LIVE FROM OPERATIONS TRANSFORMATION FORUM 2017, HONG KONG: Operators are transforming to create new growth opportunities, but Ryan Ding, president of Huawei’s carrier business group, pointed out that the diverse range of digital services means their networks need to be adaptable to varying use cases.

Ding said that while digital transformation is now a common goal for operators, communications services in different industries are diverse, and to serve these sectors operators need to deliver capabilities that cater to specific needs.

For example, for enterprise IoT the most important thing is to reduce time to market, while for video, higher bandwidth and lower latency are critical. In the case of NB-IoT, it is all about lower power consumption and wide area coverage.

“These are totally different areas and services that have totally different business requirements. So carriers must redefine their network capabilities from end-to-end. We believe operators must integrate their network strengths with digital technologies to redefine business experience and connectivity,” he said.

“We believe that these three services will allow carriers to make full use of their network advantages. But they need to be integrated with digital technologies to create new growth,” Ding observed.

Operators understand there are no quick fixes, he said. According to a recent Huawei survey, 72 per cent of carriers believe digitalisation is a long-term process which will take three to five years to complete. More than half plan to provide more services to consumers and enterprises in the near future.

Three years ago, he said, the industry talked about the architecture and the direction of digitalisation. “This year our focus has already started to shift to actual digital businesses and services. This is a very encouraging change.”