Say hello to Telecoms 2.0
Next generation mindset meets next generation capability.
ntl:Telewest Business recognises that next generation
capabilities have to be supported by a collaborative can-do
attitude, and believes it is these attributes that combine to
create the concept of Telecoms 2.0. But what does it mean
for your organisation?
The current communications landscape is changing as
organisations need to become more agile and competitive. To gain
competitive edge and drive efficiency, they are now utilising an
increasing number of media-rich tools and
interactive business-critical applications, which require a large
amount of bandwidth. In simple terms, they are bandwidth hungry and
happily guzzle network capacity. But it’s not just applications
that are causing legacy networks to creak. The speed at which
organisations operate means that they can’t afford to be let down
by their network failing to keep pace. This means networks need to
be able to support the transmission of high volumes of data at
speed – and
traditional networks are struggling to do this as business
requirements evolve.
Telcos therefore have to respond to the technological change by
ensuring they have the ability to deliver new services in a
faster-paced market. This has led to the emergence of Next
Generation Networks (NGNs). By breaking down the technical barriers
associated with supporting the agile enterprise and
providing the desired speed, NGNs offer organisations the
connectivity and resilience options they require. However, NGN
technical capabilities alone are not enough. Only when the
capabilities are combined with a next generation mindset
can an organisation truly achieve its communications goals.
Why is Telecoms 2.0 needed in the UK today?
The landscape in which organisations, both in the private and
public sectors, operate is constantly changing. In order to
innovate and compete they’ve had to adopt new operating models, and
the applications and systems that underpin
them. This has fuelled the requirement for converged networks and
multimedia platforms, which necessitates structural change,
something that can be a daunting prospect for even the most
hardened of CIOs. Whilst the advent of
NGNs has meant that these applications and services can be readily
supported, organisations are looking to their telco to help them
navigate the challenges associated with migrating to this new
backbone.
However, the telco industry hasn’t reacted well to this need.
Traditional attitudes of a ‘one network size fits all’ have
remained the norm, rather than the exception. Many continue to
operate in the belief that once they have delivered what is
in the contract, then the ‘job is done’, leaving organisations
wondering how everything fits together. Organisations might have
the technical capability, but if you can’t align the technology
with the business strategy, then achieving
economies of scale is a pipe dream.
Legacy telco providers are technically and operationally
restricted in their ability to adopt a collaborative customer
approach, preferring to keep customers at arms length. ntl:
Telewest Business is challenging convention by adopting a customer
centric-attitude that is driven by its customers’ needs.
Telecommunications has huge potential to drive and support
organisations, not just now but in the future. However, this can
only be achieved through customer
collaboration, extending services beyond contractual obligations,
and delivering solutions based on commercial drivers. ntl:Telewest
Business believes that by embedding these attributes into the
company’s very DNA, it will be better
placed to give organisations the confidence that their network will
scale with their requirements.
For UK businesses and the public sector, Telecoms 2.0 has
arrived not a moment too soon.
Where Capability and Mindset Meet
As we’ve said, Telecoms 2.0 isn’t just about a NGN. It’s also
about mindset. By aligning the two, telcos can address customer
frustrations at a fundamental level. It may sound like a simple
concept, but it requires a complete operational
overhaul that few are prepared to invest in.
ntl:Telewest Business has an established NGN across the UK - at
a cost of £13 billion it is an enormous investment but one that
brings a high-capacity fibre optic infrastructure to more than
38,000 street cabinets across the country. As a result, the most
advanced of the UK’s two national networks is within close
proximity to most commercial addresses. It features 330 Points of
Presence (POPs) for delivering high-speed Ethernet and Internet
Protocol (IP) services nationwide, a capability unrivalled by any
other telco. Although development of the network will be ongoing,
with a continuous investment in additional capacity to meet growing
bandwidth demands, its NGN construction project is complete. This
means that as well as being able to gain technically superior
applications and services, customers also have the higher degree of
control and assurance that comes with their network resources being
wholly owned by
one telco. They no longer need to piece together a jigsaw of
network assets from different providers, across the UK.
ntl:Telewest Business was created through the ambitious merging
of local cable franchises around the UK, consolidating to create a
single nationwide telco. Today, demonstrating the Telecoms 2.0
mindset in action, ntl: Telewest Business is putting its money
where its mouth is by investing £7 million in enhancing its
customer ordering and fulfilment capabilities. The initiative,
National Workflow, is part of the company’s long-term Drive To
Provide improvement programme and will standardise all provisioning
practices, services and tools across the UK.
Any telco could set out a desired mantra for a service-led
mindset and attempt to stamp it across its employee base, but
ntl:Telewest Business has sought to nurture a highly skilled,
committed team and then support it with the tools and senior
management drive required to make this approach successful. The
outcome for customers is the ability to fully exploit the potential
of a NGN in order to take their communications forward. The
intricate alignment of capability and mindset gives them the
control, choice and personalisation of telecoms services that they
need to make themselves successful.
Related Links