- I’ve recently published a research report about the benefits of a network system of record
- The report follows on the heels of several conversations where operators suddenly seem interested in cleaning up their business records
- I suspect that all this interest in house-keeping comes from the boom in AI and the need for clean data
I’m sensing a trend within telecom: Operators are on a mission to clean up their company records.
They’ve been limping along for years – even decades – keeping track of their business records in multiple antiquated systems. Many of them have an even bigger mess because they’ve acquired smaller companies over the years, and those companies came with different antiquated record-keeping systems, which were never fully integrated into the larger company.
Perhaps these telcos would have continued to lump along for another decade. But something seems to have finally driven them to address the problem. I suspect that that “something” is AI. Suddenly, it’s apparent that AI requires clean, accessible data in order to train new applications and keep businesses relevant in the 21st century.
One place where telecom records are lagging is within their mapping departments.
I’ve recently written a research report entitled, “The network as a strategic asset. Why a network system of record is more critical than ever.”
Network systems of record (SoRs) serve as the backbone for telecom companies to know exactly where all of their network assets reside. The network SoR provides a detailed and organized overview in a cloud-based format, which can be constantly updated.
For my research report I spoke with some fiber network operators, including Ted Schremp, CEO of IQ Fiber, which is a 3-year-old fiber broadband startup. Schremp is a seasoned telecom executive, having worked for several well-known operators.
“Every single company that I’ve ever worked for without naming names, has always been in a little bit of, ‘where’s my-network mode,’” he said.
They’re constantly trying to sort out their maps, or they’re trying to move out of some legacy record-keeping system. For that reason, IQ Fiber wanted to establish a network system of record right from the beginning. “It’s incredibly important from a financial perspective, and obviously from an operational perspective,” Schremp said.
Will Mitchell, CEO of Vetro, said the network SoR “is basically the treasure map to paying customers and for expansion planning. The same mapping environment that can tell you where you have stuff today can be the context on where to build next.”
Another big reason for establishing a clean, organized network SoR is for future M&A purposes. In the fiber broadband space, there are currently a lot of small and mid-sized operators that may be interested in selling their businesses, either because they’ve always had that goal as an exit strategy, or because they just don’t have the capital to grow. “The diligence process in any acquisition will immediately go to ‘show me your documentation; prove your assets,’” said Mitchell.
On a recent Fierce Network Research webinar, sponsored by Vetro, Mitchell said fiber providers are “knocking on Vetro’s door” because they either want to clean up their legacy mapping messes, or they want to start new fiber businesses on the right foot.
Technical debt clean-up efforts
Aside from my discussions with several executives for the SoR report, I’ve noticed the topic of cleaning up telecom records coming up a lot.
For instance, in January Lumen Technologies' announced it had hired OneVizion to help Lumen consolidate multiple legacy systems and spreadsheet-based workflows into a single, unified platform.
In November of 2024 I discussed the problem of technical debt with Scott Robohn, co-founder of the Network Automation Forum. “I don’t think it’s a Lumen-specific problem. If you think about the history of telcos, there have been all sorts of splitting up and integrations. There are all sorts of data challenges related to that,” he said.
Robohn added: “In automation we talk about: You need a repository that serves as your source of truth. Many, many network operators will joke ‘our one source of truth is this spreadsheet.’”
More recently, I moderated a panel at Light Reading’s Cable Next Gen conference where the topic was ostensibly automation and AI. But when we got into it, the discussion was really about cleaning up technical debt. Because there is no automation and there is no AI if an operator doesn’t have its data in good shape.
For the complete report about network systems of record, click here. The report covers several areas where broadband providers can benefit from establishing a network SoR.