AI, SON and the self-driving cellular network - VanillaPlus - The global voice of Telecoms IT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being groomed, says Rethink Technology Research to partner with self-optimising networks (SON) to create cellular networks that know the user, perform brilliantly and defy complexity. But 50% of network providers worry they will not be able to attract sufficient AI skills. While everyone today is aware of the race to build a self-driving car, the race to build a self-driving cellular network is far less of a public property, but nonetheless, it is a race that is critical to the survival of existing mobile network operators (MNOs). The rise in self-optimising networks, along with a huge increase in the total number of cells, will lead to a radical uptake of virtualised Software Defined Networks. This will make it possible to dial network resources up and down on-demand, but only if MNOs can cope with another level of network complexity.