Guangdong Mobile worked with Huawei to pilot the construction of a 5G-oriented pan-Internet service support system through building capability platforms and centralizing different functions.

October 30, 2020

4 Min Read
5G Changes the World, IT Connects the Future

Among China Mobile's provincial branches, Guangdong Mobile is a long-standing leader in business and technology innovation. We boast 103 million monthly active subscribers and have accumulated a wealth of experience in services and operations. However, with decreasing demographic and traffic dividends, the Guangdong Mobile sees a slowdown in revenue growth each year. Our average revenue per user (ARPU) has also been declining despite the rapidly increasing data of usage (DOU). We are under enormous pressure to find new revenue sources and resolve the dilemma of decreasing revenues amid increasing traffic consumption.

In this context, 5G presents carriers with an invaluable opportunity for technology and service innovation. That's why Guangdong Mobile worked with Huawei to pilot the construction of a 5G-oriented pan-Internet service support system through building capability platforms and centralizing different functions. The solution primarily targets the consumer and home markets, along with vertical industries and new services.

In the consumer market, Guangdong Mobile is now providing all-sensing connectivity and application services such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) on top of the conventional communications services. In the home market, in addition to traditional broadband services, we are offering smart life services, including smart home and intelligent security. We are now also profoundly engaged in the business processes of our vertical industry clients, such as helping them build smart factories.

For Guangdong Mobile, 5G is facilitating the integration of sales and operations at four different levels: connection, platform, integration, and operations. We believe it will be the key driver for the growth of our industry. In this process, we have implemented three key measures to develop our service support system. We have also met two significant milestones.

Key measure 1: Building an ecosystem-oriented platform

One important measure is to build necessary support capabilities such as full-service integrated orders, multi-dimensional charging, and personalized accounting based on 5G capabilities and industry scenario analysis. We work with partners – sometimes independently – to deploy customized integrated industry platforms. It also includes exploration in a diverse range of cooperation channels, development of 5G-oriented business models for various industries, and ultimately the monetization of 5G network capabilities.

Key measure 2: Reshaping the lifecycle of the product support system

It is vital to shift from a single to an integrated 5G operational model. In the single operational model, the carrier charges by traffic usage and focuses on selling traffic packages. However, in the integrated operating model, various products and services are integrated, offering a full-service experience.

The latter model comes with four key steps:

1. Product planning: Carriers, partners, developers, and end-users provide various product elements. Meanwhile, big data analytics supports intelligent decision-making and revenue estimation for product planning.
2. Product development: Flexibly combining product elements and automatic test release allows carriers to respond to market demands.
3. Product usage: Products personalize the user experience through user tag-based precision marketing and usage analysis.
4. Product retirement: Carriers analyze product performance in the operational phase, assess its remaining value, and support decision-making for product phase-out or next-phase planning.

Key measure 3: Building a cloud-oriented IT architecture

We need to build an IT support system based on the cloud, Internet, and service-oriented architecture, while adopting mature cloud technologies, and rebuilding present software assets based on services, to ensure low-cost and efficient service migration. Thus far, Guangdong Mobile has put together infrastructure resources in providing a cloud platform, developing and delivering on a cloud environment, setting intelligent O&M, and ultimately opening full-domain capabilities.

Achievement 1: Stable growth in the consumer, home, business, and new markets (CHBN markets)

Guangdong Mobile added 23% in B2B customers and increased the number of our members by 35%. Thanks to a new product system and cloud-based system architecture, we accelerated the rollout by 20%, improving the flexibility and robustness of our IT system.

Achievement 2: Pilot of 5G enterprise slice network operations

Guangdong Mobile and China Merchants Port (CMP) piloted 5G enterprise slice networks. We deployed 5G dedicated networks, 5G port networks, mobile edge computing (MEC) and the edge cloud platform, to deliver ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and edge computing. We also developed a network slice, edge cloud, and joint products for CMP's business operations.

Guangdong Mobile is confident in the future of 5G business development. It will therefore continue to build its 5G support capabilities, explore 5G applications and business models, strengthen the construction of its 5G-oriented ecosystem, and develop end-to-end 5G pan-Internet operations solutions. We aim to become a world-leading carrier in 5G services development and technological innovations.

— Dr. Tan Lili, General Manager of the Information System Department, Guangdong Mobile

This content is sponsored by Huawei.

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