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Google Cloud unveils strategy for telecommunications industry

March 5, 2020
Thomas Kurian

CEO, Google Cloud

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We know that telecommunications companies continue to face pressures to digitally transform. Not only are rapid technology advancements disrupting the industry—the rise of 5G and network-centric business models, for example—but also new connected devices and applications have dramatically raised consumer expectations. Many of these disruptors also offer significant possibilities for business transformation, so I’d like to share how Google Cloud is partnering with telecommunications companies to tap into these opportunities.

Google Cloud is focusing on three strategic areas to support telecommunications companies:

  • Helping telecommunications companies monetize 5G as a business services platform.

  • Empowering them to better engage their customers through data-driven experiences.

  • Assisting them in improving operational efficiencies across core telecom systems.

Monetizing 5G as a business services platform

Telecommunications companies have enormous potential to harness the power of 5G not only as a connectivity solution, but also as a business services platform. To help them do this, today we’re unveiling our Global Mobile Edge Cloud (GMEC) strategy, which will deliver a portfolio and marketplace of 5G solutions built jointly with telecommunications companies; an open cloud platform for developing these network-centric applications; and a global distributed edge for optimally deploying these solutions. 

Today, we’re announcing a collaboration with AT&T to help enterprises take advantage of Google Cloud’s technologies and capabilities using AT&T network connectivity at the edge, including 5G. We’re testing a portfolio of 5G edge computing solutions for industries like retail, manufacturing, transportation that bring together AT&T’s network, Google Cloud’s leading technologies, including AI/ML and Kubernetes, and edge computing to help enterprises address real business challenges. 

“We’re working with Google Cloud to deliver the next generation of cloud services,” said Mo Katibeh, EVP and CMO, AT&T Business. “Combining 5G with Google Cloud’s edge compute technologies can unlock the cloud’s true potential. This work is bringing us closer to a reality where cloud and edge technologies give businesses the tools to create a whole new world of experiences for their customers.”

We’re also announcing Anthos for Telecom, which will bring its Anthos cloud application platform to the network edge, allowing telecommunications companies to run their applications wherever it makes the most sense. Much like Android provided an open platform for mobile-centric applications, Anthos for Telecom—based on open-source Kubernetes—will provide a similar open platform for network-centric applications.

Finally, Google Cloud can partner with telecommunications companies to rapidly enable a global distributed edge by lighting up thousands of edge locations that are already deployed in these telecom networks.

Transforming customer experiences with AI/ML and data-driven insights

Imagine providing tailored recommendations for consumers based on their content habits, or proactively suggesting the best mobile and cable bundles based on cellular consumption patterns. We’re empowering telecommunications companies to transform their customer experiences through data- and AI-driven technologies. Our BigQuery platform provides a scalable data analytics solution—with machine learning built-in—so telecommunications companies can store, process, and analyze data in real time, and build personalization models on top of this data.

“The collaboration with Google Cloud has been invaluable for our business as we use data to become more customer-centric,” said Simon Harris, Group Head of Big Data Delivery at Vodafone. “Not only are we able to gain analytics capabilities across Vodafone products and services, but also we arrive at insights faster, which can then be used to offer more personalized product offerings to customers and to raise the bar on service.”

“We’re leveraging Google Cloud’s data analytics capabilities to deliver customized marketing campaigns, real-time personalization, and talent acquisition for our customers,” said Robert Visser, CIO at Wind Tre, an Italian telecom operator with more than 30 million mobile customers.

In addition, our Contact Center AI solution is helping telecommunications companies significantly improve customer service, while decreasing their costs. Contact Center AI gives companies 24/7 access to immediate conversational self-service, with seamless handoffs to human agents for more complex issues. It also empowers human agents with continuous support during their calls by identifying intent and providing real-time, step-by-step assistance. 

Finally, our AI and retail solutions are also being used by communications companies to transform the retail experience for customers, including omni-channel marketing, sales and service, personalization and recommendations, and virtual-agent presence in stores.

Improving operational efficiency to telecom IT, network, and core systems

Telecommunications companies are increasingly adopting cloud technologies to transform their IT and network systems. As a part of this transformation, many of the applications, like OSS (Operations Support Systems), BSS (Business Support Systems), and network functions that once resided in telecom environments, are now moving to our platform. This will provide customers with a cloud-based platform that reduces costs and improves IT efficiency, while also virtualizing network functions for their core communications networks. 

As part of this effort, we’re announcing today a partnership with Amdocs to enable communications service providers to run Amdocs’ market leading portfolio on Google Cloud, and to deliver new data analytics, site reliability engineering, and 5G edge solutions to enterprise customers.

“Service providers worldwide are embarking on transformation journeys centered on the cloud in order to drive new services, revenue opportunities and experiences,” said Gary Miles, chief marketing officer, Amdocs. “By combining our cloud-native, open and modular solutions with the fully managed, high performing Google Cloud, we can accelerate this journey.”

As part of the Amdocs and Google Cloud joint go-to-market initiative announced today, Amdocs is also proud to announce that Altice USA has gone live with Amdocs data and intelligence systems on the Google Cloud. Altice USA is an early mover in driving better intelligence into their core operations for enhanced customer insights and experiences.

We’re also announcing a new partnership with Netcracker to deploy its entire Digital BSS/OSS and Orchestration stack on Google Cloud. Service providers can now scale and purchase their mission-critical IT applications on demand, with access to unlimited Google Cloud resources, reducing the total cost of ownership and accelerating the availability of new services.

“Netcracker is delighted to offer service providers a choice of cloud platforms with the availability of our digital portfolio on Google Cloud,” said Bob Titus, CTO, Netcracker. “Together with Google Cloud, we are helping our customers on the next phase of their digital transformation with a clear focus on service innovation and a superior customer experience.”

We’re committed to partnering with the telecommunications industry, providing partners, solutions, and cloud and open source technologies to accelerate digital transformation. For more information on our work in telecommunications, visit https://cloud.google.com/solutions/telecommunications/.

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