Communications service providers see Gen AI as critical but are slow to implement it

A new study shows 90 percent of communications service providers (CSP) see the profound impact Gen AI will have on business goals. However, deployment of GenAI is still in its preliminary stages, with just 22 percent of CSPs having already implemented solutions.

Research by Analysys Mason for Amdocs shows Gen AI is expected to have a high impact across a variety of areas, such as software development (84 percent), data management (82 percent), monetization (82 percent) and network operations (81 percent).

Integrating Gen AI with operational systems will expand the range of automated actions and tasks that operational systems can perform according to 75 percent of survey respondents. However, implementation is a struggle, 84 percent of CSP Data, AI and IT organizations say they face great challenges in acquiring the capabilities they need to deploy Gen AI successfully. While 81 percent think Gen AI integration with business processes as the largest challenge they face.

"Some CSPs are even implementing or considering building their own large language models (LLMs). However, building these platforms internally can be slow and costly, especially when skills and resources are scarce, at this point in the market. These CSPs will have to undertake the training and fine tuning of these models for the telecom environment on their own and this can present challenges if they do not have the required skillset in-house," says Adaora Okeleke, principal analyst at Analysys Mason. "Adopting a specialized telco-focused LLM platform from a single vendor that consolidates capabilities from multiple LLM providers can accelerate adoption. Once Generative AI becomes an integral part of core business processes, it has the potential to bring additional value and can transform CSPs' performance, speed, and operating costs."

Most CSPs consider data quality, LLM (large language model) training and regulatory compliance as being the most challenging hurdles to overcome. 45 percent say alignment with compliance, privacy and security regulations is the biggest challenge, followed by training LLMs with telco specific data (43 percent), and access to high quality data (40 percent).

Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of respondents are exploring what it takes to build their own Gen AI platform. Also, 42 percent are using professional services providers to implement specific telecom use cases.

"Gen AI relies on a vast array of web data, but it lacks access to the data associated with the telecom technology ecosystem, creating a crucial gap and lack of context. To address this challenge, expertise is required to unlock access to pertinent telco data sources, comprehend the intricate telecom taxonomy, and draw necessary, correct conclusions," says Gil Rosen, chief marketing officer at Amdocs. "Through Amdocs' amAIz TelcoGPT platform, CSPs can seamlessly incorporate Gen AI to enhance network efficiency, elevate customer service, and drive overall business improvement. Additionally, they can effectively manage costs, security, scalability, and efficiency while optimizing use of tokens."

You can read more on the Amdocs site.

Image credit: denisismagilov/depositphotos.com