There is much discussion among telecommunications companies about the automation journey of networks, and rightly so because artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and pressure on carriers to increase margins from connectivity while protecting prices are proving powerful agents for change in their market.

However, there’s one other development which is not receiving enough attention and that’s the impact of hybrid connectivity – the bonding of networks. This could prove in the maritime sector (in fact, in most others too) to be the biggest disrupter of all.

A PwC industry survey last year cited nearly half of the telecom CEOs polled worldwide predicted existential threats unless their companies adapted to the changing market. Add that other B2B operators are rapidly moving into the connectivity space and it’s easy to see why the battle for revenue could get nasty.

At present, the dominant broadband communications in maritime remains satellite and yet the cost of airtime has always been an important consideration for the user. This is where true hybrid comes in, the ability to bond multiple networks and route traffic via the most effective network.  

The pathway from networks which automate tasks within pre-defined limits to networks
which can adapt to the unknown is inevitable.

Enter Inmarsat’s newly launched NexusWave, a “unified multi-dimensional network, delivering high-speed service, unlimited data and global coverage at sea – all through a single provider”. This combines the traditional GEO satellite connectivity with more cost-effective and efficient services, such as Low Earth Orbit satellite (LEO) with terrestrial Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular services when within range of coastal cell sites.

But let me return for a moment to where I started, which is autonomy on the networks, because this seems to be where so many telecoms companies are putting much of their efforts. These is a new generation of networks which use generative AI tools to self-monitor their operations and resolve technical issues, on-demand and beyond pre-defined design bounds. Undoubtedly this could revolutionise the telephony and the connectivity markets on a level never seen before.

Whatever the pace of take-up, the pathway from networks which automate tasks within pre-defined limits – Level 3 autonomy – to networks which can adapt to the unknown – Level 5 – is inevitable. A key factor is how quickly the established players – and the less established ‘disrupters’ – will implement it, and to what extent.

According to TM Forum, the global industry association for service providers and their suppliers, most telcos (84 per cent) are not even at Level 3 autonomy for their networks, which means they are somewhere between manual maintenance and monitoring at one end, and closed-loop operations with partial and selective artificial intelligence (AI) in very specific environments at the other. According to Capgemini Research Institute, most telcos aspire to reach at least Level 3 autonomy by 2028.

Tristan Wood, UK MD of Livewire Digital

Why does all this matter?
With autonomy comes benefits, not just in terms of quality of service (QoS) and experience (QoE), but also commercially. Through various autonomous network initiatives implemented over the past two years, many telcos worldwide have harvested improvements in operational performance, by as much as 20 per cent, and operational expenditure (Op Ex) 18 per cent. The economics alone stack up.

Without going into the technical detail of implementing autonomy, be it fixed line, cellular or satellite network, the broad principles will be pretty adjacent. These may include customer-facing conditions such as subscriber churn and behaviour predictive analysis, predictive maintenance, network slice optimisation (that is customising their networks for different applications and customers), adaptive and dynamic network policies, and network failure prediction, among many others. Taken together, however, the benefits can and indeed should be enormous.

However, for those telcos embracing satellite and cellular, or indeed any other networks in their proposition, the benefits will be even greater. Which leads us nicely back to hybrid.

Welcome to a three-dimensional world
So far, we have been talking about introducing autonomy in a vertical sense, across a linear network, whether on land it may be a fibre or 5G, for instance.  As we have already seen, introducing AI and automation into national networks like these at scale is a colossal enough task on its own, notwithstanding the additional challenge that many if not most countries class networks as critical national infrastructure (CNI), meaning that stability and compliance are not just good to have, they are legal obligations.  

However, if we are talking about true hybrid connections – not just failover and redundancy, which are not the same things and have few of the benefits of hybrid ­– then we are moving conceptually from the vertical integration of autonomy to the three-dimensional.

With true hybrid, we are talking about ubiquitous, always-on, guaranteed connectivity,
and intelligent management of physical, virtual and financial resources
to suit an almost limitless range of conditions.

At its core, true hybrid networks become ‘heterogenous’, turning a single bonded connection – fixed line, cellular, satellite, emergency services network, whatever the underlay or infrastructure – into one seamless connection. The benefits of which, for the user, are off the grid.  

In short, with true hybrid, we are talking about ubiquitous, always-on, guaranteed connectivity, and intelligent management of physical, virtual and financial resources to suit an almost limitless range of conditions. In government and business-critical environments, this is even more important because lives and livelihoods could be at stake as well. And as Inmarsat’s NexusWave shows, the maritime sector will be amongst the first to cash in on the benefits.

It's hybrid but not as you know it
Central to hybrid is SD-WAN – a technology that uses software-defined networking concepts to distribute network traffic across a wide area network, or WAN.  This architecture creates a virtual overlay that bonds underlying private or public WAN connections, such as fibre, wireless, satellite or cellular.  As a result, hybrid SD-WAN networking can agnostically combine and transition between these networks.

In this way, multiple network technologies are able to work seamlessly together, actively sharing the load and resources, by combining and binding together a potentially unlimited variety of bearers into a single ‘pipe’.

Delivering a faster and, crucially, more reliable service, a hybrid platform adapts to a range of potential variables, depending upon each bearer’s performance and any other environmental conditions affecting it, in order to optimise performance and reduce costs. Similar to how voice calls are routed for minimum cost, settings in a hybrid environment can be adjusted to use the most cost-effective option, like prioritising cellular over satellite if it works well enough. This saves money by making best use of the most cost-effective capacity. The same approach should be taken for QoS to ensure important applications perform well despite limited network capacity and changing bandwidth and latency.

Being able to integrate existing with future connectivity services is a powerful proposition that can enable more efficient systems, workflows and people, and there are many underlying communication technologies willing to pick up this baton.

Despite recent advances in telecommunications technology – from 5G and disruptive low-cost LEO satellite services – no single network service can address the exponential demand for seamless connectivity on the move. Nor is there any provider which can offer a single comprehensive solution that can address coverage, bandwidth, reliability and, most importantly, cost.

Monetisation of hybrid is coming
The concept of agnostically making use of any carrier network, based on location, cost or quality of service, should dramatically reduce the impact of the problem and yet awareness and the application of ‘bonding’ hybrid technology are nowhere near where they should be as machines and people demand ever faster ‘always-on’ connectivity.

The market opportunities are seemingly unlimited for the adoption of true hybrid. Designed to meet the challenges presented by a fast-moving train travelling through different areas of network coverage, smart networking enables a dynamic connection through various operators using a range of underlying communication technologies such as 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi and satellite.

It makes sense for telecommunication companies to embed true hybrid
and cash in on the huge market opportunities it brings with it.

Many other industries spanning defence, space exploration, connected and autonomous vehicles, emergency services, telehealth, cloud-based HPC, as well as AI and machine learning, require more than just connectivity; they demand an ‘intelligent connection’. This unstoppable process is ushering in significant opportunities for telecommunications companies (and OEMs, and many other technology-driven enterprises besides) to revolutionise their operations, and the same applies in consumer services.

From connected, intelligent and software-defined vehicle manufacture to aircraft as a service, smart aircraft and mobility, the speed of change and the wider application of automation and AI in many other realms of life are forcing players to scale up and/or hasten increasing horizontal consolidation of the sector.

In short, hybrid is here to stay.

At the crest of the wave
As mentioned earlier, maritime operators have long been exposed to an ever-greater need for both data and speed of connection on board their vessels, running in parallel with the problem of ensuring ubiquitous connectivity regardless of location. Couple this with the challenge of security and efficiency of communications and it’s easy to see why the history of maritime connectivity has been beset with multiple, fragmented systems and data caps, limited speeds and patchy coverage, not to mention the growing need to counter cyber-attack.

Inmarsat’s NexusWave meets all these challenges, and sitting at the heart of this is RazorLink, a British invention already in use on land in defence, first responder and commercial sectors, which uses SD-WAN to bond, control and harmonise maritime network connectivity, efficiency and cost.  

So what’s the issue here for telecommunication companies?
Big money will eventually follow the adoption of true hybrid.  But if enterprises large and small are following B2B service providers who bundle connectivity with their own services – such as desktop management and enterprise mobility; cloud-based solutions and software as a service (SaaS) – the market risks even greater fragmentation.

If true hybrid enables customers to be network-agnostic, which it does, then everything is up for grabs. Surely, it makes sense for telcos to make the first move and to do so early, before others move into this space. 

While they are at such a crucial pivot point for the survival of their business models, it makes sense for telecommunication companies to embed true hybrid and cash in on the huge market opportunities it brings with it.

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