As we near the end of 2019, we will take a look into what trends will take place for the telecom industry in 2020.
In the past year, we saw autonomous semi-trucks, a fully electric off-road vehicle, undistinguishable artificially intelligent (AI) robots, and “Deepfake” videos. Telecommunications saw the development of the 5G infrastructure, advanced satellite imaging, and much more. In the year 2020, the telecom industry can expect 4 major trends.
1. Smarter Cities with Digital Twins
A tech buzzword is expected to swing into full force in 2020 – digital twins. Smart cities are expected to get smarter with the investment of digital twins.
‘Digital twins’ is not a new idea, but thanks to the advancement of the IoT it is becoming more affordable to integrate into the development of smart cities. “In the realm of smart cities, a digital twin is a virtual model of a city, a replica of the physical world.” A digital twin can be compared to digital blueprints of the real world. In other words, with the correct data collection and integration, a copy of something in the physical realm can be digitized into a digital model.
An example of this is when we have readings and sensors on a cell tower, with the data collected from the cell tower we can create a digital presentation of it on the computer, and in some cases can diagnose if there is a connectivity issue. As we develop smarter cities based on the telecom industry utilizing these cyber models properly will allow for testing, troubleshooting, and connecting to be extremely advanced, quicker, and at much lower costs. If the entire smart city has real-time information feeds and sensors to send information to a platform used by city officials, they can ensure things will continue to run smoothly.
2. Extensive 5G Coverage
Whereas some countries launched its 5G network completely others just started 5G services in the past few years. The leading countries in the race to 5G are China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. What started in 2019 will become even more vast in the upcoming year.
The telecom industry in 2020 will thrive off more extensive 5G coverage. Telecom organizations will capitalize on new apps and systems that will thrive with the highly developed network. Not only will new opportunities arise for existing enterprises, but new equipment vendors, connectivity technologies, and computing infrastructure will also develop.
3. Enhanced Services from Advanced Technologies
Digital transformation has been taking over various industries. In the past few years, the telecom industry has started to adopt cloud computing, which allows the streamlining of data and enhanced end-user services. In 2020, cloud computing will coincide with edge computing allowing for more advanced software capabilities and advanced technologies. In addition to a higher level of computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning will become extremely common in the upcoming year. Organizations will need to be flexible to learn and to adopt new technologies. Having a more digital drive will enable companies to offer higher valued services to end-consumers.
4. Increased Security
Entire cities connected virtually through digital twins, enabling a new generation network to operate at higher efficiencies, and enhancing services with advanced technology will all put a dire need for enhanced security in 2020.
In 2019, multiple government organizations were breached, and data was held ransom. The telecom industry even felt the threat of hackers when Sprint confirmed a data breach for the second time in the same year. Organizations and companies worldwide saw the impact of breached data and took notice. In the upcoming year, holistic network security will be even more essential. Competitors and hackers will continue to attempt to steal information, but employee education, advanced technologies, and cybersecurity policies will be more enforced in the upcoming year.
New trends and technologies will emerge. Start-up unicorns and forward-thinking entrepreneurs will step out onto the playing field. The upcoming year will be full of advancements. The telecom industry will help other industries advance with these four trends. If your company wants to stay ahead of the curve, then contact the experts at GeoTel and discover what telecommunications location-based data can do for you.
Author: Valerie Stephen
