Trends to shape the Telecom Industry in 2021

Telecommunications trends tend to change dramatically every year. No one could have foreseen where 2020 would take us: during this year there were more digital transformations than in the whole of the last decade, with these transformations being accelerated by the global pandemic.

Given the modernization of technology and the current situation, customer demand for reliable services has grown significantly. This means major changes and even more challenges for the telecommunications industry.

With 2021 being within arm’s reach, let us take a look at the future trends and forecasts for the telecommunications and VoIP industry.

5G will go mainstream, with 6G being planned

5G technology is one of the most discussed trends in the telecommunications market today. 5G is a revolutionary fifth-generation wireless networking technology that will radically change the Internet. Its main advantages are faster internet speeds and shorter response times, while eliminating packet loss and network congestion during data transmission.

Our dependence on phones, tablets and other devices, including the growing number of Internet of Things sensors, underscores the need for a connectivity highway that telecommunications companies already anticipated would be needed. With the demand to be connected as COVID-19 still lurks around, the value of 5G will become increasingly mainstream in 2021.

However, even with 5G deployments afoot, Japan-based NTT DoCoMo and Korea-based SK Telecom are already focusing on 6G deployments, as 6G enables a variety of new X-Reality applications (including VR, AR, MR and 8K and later resolutions), real holographic communication, WFH, remote access, telemedicine and distance learning.

AI and ML integrations

Telecommunications is one of the fastest growing industries, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in many ways improves the customer experience, network reliability and more. Investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning can lead to more efficient product creation, and by integrating them into current offerings, a company can gain a competitive advantage in the market.

The work, which began in 2020, will continue into 2021. And it is likely to expand due to the fact that these technologies have unique capabilities, such as faster, better, and more comprehensive tackling of global and market challenges. In the fight against fraud, the value of AI/ML methods will be of great benefit, as anomalies are detected more quickly, and configurable anti-fraud actions are initiated.

In the VoIP industry, call centers will improve service delivery by integrating AI. This can be done by providing consumers with self-help solutions and opportunities provided by artificial intelligence, which allows humans to focus on much more challenging issues. In addition, artificial intelligence can analyze call center interactions and predict customer behavior and issues that consumers are most likely to face.

Also, thanks to artificial intelligence, virtual assistants have made an appearance in recent years. As language processing continues to improve, these assistants will become even smarter, as they will be able to answer more intricate user-generated questions. Because these assistants are powered by artificial intelligence, they also have the ability to gather customer information and provide more personalized services to customers.

Growth of UCaaS

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) uses VoIP as its core technology. As more companies move their communications to the cloud to make operations more flexible, it is clear that the future of modern communications infrastructure is cloud-based.

One of the biggest benefits of using UCaaS is that it can save businesses time and money by building their own communications networks. For this reason, companies are looking to add solutions that are suitable for mobile users, including VoIP systems for mobile devices. The combination of 5G, increased power of mobile devices and their mobility makes them a viable choice for businesses that need VoIP services on the go.

Number porting and blockchain

Number porting services are becoming more and more popular, as businesses want to remain accessible to their customers at all times. Number porting enables businesses to have one permanent phone number, and even if the businesses decide to change network providers or switch to a VoIP service, they can move with their numbers. What this means is that as more businesses adopt VoIP due to its advantages, we can expect Mobile Number Portability (MPN) and Local Number Portability (LNP) to be more prominent in 2021.

Fortunately, with the increase in number porting, there are new initiatives that offer blockchain solutions to simplify this process. Blockchain is a distributed ledger database technology that allows users to share data using a consensus mechanism without the need for a centralized authority and stores information permanently online. This architecture can be used to accelerate the migration of mobile numbers to different service providers. Moreover, it acts as a decentralized ledger that can provide standardized access and routing lookup for all operators worldwide.

Read more about blockchain’s benefits and capabilities in telecoms here.

Inflation in security issues

Internet access affords people significant privileges. It allows on-demand access to all kinds of information and helps connect with anyone, whenever you want, from wherever you are. However, this has its set of drawbacks too, particularly now that the data is nearly commensurate with currency. One of these shortcomings would be the risk of a cyber-attack.

Being internet-enabled makes VoIP systems vulnerable to this type of problem. This means that one of the future trends in VoIP that is worth watching, is how companies prepare before using VoIP for their communications. The best way to do this would be to go over the best data security practices and find a reliable cybersecurity provider who can provide the protection you need. In this way, you can take advantage of VoIP while reducing its risk and establishing a clean digital imprint and ensuring that your enterprise databases are protected.

Covid-19 support

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many service providers are already taking telecommunications to the next level. With countries in lockdown and people everywhere being asked to reduce their in-person communications, mobile and fixed communications are becoming a lifeline, as evidenced by the increasing engagement of customers in various segments.

Telecommunications operators, who are once again realizing their important role in bringing people closer during this crisis, may face greater operational complexity, although the sector has shown relatively strong resilience to the negative effects of COVID-19. For telecom operators, responding to new demand trends will make or break their commercial success. But the things that should remain on their agendas is further digitalization and 5G deployment.

Conclusion

We hope that this list of trends to shape the telecom and VoIP industry in 2021 will help you to better understand how you can take advantage of  these industry changes to gain a competitive business advantage in the market.

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