Following in the footsteps of Samsung's Galaxy AI and Google's Gemini AI, Apple announced that it will be adding artificial intelligence (AI) to its phone's operating system. Called Apple Intelligence, it will also be integrated into the phone's Siri chatbot, making it easier to use and quicker to respond; helping to turn Siri into a personal assistant.

This increased use of AI means phones will be performing more algorithms, which means they will be generating and using more data. This puts a lot of pressure on mobile networks, such as the UK's O2, EE, Vodafone and Three.

unnamed 1.jpg
Photo: Freepik

To overcome this situation, telecom companies are also gradually using AI. “Operators are using AI to dynamically manage radio frequencies to provide optimal service levels, and to manage towers, for example, so that they use less power during low-traffic times,” said Ian Fogg, director of network innovation at research consultancy CCS Insight.

The growing use of AI to support mobile networks is now widespread across the globe. In South Korea, Korea Telecom can now locate and fix problems within a minute, thanks to its AI network monitoring system, according to Alex Sinclair, chief technology officer at GSMA, the global trade body representing mobile operators.

Meanwhile, AT&T in the US is using predictive AI algorithms trained on trillions of previous network alerts to warn when an incident is about to happen.

Other carriers, like Vodafone, are using AI “digital twins”—virtual digital copies of real-world equipment, like cell towers and antennas—to continuously monitor their network operations. AI is also being used to manage how increasingly large data centers use energy to keep servers cool and optimize storage capacity.

unnamed 2.jpg
Photo: Freepik

The explosion of data generated by the growing demand for AI is another reason why telecom companies around the world continue to invest in 5G Standalone mobile networks. These networks use new, dedicated 5G infrastructure rather than relying on upgrading older, less efficient 4G systems. 5G Standalone offers much higher speeds and capacity. But some experts believe that even this advanced technology is not enough to meet the demands of the AI ​​era.

Mobile customers often only notice network service when there is a problem, but they will remember much more clearly when the customer service level is poor; this can cause significant damage to a business's reputation. Therefore, the industry hopes that AI can improve customer interaction and response services.

For example, the Global Telco AI Alliance — a consortium formed by Deutsche Telekom, Singtel, Softbank and SK Telecom with 1.3 billion customers across 50 countries — aims to develop an AI chatbot specifically for the telecommunications industry and the types of questions customers typically ask. This specially trained chatbot will be able to handle most basic customer queries, freeing up call center staff to focus on more complex cases, the Alliance’s founders hope.

“We see AI primarily as a virtual assistant to humans,” said Scott Petty, Vodafone’s chief technology officer. “We’ve seen AI free up Vodafone employees from tedious, repetitive manual tasks, allowing them to focus on more innovative activities that benefit customers and the industry. AI also frees up customer service agents to handle more complex cases.”

“AI has been around for a few years, used for specialised tasks in telecommunications services,” says Ian Fogg of CCS Insight. “But now it’s being applied to more areas like networks, devices, software; to the point where every tool we use now can be improved. AI has the potential to make networks greener, making the world run more efficiently.”

(According to BBC)