ISG Provider Lens™ Telecom, Media & Entertainment Services - Media and Entertainment Intelligent Business Process Services (BPS) - North America 2023

“More for less” is the operating mantra for the telecom, media and entertainment industry

Over the last couple of years, North American telecom, media and entertainment enterprises have navigated through inflation, continued competition, regulatory hindrances, layoffs and disruption of business models. With the widespread rollout of 5G and fiber-to-the-x (FTTx), growth in data traffic continues unabated. Enterprises are balancing variety, accessibility and quality of content with freemium models. Technological advancements have however reduced data carriage costs, accommodating users in a regulated industry where spectrum and customer attention are always scarce.

As enterprises compete and cooperate for the same price-conscious subscriber, the need for one platform, one bundle and one subscription has become paramount with product simplicity and consistent service 
quality. With 5G monetization still underway, most connectivity spend by enterprises is being repurposed and remodeled to embrace the shift from product-based to platform-based business models, which are  collaborative, interactive and responsive. Connectivity has emerged as a foundational enabler of digital  initiatives and a catalyst for CX, from mobility to secured cloud platforms to industrial IoT and smart homes.
This connectivity glue enables the digital world with distributed cloud and edge platforms.

Under current operational, business and macro-economic conditions, more for less has been the operating mantra of the industry. As the telecom, media and entertainment (TME) industry transforms itself by adopting alwayson service delivery and operating models, including outcome-based, customer-centric models, cloud adoption within the industry is expected to increase for core and non-core functions. The use of AI-assisted and cloudgoverned assets, more so at the edge, will rise to manage, optimize, secure and monetize disparate IT and business assets in the forthcoming years. Further, cloud aggregation and infrastructure disaggregation will become table stakes for TME enterprises. The rise in the development and migration of cloud-native
applications in core business and functional areas will necessitate the use of microservices, containers, open source and DevSecOps. In a hybrid or multicloud setup, tight coupling between business, network and IT teams becomes critical as enterprises transition from a traditional company to a tech-company.

The need for collaborative R&D, upskilling and cross-border talent movement remains pertinent. With joint standards development, cloud-led alliances and interoperable assets, investments in cybersecurity and new-age technologies such as extended reality, antiad-blocking, Wi-Fi 6 and 6 GHz spectrum co-existence with cellular bands, automated journalism, and wearable and AI-driven video creation will become the new norms.

In all cases, the data quality with continuous content curation and collaborative data sharing holistic governance will dictate the adoption of new age technologies such as blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), secured Web 3.0 marketplaces, and uniform environment, social and governance (ESG)-led initiatives. The
existing regional differences in data privacy and security regulations among the U.S. and various countries will likely lead to federated AI and data frameworks.

An integrated data platform that leverages AI- and ML-based end user and network data is crucial. This platform, or the digital twin of the network, has several benefits TME enterprises:

• Orchestrates and assures made-to-measure plans using federated data and dynamic query tools

• Enables auto-discovery among active network elements from various vendors for single-pane-of-glass observability

• Enables self-serve capabilities as enterprises evolve from an engagement-first to a delightfirst approachz

Implications for service providers

Implications for service providers, this would indicate that emphasis on agile architecture and operations strategy, design and execution of technology services is paramount. Providers will need to leverage hybrid, multicloud, multivendor, multi-technology and multiconnected assets using full-stack development and support capabilities. In a tough operating climate for TME companies, where customer requirements change rapidly, providers are expected to implement automation for process optimization, free up monetary resources and speed time to market by using real-time, edge-based analytics as more processes are
deployed at the edge. A unified system of record to enable single-pane-of-glass observability with layered security is equally imperative for CXOs, with a preference for partner-based models that drive efficiencies, provide flexibility and are user- or customer-centric. This will propel the use of generative AI (GenAI) across
customer, product engineering, enterprise servicing and partner management.

Collaborative risk management techniques in an ecosystem will likely enforce the use of standardized tools where ethical AI and ML modeling is preferred, lightly governed or regulated (or even crowdsourced) to
enable innovation. They will also be used where apps are released based on security posture mandated by clients. As trust-based systems pave the way for a superior customer experience (CX), a healthy mix of insourced, acquired (from clients or global captive centers), re-shored capabilities and outsourced functions are needed to balance the reuse of assets and build differentiated intellectual property (IP) and skills. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) in the U.S. is the best example of leveraging shared spectrum by operators such as Federated Wireless with neutral host push. Still, there are others, such as the Ofcom-sponsored model in the UK, for telecom providers (telcos) to lease unutilized spectrum in local areas to interested third
parties. The use of open innovation models and bolt-on complementary acquisitions will also likely be encouraged by U.S. and Canadian TME enterprises.

ISG notes the following trends and imperatives for service providers catering to the telecom vertical evaluated in the study:

• Platform investments with cloud-native and edge AI investments hold ground: Providers must be quick in integrating cloudconnected ecosystems for cross-industry transformation and monetization. IBM,
for example, has used AI and automation to build service wrappers on top of core business functions by leveraging ecosystem partners. Data-intensive and AI-driven industry use cases such as business support