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Asia stands out as home to a small number of telecommunications companies that are busy building international business from selling homegrown IT platforms. Leading the way are India’s Jio, Japan’s Rakuten and Singapore operator Singtel.
Having built their own business, they are now selling a platform that supports new 5G business models for enterprises and other carriers. For Singtel, this means 5G multi-access edge computing (MEC) services based on Paragon, an orchestration platform for enterprise services.
Paragon is part of the telco’s DigitalInfraCo division and aims to provide enterprises with “a single pane of glass that provides end-to-end view and control of the network, edge and application ecosystem,” Manoj said. I am. “This opens the edge to the enterprise world, allowing businesses to deploy their own applications or from the Singtel ecosystem.”
Launched in 2022, Paragon will enable telcos to orchestrate end-to-end 5G enterprise networking services in conjunction with software and applications from cloud computing partners. Paragon’s application partners include Amazon Web Services, Intel, Microsoft and SAP, and the platform is available to all his 5G enterprise users within the Singtel group.
Our strategy is to become a super aggregator of MEC
Singtel Paragon
Singtel’s prediction is that more and more businesses will require a tightly intertwined combination of 5G connectivity at the edge and cloud computing to run specific vertical applications.
“Our strategy is to become a super aggregator of MEC,” says Manoj. “We focus on high-throughput, low-latency use cases such as video analytics and streaming, mixed reality and virtual reality, where data is fed into backend applications and decisions can be made with milliseconds to spare. [of] extra delay. ”
In addition to Paragon, Singtel Group’s investments in 5G infrastructure and service delivery include a nationwide 5G Standalone (SA) network covering over 95% of Singapore, and a network to support cloud computing at the network edge. Includes international investments in data centers. There are now signs that investments in 5G enterprise services are starting to bear fruit. In the second half of the 2022/23 financial year ended 31 March, rising demand for technology solutions and 5G services contributed to an 11% increase in ICT revenue, which accounted for 23% of Singtel Group’s overall corporate revenue. Singtel reported.
Singtel achieved notable wins last year with its enterprise 5G products powered by the Paragon platform. Silicon manufacturer Micron has announced it will deploy the Paragon platform and Singtel’s 5G campus network infrastructure to support its smart manufacturing operations. Micron uses Singtel solutions to help manage and analyze manufacturing processes, increasing efficiency. Similarly, Singtel recently announced Hyundai as another customer for its enterprise 5G services leveraging its Paragon platform, providing digital twins to its electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Singapore for advanced manufacturing operations.
Nevertheless, Manoj acknowledges that challenges remain when it comes to growing the 5G enterprise business. “His 5G and Edge in Singapore is off to a very good start, but I think there is still a long way to go,” he says.
persuade the customer
One of the biggest hurdles is generating customer demand. After all, just because a company can configure 5G connection parameters on demand or use his MEC for 5G applications with the click of a button, doesn’t mean there’s a reason to do so.
“Many customers are not very aware of how the edge works. [computing] Find out how it can truly transform your business and how a few milliseconds of delay can actually save you money, increase efficiency, and reduce errors,” says Manoj. .
This reality has shaped Singtel’s sales process. “We spend a lot of time building customer awareness,” he explains. “We don’t start with what 5G can do. Instead, we focus on understanding their challenges, their current processes, and what gaps they have. , start with an application that helps you solve your problem.”
Another challenge is the lack of 5G native devices. “This puts us in a very tough position, because when you connect a device to a Wi-Fi hotspot and as a backhaul he uses 5G, the customer [often] Ask, “Isn’t this like Wi-Fi?” “Why does he need 5G?” he added. “This is going to be a bit of a hurdle for all carriers until the 5G native device ecosystem matures.”
They also need software applications that work best with 5G and at the edge and can switch between network slices with different payloads. “We need some cooperation from ISVs in deploying and certifying their applications so that they can benefit from all the capabilities of his 5G and Edge,” he says Manoj. .
Additionally, there are engineering challenges associated with orchestration. Paragon is working on automating many of the orchestration and management functions that allow you to request quality of service on demand for specific applications and use cases. But here again, success depends on close partnerships with third parties.
“With Ericsson on the network side and strategic partnerships with Intel, Microsoft and AWS, we have been able to strengthen the infrastructure and application side and integrate network and infrastructure capabilities,” Manoj explains. .
Telcos should embrace tech companies as partners and see them as catalysts to make their services more successful.
vertical selection
Singtel is currently targeting three strategic areas: manufacturing, public safety and urban planning. The selection reflects opportunities in both Singapore and the domestic market of Singtel Group members.
“We are lucky in Singapore because both businesses and the government are very forward-looking and invest heavily in introducing new technologies,” says Manoj. In particular, “public sector customers carry the country’s digital footprint, so they have an increased appetite to explore something new,” he says.
Additionally, because governments operate public safety and urban planning systems at a national level, the scale is likely to be large enough to encourage third-party investment in the development of devices and software applications. Common public safety use cases include video analytics, surveillance systems, and robotics applications. Urban planning includes systems such as traffic management.
Singtel’s high-profile enterprise applications include immersive B2B2C content, such as delivering real-time analytics to gamers via 360-degree video feeds, and training factory workers how to troubleshoot using complex equipment. Includes mixed reality applications for
“If you want an enhanced overlay of information over the camera feed, you need 5G and the edge, because lag makes users nauseous,” Manoj explains. Other promising use cases include autonomous drones and robots.
Singtel leverages standard APIs such as TM Forum’s Open API, CAMARA API to build Paragon, and Manoj aims to both standardize the technology and collaborate with hyperscalers and software vendors to grow the enterprise market. is encouraged.
“Telcos should embrace tech companies as partners and see them as catalysts to further their services,” Manoj said. “By partnering with them, hyperscalers will be exposing services on their infrastructure, and of course they will be collaborating with developers, so telcos can expand their market for services.”
- Manoj Prasanna Kumar will be speaking at DTW23 – Ignite in Copenhagen from 19th to 21st September 2023.
This article originally appeared on TM Forum Inform and was written by Inform Editor-in-Chief Joanne Taaffe.
