role as an integrator in the past when the computing world shifted from mainframes to open architecture. As a non-vendor, NTT DATA can be a neutral provider of IT-based solutions for the integration and operation of telecom NWs with heterogeneous network components. NTT DATA’s position as a new entrant in the NW space also allows us to form a strong ecosystem of partnerships with hyperscalers such as Microsoft Azure and AWS, and solution providers such as VMware (Broadcom) and Redhat, on a mutually beneficial basis. (fig.1)

Based on this market understanding, NTT DATA has launched “Open Telecom Network” as a global initiative, and been working on the development of global assets, the accumulation of references, the establishment of capabilities, and the establishment of a global delivery system under the global COE.

NTT DATA’s “Open Telecom Network”

As we work toward “Open Telecom Network,” NTT DATA places great importance on being based on next-generation telecom network architectures led by industry organizations such as TM Forum to maximize the value of the open architecture. This is because it is a blueprint for how telecom operators around the world, who will be the purchasers, want to procure telecom network functionality in the future. This means that the assets and references developed based on this architecture are not a one-off tailor-made solution for a single telecom operator but can be deployed by more telecom operators around the world. Once developed, the assets and references are accumulated and become the core of the repeatable business. (Fig.2)

Figure 2 : NTT DATA’s “Open Telecom Network” framework

NTT DATA’s “Open Telecom Network” offers a wide range of offerings. After this article, we will continue the series of explanatory articles as follows.

Open OSS

OSS (operation support systems, not open-source software) is a set of systems for the operation of telecom networks: IT systems that embody functions such as Performance Management, Fault Management, and Network Inventory, and their operation are in scope. NTT DATA’s value-added area is to adapt to the diverse network elements that are becoming more diverse with the introduction of open architecture, and to absorb the differences between elements. In the second article of this series, we will discuss how NTT DATA’s solutions can help customers achieve higher-quality, more labor-saving network operations. In the second part of this series, Dahyr Jose Vergara Suarez from NTT DATA Spain will discuss the outlook and current status of NTT DATA’s Open OSS.