Author: Mira Abdulrahman

In the ever-evolving landscape of telecommunications, Digis Squared stands as a trailblazer in delivering large-scale managed service projects across multiple Network Operator domains. With an extensive portfolio covering Field, RAN, Transport, IPBB, Core, VAS, and BSS domains, the company boasts profound experience and a robust foundation in managing Mobile Network Operator (MNO) networks. Leveraging multi-vendor expertise and diverse technological proficiency, Digis Squared ensures optimal operations for its Open RAN networks.

The emergence of Open RAN technologies has introduced a paradigm shift in network operations, presenting complexities attributed to an increased number of vendors, multiple integration points and interfaces as well as third parties solutions that are seamlessly integrated with MNOs network. In response, Digis Squared has ingeniously crafted its proprietary Managed Service Operations model. This model, aligned with the ITIL operational framework, the ITU FCAPS model, and SMO Standard guidelines provided by the ORAN Alliance, serves as a guiding structure for the company’s operational strategies across all Open RAN knowledge domains.

Within this model, Digis Squared meticulously covers a wide array of activities integral to Open RAN network management:

Radio Planning and Optimization activities including various types of RIC Operations  
Field Activities
Field maintenance
• Corrective Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance
E2ETesting Activities
• Drive Testing
Network function testing
Network Operations Center (NOC) activities
• Front Office Operations
• Performance Monitoring
• Service Desk Operations
  • Helpdesk
  • Change Management
  • Incident Management
  • Problem Management
  • Risk Management
  • Reporting
• Back Office Operations
Integration activities that include third parties’ management and Operations.
Customer Experience Governance activities.

The encompassing nature of Digis Squared’s model extends its coverage across various essential components:

Radio
Site Hardware
RAN Software
Transport
Cloud Infrastructure
CaaS and O-cloud

The company’s expertise spans a broad spectrum of vendors, encompassing but not limited to VMWare, RedHat, Robin io, NEC, Mavenit, Altio-Star, Juniper, Dell, and HP. This expansive vendor landscape ensures a comprehensive understanding of diverse technological infrastructures, enabling Digis Squared to offer unparalleled solutions and support within the Open RAN ecosystem.

Digis Squared’s commitment to excellence and innovation in managed services within Open RAN networks continues to redefine industry standards. By blending extensive experience, a robust operational model, and a diverse vendor portfolio, the company stands at the forefront of delivering top-tier services in the realm of telecommunications.

As the telecommunications industry continues to evolve, Digis Squared remains dedicated to pioneering advancements, ensuring seamless operations and exceptional service delivery in the dynamic landscape of Open RAN networks.

Embarking on the journey of SOC (Service Operations Center) transformation prompts a pivotal inquiry: does a Call Drop Rate of 0.5% represent a good or bad metric? Applying Schrodinger’s cat theory to this value unravels the multiplicity of its implications. From a network perspective, this rate may signify a positive standing. However, in the context of impacting strategic corporate accounts situated within buildings, it could potentially evoke frustration among CEOs and senior staff, thereby rendering the 0.5% rate unfavorable. This duality underscores the necessity for a broader vision that extends beyond network quality alone, focusing on service quality—a vision materialized through the SOC.

Understanding the SOC and its functionalities requires delving into the customer experience approach, especially as the telecom industry converges with rapidly advancing technology and heightened customer expectations. The advent of the Customer Experience Management (CEM) framework amplifies the significance of a dedicated customer experience team.

The primary goal of the CEM framework lies in augmenting customer satisfaction and fostering loyalty through the provision of effective technical support. This proactive approach not only contributes to sustained revenue growth but also serves as a linchpin for maintaining competitive differentiation in a dynamic market environment.

The SOC serves as the linchpin between network metrics and customer-centric service qualities. Its transformation represents a strategic shift towards a holistic perspective, acknowledging that network performance metrics, while vital, might not encapsulate the entirety of customer satisfaction. Integrating the SOC within the operational framework enables a more comprehensive

By amalgamating network-centric data with a nuanced understanding of customer needs, the SOC transformation aims to strike a delicate balance. It doesn’t dismiss the importance of network performance but rather complements it by incorporating the customer’s perception of service quality into the evaluation metrics.

In essence, the evolution of the SOC signifies a paradigm shift—a departure from a myopic focus on network metrics to a more encompassing approach that places customer experience at its core. Embracing this transformation not only elevates service delivery but also aligns telecommunications companies with the evolving landscape of customer-centricity, fostering enduring relationships and sustained growth in a fiercely competitive market.

The fundamental ethos of the SOC revolves around fostering a Customer-Centric network and operations, aligning every operational facet towards optimizing customer satisfaction.

Outlined below are the core functions that delineate the landscape of the SOC:

Service Surveillance:

This function entails the continuous monitoring and management of service performance and quality. From fault detection to real-time response mechanisms, its aim is to minimize service disruptions while upholding stringent quality standards and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Collaboration with network operations and customer support teams is crucial to gauge customer impact accurately. Robust reporting and documentation further drive ongoing improvements, ensuring high service reliability and customer satisfaction.

Service Analysis:

Delving deeper into customer usage patterns, service reliability, and network efficiency, this function identifies areas for enhancement or expansion. By assessing customer satisfaction levels, it informs future service development and enhancement strategies, paving the way for proactive service improvements.

Supporting CSI Initiatives:

The SOC actively participates in developing and executing action plans aimed at addressing identified gaps. Monitoring the impact of these changes is pivotal, as it supports continual service evolution, ensuring sustained high levels of customer satisfaction.

Reporting:

Systematic collection, analysis, and presentation of data and insights form the backbone of this function. Accurate and regular reports are indispensable for monitoring progress, identifying improvement areas, and supporting organizational success on a holistic level.

SOC teams have the below interaction map could be described as below.

As an integral component of the SOC transformation, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) must integrate additional tools to facilitate and fortify this evolution. Some of these crucial tools encompass:

Network Probing tools

OSS data Access
Trouble ticketing Tools.

The collaborative efforts between SOC (Service Operations Center) and CEM (Customer Experience Management) teams play a pivotal role in crafting Service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Quality Indicators (KQIs). The creation of these metrics involves a strategic alignment between operational excellence and customer-centricity, focusing on various aspects that directly impact service delivery and customer satisfaction.

SOC SKPIs centers around the following.

Handsets Performance
Customer Segment Performance
HotSpots performance
OTTs performance
…. Etc

SOC use cases, We  at Digis Squared have more than 70 ready use cases with insights and expected outputs, but use case generation is a continuous task and it shall be endless

Customers flip-flopping between radio technologies.
Customers with 4G handsets locked onto 3G.
Heavy data users with 3G handsets, we offer 4G handsets.
VoLTE performance variance across different handsets
Geolocation for data streaming activities
VIP and enterprise dashboards and proactive monitoring
Happy voice and data customers
CSFB analysis and delay investigations
…

Let’s explore a significant use case featuring our product, INOS, specifically the SOC – Active Probing scenario. In this scenario, we implement our INOS Watcher Kits in various high-traffic locations such as hotspots, VIP customer areas, corporate settings, shops, stations, or any other locations designated by the MNO. Subsequently, we establish continuously running scripts across these watchers, enabling these kits to instantly upload testing logs.

These logs are then utilized to populate a customized SOC dashboard hosted on the cloud. This dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of all Service KPIs and KQIs categorized by device, area, location, and/or IMSI. This solution empowers us to monitor service levels in specific areas and proactively identify any potential service issues experienced by customers in those locations.

In the ever-evolving landscape of telecommunications, the advent of 5G stands as a monumental leap forward. Beyond just speed, 5G introduces a transformative architecture known as the 5G core (5GC), revolutionizing the way we integrate, connect, and communicate. Let’s delve deeper into this advanced infrastructure and the pivotal concepts that shape its functionality.

The 5G core represents a fundamental shift from its predecessors, embracing a software-defined network architecture, cloud-native virtual network functions, and service-based architecture as well as full separation between the user plane and control plane through the full implementation of CUPS. Within this core, network functions play a pivotal role. These functions, ranging from authentication and policy control to session management and database management, are decoupled and virtualized, allowing for flexibility and scalability previously unseen in telecommunications networks. The Service-Based Architecture (SBA) in 5G represents a paradigm shift in how telecommunications networks are structured and function. At its core, SBA redefines network architecture by organizing various functionalities into modular and reusable services. These services, such as network slicing, authentication, session management, and policy control, are designed to be independent and interact through well-defined interfaces. This modular approach enables flexibility, allowing service providers to dynamically compose and deploy services tailored to specific user needs and applications. SBA facilitates efficient resource utilization, scalability, and rapid innovation, enabling the seamless integration of diverse services and applications across the 5G network.

 Its emphasis on standardized interfaces and service-based components fosters interoperability and encourages an ecosystem where new services can be rapidly developed, deployed, and managed in a more agile and cost-effective manner, ultimately driving the evolution of 5G networks to meet the demands of an increasingly connected world.

This cloud-service-based approach in the 5G core revolutionizes how telecommunications networks operate, offering a level of flexibility and scalability crucial for supporting a wide array of services and applications in the 5G era.

Network slicing, a defining feature of 5G, enables the creation of isolated, end-to-end virtual networks tailored to specific services or customer requirements.

By partitioning the network resources, 5G can allocate bandwidth, latency, and other parameters on demand. For instance, a slice designed for autonomous vehicles may prioritize ultra-low latency, ensuring real-time responsiveness, while another slice optimized for IoT devices might emphasize massive connectivity. This ability to customize network characteristics within slices is pivotal in meeting the diverse needs of various industries and applications.

As part of 3GPP release 16 the Service Communication Proxy (SCP) has been introduced as a non-mandatory but vital node to have strong SBA deployment in coordination with multi-access edge computing (MEC) and it serves as a pivotal component within the 5G network, facilitating service-based communication between various network functions. Acting as an intermediary, the SCP ensures seamless interaction and coordination between functions such as the policy control function (PCF), user plane function (UPF), and network exposure function (NEF). It enables efficient handling of service requests, ensuring that data and control flow smoothly across the network, ultimately contributing to a robust and responsive network infrastructure and reducing the load on NRF (Network Repository Function)

Digis Squared stands out as a pivotal force in the domain of 5G system integration, renowned for its extensive proficiency in deploying both standalone and non-standalone 5G networks. our expertise spans across the entire spectrum of 5G infrastructure, encompassing radio, transport, and core networks. Through a meticulous approach to integration, we at Digis Squared ensure a cohesive and harmonized ecosystem, emphasizing seamless interoperability and optimal performance across these network layers.

Their in-depth understanding of 5G architecture enables us to tailor solutions that precisely address the unique needs and challenges encountered across diverse industries. For instance, in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, and entertainment, we at Digis Squared customize the integration strategies to accommodate specific requirements, whether it’s ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) for critical applications or massive machine-type communication (mMTC) for IoT devices as well as for the application that needs the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB).

Digis Squared’s contributions extend beyond mere integration; they actively shape the 5G landscape by pioneering innovative solutions and best practices. Their role in driving the transition toward a fully connected future is instrumental, as they continuously refine their methodologies to adapt to the evolving demands of the 5G ecosystem. This commitment to innovation positions Digis Squared as a key enabler of the transformative potential inherent in 5G technology, propelling industries, and societies toward a more connected and technologically advanced era.