Telecom Players Need Robust and Flexible Infrastructure - Dinesh Dhut, Vertiv India

By Dinesh Dhut, Senior Director, DC Telecom Engineering, Vertiv India

While talking about the telecom sector and what to expect, the biggest and most awaited shift is in the emergence of the fifth generation or 5G technology. A report by GSMA suggested that over the period of 2023-2040, 5G technologies will make an overall contribution of approximately USD450 billion to the Indian economy. That’s 0.6% of GDP by 2040, and sectors across the board will benefit from the transformation 5G will bring in. Another important trend we foresee is that of internet of things (IoT). With remote working, governments and organizations alike are automating several business processes. They’re exploring ways to create unmanned factories, have chatbots address grievances, and digitize processes across various functions. Communication between devices, vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-machine, and humans to machines will increase dramatically.

Additionally, technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cloud and edge computing will come to the forefront. Given the creation of data from multiple locations, AI needs to move closer to the source or edge of networks. Edge computing will help speed up the processing of data real-time and with the help of AI/ML, businesses will be able to gain insights into the customers’ requirements on-the-go. And for all this to operate smoothly, the telecom sector will play a huge role in the efficient transaction of data and ensuring uninterrupted communication between businesses.

Time to Strengthen Infrastructure

With both public and private sector companies moving to the cloud and away from traditional systems for communications, storage, and transfer of data, it has increased the loads on telecommunications companies. The need for robust infrastructure has never been more critical than in current times. Telecom companies need to ensure they are geared-up to support the processing of massive amounts of data and increased video and audio requirement of organizations. Additionally, with emerging technologies like 5G, AI, ML, and IoT etc. coming to the forefront, providing good internet speeds and sufficient bandwidth will be crucial.

Another major concern will be privacy and cybersecurity of the company’s and customer’s data. With the volume of data being generated from multiple locations, organizations need to ensure they have the right kind of infrastructure to keep this data safe. The surge in digitization in the past year or so has forced technology companies to come out with more advanced and innovative systems to protect all the data being generated. Telecom companies will need to be equipped with the right systems to keep track of the information flow from the beginning till the end. All data needs to be stored according to industry guidelines.

Searching for Viable Answers

Digital infrastructure is one of the key components to solve the above issues. Telecom players need to ensure they have a robust and flexible infrastructure to support the increased load, function in multiple environments, and enable uninterrupted operations. While addressing data security concerns during remote working, adoption of technologies like cybersecurity mesh will allow companies to place a security wall around an individual rather than an organization.

With emerging technologies becoming part of the mainstream, organizations will need intelligent systems for data analytics, reporting, and data management. And it is the telecom industry that now acts as a backbone in this regard.

Today, every business needs telecom infrastructure that is highly efficient and capable of handling high power density with lower footprint, both indoors and outdoors. The projected massive increase in deployments makes it more important than ever that solution have lower capital costs with lower operational costs, and can be easily deployedon site.

Prospects and Future Outlook

With 5G at the cusp of transformation, healthy prospects are anticipated in the Indian market in the near future. The boom in data storage due to remote working has increased the load on datacenters to manage and compute large amounts of data on a daily basis. Today’s edge is more critical and more complex, functionally an extension of the data center rather than the glorified IT closet of the past. As a result, we anticipate a continued focus on bringing hyperscale and enterprise-level capabilities to these edge sites. This includes greater intelligence and control, an increased emphasis on availability and thermal management, and more attention to energy efficiency across systems. A drastic rise in the power and processing requirements for 5G infrastructure requires solutions that are highly efficient and reliable enough to support these challenges.

Ever since the world has shifted to a remote working model, there’s been an increase in the need for connectivity. As per a recent Hootsuite study, there are 5.27 billion unique mobile users around the world, which means that more than two-thirds of all the people on earth now have a mobile phone. Among these, internet users have grown by more than 330 million over the past year, reaching a total of more than 4.7 billion which equates to more than 60% of the total world population. The increase in mobile and internet users will only continue to rise, which is rather promising for the telecom sector in India and globally. This, combined with the importance of emerging technologies, will propel the telecom sector on a path to increased growth and innovation.

With exponentially enhanced network availability and faster downloads, the efficiency and reliability of DC power systems, and the importance of an infrastructure partner that is constantly innovating to keep pace with the technology they are supporting, are vital to 5G infrastructure’s success.