“Contrivian is working with a manufacturer of CT and MRI equipment now, and the files are massive. For example, one DICOM file could contain as many as 10,000 images and contain 1 terabyte (TB) of data or more,” commented Kirkwood. “Relying on traditional internet connectivity, the file transfer alone can take hours and even longer before analysis can begin. There is also a fundamental shift underway now to store these data in the cloud, to enable AI analysis to identify health risks that human eyes may have missed. But the data has to get there first, and we’re reducing that time to just minutes.” In an emergency-room scenario, this can make the speed and quality of connection literally the difference between life and death.

Future healthcare use cases go even further. Computer-Aided Design (CAD), three-dimensional (3D) modeling, combined with AI and Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR, collectively XR) headsets is opening the door to new scenarios where doctors can immerse themselves in and interact with images with an AI assistant to help them detect anomalies. Think Minority Report for doctors, minus the PreCogs. It might sound farfetched, but this healthcare transformation is already well underway (Forbes, European Congress of Radiology, EurekAlert!). These new use cases will require better and faster connectivity with near-zero latency. And transformation isn’t just happening in healthcare, companies such as Hololight and GridRaster are making XR plus AI transformation a reality across construction, engineering, and more. Not necessarily good news for telcos, who will have to invest more in network technology to capitalize on opportunities like these.

Making it Possible with Telco in a Box

Together, the three-company collaboration has done what some may have thought was impossible, enabling the telco-in-a-box model – from scratch – in less than six months. Contrivian started out with a vision to reimagine the telco model by eliminating the complexity and overhead associated with traditional telco operations to rapidly launch, scale, and better serve these emerging use cases for real-time connectivity. CloudSmartz provides the unified platform to harness the power of B/OSS, automate service fulfillment, and open the door to other AI innovations. By combining the strength of the Acumen360 platform from CloudSmartz with the global service presence and location truth of Connectbase, the NorthStar platform was launched.

“Think about a service provider or data center that is providing mission-critical connectivity services,” added Matthew Ray, chief marketing officer of CloudSmartz. “Not only can they seamlessly consolidate and automate their existing B/OSS functions into our Acumen360 platform as a horizontal overlay, but they can also integrate information from third-party systems such as the Connectbase ecosystem to extend reach and obtain location truth, as well as systems that support geopolitical data, weather data, and AI analysis to predict, prepare for, and prevent related outages – or visualize opportunities.”

Connectbase provides the global connectivity inter-exchange platform to evaluate and automate the connectivity layer based on a multitude of regional, quality, price, and service factors. These data points are then provided to Contrivian’s North Star real-time decision engine where machine-learning algorithms make design and pricing decisions in near real time, which are then fulfilled using the CloudSmartz Acumen360 platform.

“It’s really about redefining the way we think about the incremental value telecom providers can provide to a growing ecosystem of diverse suppliers,” added Ben Edmond, founder and CEO of Connectbase. “Today, network connectivity is no longer just about proximity, but incorporates myriad of other factors including network type, network performance and service-level metrics.” In fact, Connectbase’s global connectivity platform catalogs nearly 20 different attributes for over 2.7 billion locations worldwide and growing.

Over-the-top decision engines, like Contrivian’s Lighthouse technology, use global connectivity data attributes provided by its on-premise gateways and strategically placed internet beacons to measure performance and make intelligent routing decisions in real-time. At the same time, the B/OSS complexity and functionality is being consolidated and automated through the North Star platform, utilizing the Acumen360 unified experience platform from CloudSmartz and Connectbase’s location-truth data. Together, the collaboration is reinventing the telecom model by seamlessly integrating complicated systems and functions, and then innovating with automation to provide the digital experience required by today’s enterprise customers.

Remaining Relevant

Telcos have the opportunity, once again, to capitalize on the drivers, innovation, and opportunities that lie ahead. They have two paths ahead of them, one of remaining a simple commodity, connectivity/network provider where driving down cost while providing a superior experience is their only hope. The other, is to truly innovate and create compelling new use cases, such as the ones mentioned above to sluff off the network-commodity mindset and become a growth and innovation engine, which is the heart of the growing telco-to-techco transformation movement.

The world continues to transform as the demand for and reliance on connectivity grows at an unprecedented rate. Generative AI, cloud, SD-WAN, and XR are just a few of the drivers. Just to keep up, service providers will need an off-the-shelf, telco-in-a-box model like the one that has been assembled by CloudSmartz with is strategic partner, Connectbase, to enable innovative companies like Contrivian to maximize efficiencies and provide a superior CX. However, to remain relevant, telcos will need to create compelling new, innovative offerings to create and support future use cases. Otherwise, they’ll be left in the dust, once again, by those who are able to innovate on top of their hard-earned network investments.