The respondents also recognized the need to upgrade their operations to prepare for next-generation services. Device activation, billing, charging, settlement and customer-directed self-service were seen as among the most important areas. Seamless activation, self-healing devices, and "do-it-yourself" support were ranked as critical.
"In addition to the growing device and network demand, service providers are actively considering better, faster and more productive approaches to succeed in the connected world," Frost & Sullivan senior consultant James Brehm added. "Nearly all of the [respondents] recognize that they must quickly evolve, and have identified partners that can help them meet new levels of demand."
A separate survey, conducted for Amdocs by Analysys Mason, has indicated that the adoption of these next-generation services will present a similar sea change among network planners. They are already feeling the strain that results from the gap between the increasing uptake for next-generation services and the network's ability to deliver at an optimized speed.
Survey respondents ranked "managing change" as their No 1 challenge. With no mechanism in place allowing them to respond quickly to changes in budget allocations, equipment specifications and technical or operational problems, planned changes are taking far too long to implement.
Network planners also complained that there was no consistent methodology in place that would allow them to easily compare marketing forecast data and network capacity consumption trend figures while planning network expansions. And nearly 70% stated that their legacy systems were unable to deliver clear network usage visibility over specific time periods, making it impossible to effectively manage and deliver network capacity as needed.
"Service providers need planning and analysis tools that will help them to communicate with each other - and more effectively match supply to demand," Analysys Mason senior analyst Mark Mortensen said.