Changes to mobile infrastructure are coming thick and fast. In this blog, Tim Green, content writer for TechComms and a telco industry journalist, looks at what’s in store for next year.
Open RAN
Interoperable infrastructure. Incoming?
The construction of mobile networks is a miraculous thing. It has brought connectivity to billions of people. But the radio access network (RAN) infrastructure that underpins it is fragmented. Its towers, base stations and antennae are often provided by different companies, each with their own proprietary tech.
5G is nudging the industry in a new direction. Carriers are virtualising their networks, and embracing new interoperable Open RAN architectures. This means they can source equipment from a much wider range of suppliers to power a new generation of micro services, applications and services.
Insiders have been talking up Open RAN for years. But migration involves a massive industrialisation program, which has limited its roll out. 2024 was a flat year. 2025 should be better. Telcos like AT&T, Vodafone, TELUS, and Deutsche Telekom have recently announced significant investments in the tech. Vodafone plans to deploy it in 30 per cent of its European sites by 2030.
6G
The next generation is being defined
Remember when 5G seemed like rocket science? 6G feels like that now. Today, around 3 billion people use super-fast low latency 5G. It’s almost inconceivable to imagine anything better.
But 6G is on the way (though it won’t be here until around 2030). According to some reports, it could deliver up to 100x faster speeds than 5G, latency measured in microseconds and an ability to integrate digital and physical versions of the world. Analysts are already talking about a 6G world in which IoT devices can sense their surroundings and ‘zero energy’ machines source power from vibrations and light.
At present, the industry is still defining its 6G roadmap. However, there is movement. In December 2023, The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) published its framework for 6G technical standards. And in 2024, the European Union launched a range of experimental 6G projects.
AI-driven network automation
GenAI with the power to optimise and personalise
The mobile industry is all over Gen AI. At the micro level, the tech is helping consumers to check their written communication. At the macro level, it’s giving carriers the ability to automate their networks and transform their product and customer care offerings.
This is complex work. To deliver, carriers must build solutions that sit at the intersection between GenAI large language models, GenAI users (customers, partners, employees) and their own proprietary telco BSS/OSS databases. Throughout, they must ensure customer data remains accurate, real-time and privacy protected.
Specialist companies are making good progress on this. Their solutions deliver telco data to any GenAI model, helping CSPs to revolutionise customer experience and deliver new levels of operational efficiency. In 2025, we can expect to see these companies launch GenAI co-pilots that assist telco execs across a range of use-case-specific tasks.
Tim’s first and second part to this blog can be found here and here.
Look out for the fourth blog in this series which will explore how telcos will sell more and spend less in 2025.
