Get ready for the intent-driven revolution

The path to realizing the industry’s future vision of ubiquitous connectivity requires a paradigm shift in how connectivity is sold and consumed. Today, there are gaps in the market between what consumers want and what connectivity providers sell, which demonstrates the need for change.

CaaS has a major role in driving growth for telcos

The global communications network – comprised of wireless, wireline, satellite and other infrastructure – is an engineering marvel that spans oceans, geographies and national borders. Yet connectivity is increasingly viewed as a low-margin commodity. Communications service providers (CSPs) struggle to grow revenue, particularly in the enterprise market, while over-the-top hyperscale cloud providers are driving change and delivering the experiences customers want and are willing to pay for. For years, CSPs have been trying to figure out how to emulate their cloud counterparts. Connectivity-as-a-service (CaaS) could be the answer.

By 2030, connectivity will be ubiquitous and embedded in every product, service, and application. Its complexity will be completely invisible to consumers. Connectivity will be as flexible and easy to consume as cloud. It will be scalable, discoverable, and optimized for every service, driven by customer expectations and resulting in an outstanding connectivity experience across every walk of life and business. Read more in our member-created whitepaper connectivity as a service.

CSPs still need to unite on CaaS 

According to a recent TM Forum survey (What is connectivity-as-a-service?) of 160 CSPs and suppliers from 101 unique companies, the definition of CaaS is still open for interpretation, with definitions ranging from CaaS being a “marketplace for customized enterprise connectivity solutions” to “anytime, anywhere easy use of the internet” and many other definitions in between.

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Therefore, the telecommunications industry must unite around a single, shared vision to realize a unified approach with subsequent standards for delivering CaaS.

TM Forum members, uniting the industry on a single vision

A single, shared vision will enable the industry to have a unified and standardized approach for delivering CaaS. Which is why TM Forum's member project, Digital Ecosystem Management project, is working to bring clarity to this confusion, starting with creating an industry definition:

“Connectivity-as-a-Service (CaaS) as intent driven dynamic realization of connectivity solution based on customer expectations.”

4 characteristics and 4 relationships needed to implement CaaS

Connectivity-as-a-service should work similarly to how you buy and consume a utility, with no knowledge of the underlying network technology needed from the customer’s perspective. The following 4 characteristics and 4 relationships have been identified: