Harmony between systems integrators and operators brings OPEX savings, says Doha
The partnership between systems integrators and telecoms operators is key to streamlining network infrastructures and maximizing OPEX savings, according to Amer Doha, Head of Professional Services Strategy and Marketing at Italtel.
Doha was speaking as part of Business Review’s Best Practices in Network Provider Business Transformation webinar, where he discussed how Italtel’s consolidation and simplification solutions have provided operators from around the world with OPEX savings of up to 60% after moving them onto virtualized networks.
With network providers coming under intense time and economic pressures to transform aging and inefficient copper-heavy infrastructures, virtualized networks are seen as an important investment going forwards. However, any switch from operators needs to take place without interruption to customer services to the customer base and while continuing to meet all regulatory obligations.
The webinar – which also featured a presentation from Current Analysis’ global business network and IT services expert Brian Washburn – sought to explore these challenges faced by network providers when transforming their legacy networks and the benefits that can be attained from underlying network infrastructure transformation.
After Washburn highlighted how operators need to find ways to balance the economic benefits of transforming to All-IP with the often time-consuming processes needed to convert, Doha provided examples of how Italtel is assisting operators in dealing with these challenges and addressing various aspects of transforming their business.
“With end-to-end accountability for providing a turnkey solution, Italtel operates as technical advisor and consultant to the equipment vendors, helping build up the business case for the process,” said Doha. “A thorough network simplification program is a critical enabler of future efficiency. As legacy copper networks age, or simply become unviable financially as OPEX grows against declining revenues, consolidation to an All-IP infrastructure can provide significant savings.”
Doha continued by explaining the process in detail, highlighting how the continuous flow between the pre-rollout and rollout stages improves and optimizes the procedures and discussing the solutions to many of the issues raised in the first half of the webinar.
“Operators face heavy time pressures with any kind of network maintenance and management, which is multiplied by the complexity of the networks involved,” said Doha. “However, our experience in dealing with this means we have clear processes and strong governance that ease these pressures.”
“What started as an exercise in arranging the internal resources to create the necessary capabilities has become a framework for our processes, with efficacy increasing with each transformation project we undertake.
“We work on decommissioning as a partnership with the operator, with Italtel taking end-to-end accountability for all the different stages of the program.”
“Sunk costs for operators have to remain viable, and while initial CAPEX investment is required the eventual OPEX savings are usually between 40% and 60%.” added Doha.
Answering a direct question from the audience as to why operators should select Italtel over another provider, Doha said “Operators have already opted to use Italtel’s knowledge and expertise to switch over five million PSTN lines and 250,000 ISDN lines,”
“Above all, Italtel has been the choice for many operators because of its knowhow in the telecoms sector, its heterogeneous experience and – above all – its simple approach, which is based on a tried and tested methodology.”
Click HERE to watch the webinar
Click HERE for further information about Italtel Service Provider Network Transformation offer.
