Introducing our network investment dashboard
With an aim to help telcos navigate unexpected events in the future, we began by asking ourselves how to focus more on short-term circumstances to complement the existing models. What was the situation a few months or even weeks ago? And what about real-time? We identified the opportunity to create a solution that would give telcos a strong idea of whether or not there’s been a recent departure from the norm in a given area.
Working in collaboration with two leading industry stakeholders, we have built a dynamic and interactive alert dashboard that uses publicly available data and proxies to provide an indication of market supply and demand – and therefore informs customers of any significant recent material changes that might require them to revisit their existing forecasts.
While it’s fair to say the pilot we’ve created was triggered by the pandemic, its capabilities will transcend COVID-19. The solution applies to any event that might have a temporary or more permanent impact on supply and demand behavior in the market – and it will continue to offer value far beyond the current crisis.
Assessing supply and demand
On the demand side, our dashboard monitors consumption to provide an overview of what’s currently happening in the market. Refreshed frequently, it shows where downloads are happening (e.g., gaming, virtual meetings and streaming video); where the consumption is based (e.g., within business parks, in public areas or in homes); and what enterprises are announcing in terms of their strategic plans for the future (e.g., the announcement of working-from-home policies). This information about how demand could look in the future then enables telcos to make more informed decisions.
In the same way, the dashboard also analyzes supply and the ability of telcos to provide the bandwidth and services required to meet demand. So, for example, it enables you to see things such as download speeds, upload speeds and latency – which indirectly informs us whether supply issues are present. Another parameter that’s included is updates from operators themselves, announcing things such as the impact of local lockdowns on the movement of their engineers, or the effect of border closures on the transport of vital network equipment.
Based on these two factors – supply and demand – the dashboard can then synthesize directional findings for customers. It brings KPIs together to formulate insights that will help the client make informed decisions at an executive level.
Local insight, global potential
You can think of our dashboard as a bird’s-eye view into a local region – providing insight into a certain country’s market. It takes into consideration wireless and fixed telephony, broadband, consumer behavior and B2B performance. It tracks policies and regulations that might enable or inhibit supply and demand. And it also looks at any indications of where investments are currently being made, such as within cloud, 5G or IoT.
The dashboard then collates all of these factors to understand any shifts that are happening in the market and feeds them to the alert output. The approach we’ve taken is to provide findings on a local market level, enabling meaningful discussions within a defined country.
To read more about Future Network Now take a look at the full NextWave Journal (pdf)
