The top areas where digital twins are being used in the telecom industry are network operations, testing the network for power efficiency and performance, radio and network planning, and network key performance indicators (KPIs). Here are some examples of how telecom companies are using digital twins:
- Network operations: Digital twins are used to test networks for power efficiency, performance, and planning. For instance, Vodafone has created a digital twin of the UK, which captures all of its network infrastructure and provides a detailed understanding of Vodafone’s signal propagation to improve network planning.
- Network KPIs: Verizon partnered with Slim.AI to collect data across thousands of sites for the purpose of fraud detection and predicting network performance during large public events. Verizon also uses digital twins to forecast energy costs based on changes to the network, like the addition of new cell sites.
- Testing and modeling: Spirent has created an environment that uses network emulation and real-time traffic to provide a digital replica of 5G networks. The British telecom testing company sees an opportunity to use digital twins to test connectivity models in industries and private networks.
- The metaverse: Ericsson uses digital twins to test various scenarios without risking damage to the actual equipment. But Ericsson’s ultimate goal is to create a fully immersive metaverse environment where users can interact with network elements and get feedback from instrumentation, even without specialized knowledge.
- Vertical applications: Australian telco Telstra is leading a consortium of companies in New South Wales to deploy a spatial digital twin of critical infrastructure to help mitigate the impacts of forest fires.
As evident above, digital twins are widely used in the telecom industry. Yet, there is a whole set of other challenges when it comes to the enterprise. Last year, Extreme Networks rolled out an enterprise-focused digital twin technology called ExtremeCloud IQ Co-Pilot, which allows organizations to build their networks in demo mode and troubleshoot before they’re deployed. This provides Extreme’s customers with a real-time digital replica of their entire network, regardless of its complexity.
https://www.networkcomputing.com/cloud-infrastructure/understanding-role-digital-twins-networking