Blockchain Reduces Connectivity Business Friction

Blockchain has many uses in the connectivity business, ranging from settlements to privacy to spam reduction to roaming payments. Unlike some public blockchain networks, telecom blockchain is more likely to use private blockchain where all the participants are verified in advance.  

Essentially, blockchain is designed for ecosystems, with multiple, decentralized sources of identity that mean every participant in the network has the ability to verify the correctness of transactions. 

 source: Deloitte

One thing should be obvious: using blockchain, ecosystem partners gain the ability to trade and transact with any member with less friction. Most of the time and effort required to create “trust” and avoid dangers such as fraud, billing errors, privacy breaches or non-payment are avoided. 

Information friction--increasing transaction cost and risk--can result from imperfect information.  Participants in a transaction may not have access to the same information, giving one party an unfair advantage. 

Another source of cost is that Information might be incorrect or inconsistent, leading to bad decisions or delays.

Also, some information is Inaccessible. That can produce more than friction and risk: it can lead to inability to fulfill an order. 

Finally, security risks increase friction, whether from hacking attacks and cybercrime to privacy concerns and identity theft. Those dangers might be more frequently a reality for retail customers, but even wholesale and business-to-business transactions can be affected. 

The other implication is that blockchain helps enable something resembling an e-commerce platform, allowing partners to complete transactions faster and with less danger of fraud or error. 

Think of this as one more example of the industry’s decades-long desire to create on-demand delivery mechanisms. Altogether, blockchain is one tool of several that connectivity providers will be using to reduce friction in the value chain, often boosting profits in the process.

Blockchain and On-Demand Provisioning

Telcos have desired on-demand fulfillment mechanisms for at least 50 years. Blockchain now will allow them to do so more widely, especially in the area of settlements between transacting parties, whether connectivity or computing and storage suppliers.

“End to end paperless” processes in the air freight industry are designed to reduce costs, improve traceability and enhance efficiency. 

source: IATA 

In principle, the same sort of process might be implemented in the connectivity business for billing and settlements. If e-freight is based on a bilateral transaction between a shipper and a recipient, so too connectivity or computation services are built on transactions between customers and suppliers, usually conducted as a bilateral agreement. 

Essentially, blockchain is designed for ecosystems, with multiple, decentralized sources of identity that mean every participant in the network has the ability to verify the correctness of transactions. 

 source: Deloitte

One thing should be obvious: using blockchain, ecosystem partners gain the ability to trade and transact with any member with less friction. Most of the time and effort required to create “trust” is avoided. 

The other implication is that blockchain helps enable something resembling an e-commerce platform, allowing partners to complete transactions faster and with less danger of fraud or error. 

Think of this as one more example of the industry’s decades-long desire to create on-demand delivery mechanisms. 

Communications "Just an API?"

“Bits are bits,” many used to remark during the early days of transition from single-purpose to multi-purpose networks. 

“Communications” is “just an application programming interface," some now argue.

Both statements are true to an extent, and wrong to an extent. It is true that the advantage of multi-purpose networks is that they can carry any media type. In that sense, bits are bits. But various applications require different support. 

Video requires consistent packet delivery and hence created a need for content delivery networks, which reduce latency and jitter artifacts that mar video experience. 

source: Global Dots 

Various forms of extended reality or process control  will likely require intensive data processing very close to the end user, hence creating a need for edge computing. 

Likewise, what tends to be meant by “communications is just an API” is that communications capabilities (voice, messaging, unified communications) can be added to any application using an API. 

It is meant to mean the abstraction of a great amount of complexity and infrastructure that the actual end user need not worry about. 

Comcast Boosts Speeds, Adding 3 Gpbs Symmetrical Service

Comcast has increased speeds for its most popular Xfinity Internet tiers for residential customers across 14 northeastern states from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia.

In October 2021 Xfinity increased Gigabit Pro speeds from 2/2 Gbps to 3/3 Gbps symmetrical nationwide. That service is offered using a fiber-to-home connection. 

source: Comcast

Also, the 800 Mbps tier will have speeds boosted to 900 Mbps, with an additional 5 Mbps added in the upstream. The 400 Mbps tier will be boosted to 600 Mbps, with a 10 Mbps increase in upstream speeds.

The 200 Mbps tier will be upped to 300 Mbps, with 5 Mbps faster upstream speeds.

Home Broadband Prices Dropped 10% in 2021, Speeds Increased 32%

If there are any iron rules about the home broadband business, it is that prices tend to fall while the amount of supplied bandwidth tends to increase. 

In 2021, the average monthly cost of fiber-based residential broadband decreased nearly 10 percent, according to Point Topic.

In the same period, the price of cable broadband increased by 1.2 percent,  while the average subscription to copper-based broadband services increased by 0.5 percent.

The average monthly charge for residential broadband services fell by 10.4 percent in 2021 and cost $82 per month, adjusted using the purchasing power parity method.

At the same time, the average downstream bandwidth provided to residential subscribers has gone up by 32 percent.

Global Bandwidth and Retail Price (adjusted for purchasing power parity)
Region (Residential Broadband)	Average Downstream Speed, Mbps (Q4 2020)	Average Downstream Speed, Mbps (Q4 2021)	Average Monthly Charge, $PPP (Q4 2020)	Average Monthly Charge, $PPP (Q4 2021)
Asia-Pacific	856	1,355	$    63.45	$ 61.53
Eastern Europe	232	278	$    66.68	$ 66.46
Latin America	158	254	$  166.38	$  115.62
Middle East/ Africa	91	155	$  160.93	$  155.28
North America	358	396	$    83.93	$ 88.31
South, East Asia	371	393	$    83.16	$ 66.43
Western Europe	325	403	$    68.00	$ 68.20

source: Point Topic

NTT Docomo Tests Hybrid Cloud with AWS as Part of Move to Cloud-Native 5G Core Network

NTT Docomo and NEC Corp. have launched  proof-of-concept (PoC) testing to run NEC's 5G core network service in a hybrid cloud environment that leverages Amazon Web Services for cloud-native mobile networks. 

source: NTT

As the first step, 5GC network functions will run in the cloud on AWS infrastructure and corresponding 5GC network functions will reside on DOCOMO's on-premises infrastructure to verify availability and operational feasibility, says NTT. 

The second step will deploy the 5GC network function on AWS Outposts (on Amazon EC2 compute instances powered by Graviton2 processors) on DOCOMO's premises. 

In an era where fundamental computing architecture has shifted to the cloud (remote computing), and where use of public cloud resources follows, the test simply makes sense. Where “computing” once happened primarily on closed and specialized mainframes (Class 5 central office switches), most computing now happens on servers that are increasingly distributed. 

Some will worry that by “outsourcing” computing platforms, connectivity service providers are in danger of lessening their value in the ecosystem. 

But control of computing processes is one matter; how the computing platform is sourced is a different matter. Every enterprise uses a specific mix of resources and apps to support its core business processes. 

At least in principle, it matters little--except for cost reasons--whether the hardware is owned or leased; how core software is purchased or where the processors reside. 

Telcos and other connectivity providers long ago gave up the design and manufacture of their core hardware and software resources to third parties, just as they mostly gave up the design and manufacture of end user devices. 

The shift to public cloud for computing resources is simply the latest shift.

Decoding "Network as a Service:" On-Demand

Some of you might find the network as a service “strategy” for connectivity providers to be a bit baffling. Connectivity has always been a service, with a few salient exceptions, all centered around private and local networks. 

Local area networks have mostly been a “do it yourself product” where organizations or individuals own their own infrastructure. Wi-Fi has operated mostly the same way. Enterprise voice services often have used phone systems (private branch exchanges) that use owned hardware and software to “create voice services” similar to--but extending beyond--those provided by the public voice networks. 

The shift to “software as a service” and “computing as a service” are the better examples of former products that now are sold as services. Consider almost anything Cisco might sell, offered as a subscription, without ownership, as a better example. 

“NaaS is a cloud model that enables users to easily operate the network and achieve the outcomes they expect from it without owning, building, or maintaining their own infrastructure,” says Cisco. 

In the connectivity services business, that “as a service” framework already exists. Network as a service makes complete sense in the information technology infrastructure business. One does not buy computers, one leases compute cycles. 

As Verizon uses the term, network as a service primarily refers to any services Verizon can deliver on demand, customized or personalized. 

source: Verizon   

 

So how are “connectivity services” understood by the shift of terminology to “network as a service?” 

source: Verizon