Nokia launches AI-based operations to help telcos enter the 5G era

Nokia has launched AVA 5G Cognitive Operations, aiming to help communications service providers (CSPs) gain insights to assist with slice creation and assurance to meet committed service level agreements (SLAs) for massively scaled 5G networks and enterprise services 5G infrastructures.

Explaining the rationale for the launch, Nokia said that with 5G and the explosion of internet of things (IoT) devices unfolding, CSP operational teams are challenged with having to manage an ever-growing complexity through new use cases, service requirements, virtualisation and network slicing.

The company believes that to that end, traditional network and service management approaches are no longer sustainable, thus requiring AI and automation. It quoted the opinion of ABI Research senior analyst Don Alusha, who said: “AI and 5G network slicing will be fundamental for new value creation in the industry, particularly for enterprise verticals that need reliable, low-latency communication networks to support their business operations.”

Dennis Lorenzin, head of network cognitive service unit at Nokia, added: “Operators face a perfect storm of rising traffic and consumer expectations, so it is crucial to be able to predict and prevent service degradations at an earlier stage, while solving issues that arise significantly faster. Nokia AVA 5G Cognitive Operations enables CSPs to operate and assure latency for 5G use cases through AI, ultimately delivering an enhanced customer experience for consumers and enterprises.”

Nokia AVA 5G Cognitive Operations is described as a complete AI-as-a-service offering, combining data science, telco and cloud expertise, not just from Nokia but also from Microsoft, to bring AI to life. The framework and its underlying AI-based solutions are designed to enable CSPs to transform their network, service and business operations through the application of AI, automation and cloud scalability.

The framework provides an end-to-end service view with near real-time impact correlation for enhanced visibility and control, supported by Nokia’s library of AI use cases that have already seen use in solving business challenges.

AI insights are used to inform network slice creation and provide CSPs with an intelligent provisioning system identifying network resources, what SLAs can be committed and where new revenue opportunities can be found. Future capability will also enable CSPs to customise slice creation, providing different SLA levels based on unique user requirements.

The system is engineered to anticipate network and service failures with a high level of precision and accuracy up to seven days in advance. If failures arise, Nokia 5G Cognitive Operations can solve them up to 50% faster and accurately assess the impact on customers and services.

Also, Nokia says that by taking pre-emptive, automated actions to resolve issues before they affect subscribers and enterprise applications, CSPs trialling the service have seen a 20% reduction in customer complaints and a 10% reduction in site visits.

With an AI-as-a-service commercial model, upfront costs can be minimised, linking payments to usage and outcomes, it says. Even though Nokia AVA 5G Cognitive Operations is underpinned by Microsoft Azure cloud technology, other public and private cloud options are possible.

At launch, Nokia noted that a large part of the Nokia AVA cognitive services platform is already commercially available and it is expected to be completely available in the second quarter of 2020.