Modern telecommunications networks are undergoing a fundamental transformation, evolving from reactive models to proactive, intelligent systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that can predict, prevent, and resolve issues before they impact customers. This evolution represents three distinct phases of network intelligence, each building upon the last to create increasingly sophisticated operational capabilities.
Detecting Network Anomalies: The Foundation of Smart Operations
The first phase focuses on detecting network anomalies through advanced monitoring systems using the current systems’ tools and capabilities. As part of an open system with streaming telemetry, we can use predictive analysis tools — such as threshold crossing alarms — that accurately identify patterns that signal real network issues and distinguish them from benign fluctuations. This capability extends beyond simple threshold monitoring to include trend prediction, enabling operators to detect events before they become service-affecting problems.
Complementing these predictive capabilities is AI’s ability to gather, coalesce, and group statistical information to detect outliers, proactively identifying issues by comparing current network performance against established baselines. This multi-layered detection approach ensures that potential problems are flagged early on before more catastrophic and impactful events occur, providing network operators with crucial lead time to address issues before customers experience service degradation.
Analyzing Network Utilization: Strategic Planning Meets Real-Time Management
The second phase introduces network utilization analysis, leveraging digital models of the overall system to explore potential impacts. These digital replicas of physical networks and systems enable operators to run comprehensive what-if analyses, providing better quality of service (QoS) to users through informed decision-making about network expansions and optimizations.
One example of a real-time digital model is an AI system that performs bandwidth management. This is an application designed to ensure fair peak rate availability for all users through intelligent traffic shaping and resource allocation by monitoring the actual historic utilization of the system and analyzing how to optimize the customer experience. This enables operators to run targeted upsell campaigns and deliver more personalized services by transforming raw network data into actionable business intelligence.
Assisting Human Operators: The Age of Intelligent Automation
The final phase represents the culmination of network intelligence evolution: assisting human operators through intelligent automation. Automated troubleshooting systems are the next best solution for resolving network issues, dramatically reducing mean time to resolution while ensuring consistent problem-solving approaches across operations teams.
Automating the sorting of massive amounts of data becomes critical as our systems become more complex. Imagine having a system that utilizes operational data from a live physical network, combines it with the predictive outcomes of a digital twin, and makes recommendations to the network operations team about potential issues.
Finally, coupling these recommendations with more human interfaces — such as chatbots and advanced visualizations — enables operators to sort through the chaff and reach problem resolution.
The Integrated Approach
The integrated nature of these three phases makes this evolution particularly powerful. Detection feeds analysis, analysis informs automation, and automation enhances detection capabilities, creating a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement. This holistic approach transforms network operations from a purely reactive discipline into a proactive, data-driven practice.
The result is a telecommunications infrastructure that not only delivers superior service reliability but also operates with unprecedented efficiency. As networks continue to grow in complexity and customer expectations rise, this intelligent approach to network management becomes not only advantageous but essential for competitive success in the telecommunications industry.
