Get your core (network) in shape during COVID-19 (Reader Forum)

Most of you reading this blog will be doing so under lockdown. Whether or not you are reading this while working is another matter, but regardless, you will be using data. In this current time, when so many people are staying indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 – replacing face-to-face meetings with virtual ones or going online to keep up to date, for education and to use streaming services for entertainment – is a common occurrence.

To stay sane and to normalize life as best as we can, it is more important than ever to remain connected with friends, family and colleagues. It is also important that we have access to strong and reliable connective networks, especially for essential workers who are bravely on the ‘front line’ of this health emergency. For instance, the heroic doctors, nurses and social workers that are actively fighting the virus need information promptly; they need to be ready for any situation. Information needs to be at their fingertips while they help a record influx of patients – I know because my sister is a doctor, and is often too busy to even take my phone calls. I proudly salute them all for the work they are doing every day.

This need for networks to meet growing demand is a challenge that operators are stepping up to. Around the world, they are ensuring that society can stay connected, companies can continue to work, and families can keep in touch. To address capacity and meet customer needs, many operators have suspended data caps, upgraded broadband speeds, changed call center opening hours, provided additional services for free and created new virtual services.

With so many changes in place designed to support the needs of our world today, there has been a drastic shift in network traffic profiles. As demonstrated by AT&T, demand is growing. The telecommunications giant reported up to 31% higher daily loading on its core network than the previous month, as well as a shift from urban to suburban and rural areas.

Focus on maintaining quality services

As workload demands and needs grow and shift, maintaining uninterrupted, high-quality voice and data services is crucial. These specific factors have become the underpinning for most of the effort faced by network operators during this time. 

Although there are several important components for an operator to address, it is crucial to focus on the mobile core network, which stands out in this instance as it quietly runs in the background to secure, authenticate and drive services delivered over networks. Meeting network demand means that the core network must be flexible and adaptable enough to accommodate where the demand is.

In a situation where the core is distributed across multiple regions, the connection between mobile core network elements must be adjusted to account for geographically-related demand. In modern day installations, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a great tool for operators looking to enable their optimization and monitoring needs, seamlessly. With AI-powered operations, it doesn’t matter whether operators have implemented traditional core networks or have already invested in flexible and scalable cloud-native core network architecture to adapt to the influx of network traffic.

Ensure a strong core

These unprecedented times have made operators adapt their core networks to accommodate an increase in network traffic much faster than most were expecting. Yet, as always, efficiency remains top-of-mind when determining new ways to use available core resources and support expansion. The most reliable way for operators to ensure that their core network remain efficient is through the use of mobile core assessment and optimization services, either from a third party or implemented directly by the operator. Once the core network is optimized and scaled, its health can be maintained through intelligent monitoring services that can predict faults and provide solutions rapidly, along with key initiatives that can be set in place by network operators to measure network KPIs and provide insights into the network’s behavior to detect potential incidents.

Operators shouldn’t spend time worrying about the scalability, performance and reliability of their mobile core networks. Instead, they should focus on keeping their services functioning to the best of their ability to help their users and customers cope during this global crisis. It is more important than ever that connections – both personal and network-related – remain strong.