*by Felipe Locato
The arrival of 5G networks to the Brazilian market should represent a world of new opportunities for telecom operators. With the implementation of networks, these companies should greatly expand their service offering, especially for the corporate market. However, this will not happen without a series of challenges being faced.
One of the main, and immediate ones, is the lack of qualified labor in Brazil. Accustomed to working with infrastructures generally based on a single technology, or supplier, operators will now have to work with environments multivendor, which will require professionals with multiple skills. To give you an idea, a survey carried out last year by Feninfra (National Federation of Call Center, Installation and Maintenance of Telecommunications and IT Network Infrastructure) points out that in the short term there will be a demand of 1.5 million professionals to work with 5G networks in Brazil and the market will not have qualified professionals to meet this demand.
Therefore, it will be important that these companies seek qualified partners. The implementation of the new networks will require knowledge in the implementation and orchestration of an ecosystem of hybrid clouds and working together with integrators who are already used to these environments will be important for meeting the deadlines and SLAs required by ANATEL.
On another front are the antennas. The estimate is that a territory today covered by 4,000 4G antennas, in the new technology will need 7,000 antennas. Here, in addition to the construction of the new infrastructure and hiring professionals to operate this park, operators will also have to deal with local regulations, whose approvals, in many cases, can take more than a year.
This last effect should be mitigated by Decree 10.480/2020, which defined a period of 60 days between the request for the installation of antennas by telecommunications companies and the authorization of municipal bodies. Failure to meet the deadline allows companies to install the infrastructure without municipal approval, as long as they comply with all licensing rules.
After finding qualified professionals and implementing their networks, operators will also have to look for new ways to monetize their 5G networks. We are talking about a major change in the environment, which will require a new approach. An IDC study points out that by 2024, 5G networks in Brazil will generate around US$ 22 billion in revenue, mainly through opportunities that increase their use, such as internet of things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which before were not massified precisely because of the lack of networks to support them.
These technologies will allow, for example, the sale of plans so that companies can to manage their fleets of self-driving cars through 5G networks. Like this one, there are several other examples that bring with them an extra concern and challenge: security. Imagine that a cyberattack in an IoT environment can cause a series of problems, such as suspending power to a smart grid that uses the 5G network.
The fact is that IoT environments are already naturally complex and with 5G they tend to become even more so. Ensure safety these environments will also depend on well-established partnerships with integrators who have knowledge in environments with this level of criticality, and today there are few in the market prepared for this.
With this series of new challenges to be faced, telecom operators must become more dependent on partnerships with specialist companies. They will not have the arm, or knowledge, to integrate these environments multivendor and, further on, ensure your safety. We are talking about companies that have been working with a single network provider for decades and that, therefore, will face an enormous cultural and process challenge.
Working with 5G networks will require a review of internal processes. An operator that will implement its network will hardly be able to design, plan and manage this new network alone. The largest have already realized this and are working to adapt to this reality, preparing their approach multivendor and carrying out approvals accordingly.
On the integrators' side, there is a strong movement towards professional training and the assembly of specialized teams to face the problems that the operators will bring. We have to keep in mind that the massive adoption of 5G networks will happen in the medium term. Initially, operators will sell traditional mobile plans, but as they become more sophisticated, the demand for specialized partners will intensify, and we all have to be prepared.
*Felipe Locato, Technology Manager at Logicalis Brazil
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
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