Voice services are still foundational, but operators face the challenge of maintaining multiple network technologies and infrastructure.
In addition, we are now facing the PSTN switch-off, which is proving more problematic for operators than expected. How can operators consolidate monitoring and service assurance from disparate systems into a single pane of glass?
Voice services remain the backbone of CSP offerings and have evolved considerably over successive technology generations. Most operators have transitioned from TDM to IMS-enabled voice for fixed customers, and from TDM to VoLTE via CSFB for mobile users. Of course, now we are moving to 5G-based networks – 5G Standalone, private networks, network slicing, and so on, adding VoNR to the mix.
Maintaining multiple technology generations is a drain on resources
But it’s not just a case of retiring one generation and turning on the next, which means that operators have been required to maintain successive generations of technology in parallel, which is a drain on resources and efficiency.
At the same time, operators are eager to close their Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN). PSTN is an aging legacy fixed voice communications platform that uses copper wires as its infrastructure. So, it’s desirable to shut this down. But, the target keeps moving – which means that we must maintain this infrastructure for longer than was anticipated.
Among other things, this poses challenges for cyber resilience. In the UK, for example, according to Ofcom’s most recent Connected Nations 2024 report, there was a 45% rise in incidents regarding the PSTN in the year to August 2024 – that compares to an increase in mobile network resilience incidents reported of just 14%[1].
Many customers still rely on PSTN
According to the same report, in the year to July 2024, 1.8 million residential customers migrated from PSTN to a VoIP service. However, migration numbers slowed significantly in 2024 for several reasons.
First there are still around 5.2 million (27% of total UK connections), many of whom still rely on PSTN – for example, customers with additional needs or vulnerabilities, or those using telecare/security alarms and smart meter applications.
Second, some governments and regulators have asked to temporarily pause provider-led migration of customers until additional steps are taken to protect vulnerable consumers through the transition. A further challenge is that operators have such a mixed portfolio of solutions. Harmonisation is therefore difficult and something of a moving target.
Many operators have been wanting to make this transition for years, but this shows how difficult the transition has been in practice. The reality is that most will have to manage these legacy assets alongside newer investments and technologies for some time to come.
Harmonisation, however, can be achieved in the face of these challenges. In a new paper from We Are CORTEX – entitled Consolidating, simplifying and optimising the OSS – getting ready for Level 4 automation: Part 1 and available to download here – we provide a case study about an operator running a key national network serving both public sector and private sector customers, as well as residential users. It spans all those tech generations, providing the perfect snapshot of a situation familiar to many in the industry.
Automating service assurance monitoring across multiple systems
Like many operators, their problem was one of monitoring and automating service assurance across each of the voice networks it was required to support while also building secure, resilient frameworks and managing complex changes.
The network includes IP-based services, IMS services and classic PSTN access. Previously, the operator had run multiple monitoring and assurance platforms, with each dedicated to a different set of solutions and management platforms in the OSS domain. They wanted to consolidate and harmonise these disparate systems.
Bringing these systems together into a single pane of glass, and correlating alarms, would provide significant operational savings, but proved challenging for the operator to find the solution alone. It turned to We Are CORTEX for help.
With our help, and using the CORTEX automation platform, the operator built a consistent, logical and physical view of the network across all tech generations, and catalogued and correlated alarms, so they could be traced back to the source system. Now 99.9998% of all alarms are handled with no human intervention. This was achieved for both the legacy TDM, as well as the SIP / IMS network, and the different VoIP solutions deployed to meet different consumer and business needs.
To find out more, and to understand how much the CORTEX automation platform can achieve for complex networks built on legacy and current technologies, download our paper today by clicking here.
[1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/multi-sector/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-2024/connected-nations-uk-report-2024.pdf?v=386497
