How Network Element Providers, Equipment Manufacturers Are Taking Advantage of the Common Language of Telecom

iconectiv TruOps™ Common Language® helps maximize operational efficiency, revenue, billing accuracy and competitiveness while capitalizing on trends such as virtualization and disaggregation.

• What’s the News: A new iconectiv use case explores how NEPs and equipment manufacturers leverage Common Language to drive value for their CSP customers.
• Why it Matters: NEPs can streamline operations, grow revenue and capitalize on marketplace and technology trends for their business and for their customers.
• Who’s it for: Providers of network equipment for mobile, fiber and other telecom services.

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – September 19, 2023 – Network element providers (NEPs) and equipment manufacturers are critical to helping communication service providers (CSPs) meet consumer and enterprise demand for mobile, fiber and other telecom services. As a trusted partner, the role of NEPs goes beyond simply providing switches, base stations and other equipment CSPs rely on them to maximize operational efficiency, streamline asset management, ensure billing accuracy and quickly capitalize on emerging technology and marketplace trends.

This role is more important than ever. Incumbent CSPs are facing additional competition from new greenfield providers in mobile and fiber. Meanwhile, technology trends such as network functions virtualization (NFV), open radio access network (O-RAN) and Wireless Fixed Access (WFA) give CSPs freedom to mix and match equipment suppliers, but with new challenges around asset management.  

A new use case explores how NEPs that rely on iconectiv TruOps Common Language® are helping their CSP customers overcome these and other operational and competitive challenges. In the process, Common Language also gives NEPs new opportunities to increase revenue, promote their new products and better support their managed services customers. 

“Over 1,800 CSPs rely on Common Language every day for authoritative information about equipment types, capabilities and other key attributes,” said Peter Ford, Executive Vice President, iconectiv.  “Whether they’re telecom or IT veterans or newcomers, NEPs and equipment manufacturers use Common Language to better serve their CSP customers by helping them streamline their operations and purchasing decisions, which enables faster network buildouts to grow market share and revenue.”

Common Language provides authoritative information about nearly 600,000 pieces of equipment from 1,000 NEPs and equipment manufacturers, all in an industry-standard nomenclature that enables CSPs and NEPs and equipment manufacturers to speak the same language. The Common Language® CLEI™ Code, a globally unique barcode identifier that NEPs and equipment manufacturers physically affix to their products and packaging, are the codes that CSPs use in their inventory and provisioning systems, thereby streamlining the network planning process from ordering to activation.

For example, CLEI Codes make it quick and easy for CSPs to see whether a piece of equipment has the characteristics they need to support the operational functionality and network performance to deliver high-quality customer services. CLEI Codes also help CSPs streamline asset management, ensure accuracy and verify the information in their inventory systems. As a result, NEPs and equipment manufacturers that use CLEI Codes have a competitive edge over those that don’t.

Common Language also helps NEPs and equipment manufacturers better support their managed services customers since they provide the authoritative information to quickly determine the location, capabilities, installation date and other key attributes for every piece of equipment in their customer’s network. This streamlines processes such as implementing software updates, which helps improve the managed service’s efficiency and profitability — and directly benefits their managed services customers.

For more information about how NEPs and equipment manufacturers can use Common Language, download the use case and visit Common Language for Network Element Providers.