qa-trends-in-telecom
Blog

4 telecom trends for 2023 and how to painlessly implement them with QA

It’s time to explore the telecom trends for the upcoming year. Let’s look at them together and also see the value that QA brings for their smooth deployment.
30 September 2022
Cybersecurity testing
Migration testing
QA trends
Quality assurance
Test automation
The article by a1qa
a1qa

How can telecom companies maintain market leadership in 2023? Adopting novel tech trends can be of help but it is a tricky process. So, how can businesses simplify it while achieving the desired outcomes? In the article, find out the 4 emerging telecom trends and 6 testing types that are pivotal to implementing them.

Let’s see what trends will shape the future of the telecom industry.

Trend #1. No need to wait with 5G and 6G

Mobile ecosystems are constantly evolving, however, in today’s world, companies are in search of methods to make wireless communication even faster with higher capacity and frequency and lower latency. Even though 5G is still trending, many organizations are looking ahead and gradually introducing 6G, providing better throughput, higher data rates and reliability as well as unrivaled immersive experience when it comes to AR/VR.

Consider this: if 5G offered the speed of 1 GB per second (or with peak data rates of 20 GB), 6G will reach one TB, which is 8,000 times faster than 5G.

Source: Statista

Trend #2. Cloud introduction or amplifying the power of your digital ecosystem

Have you noticed the number of apps migrating to the cloud? Of course, business realizes that their target audience wants to access the software from anywhere. So, telecom companies are also looking for the ways to provide more flexible and scalable solutions with high computing power over the cloud. This is because the growth of such devices as IoT, AI, and ML has driven the demand for more powerful computing capabilities. Here, cloud computing assists in improving program resilience and efficiency, accelerating the digitalization processes, and easily transforming all flowing procedures to meet customers’ needs.

Trend #3. Network-as-a-service (NaaS) or having the network infrastructure without building it from scratch

Since building, deploying, and maintaining routers, WAN optimizers, and other network elements is a cumbersome process, organizations rely heavily on NaaS. NaaS removes the need to invest in network hardware and infrastructure, helping businesses avoid budget overruns.

As user traffic often varies and can exceed the expected limit, NaaS ensures that your network runs smoothly even during high loads and prevents system disruptions.

Trend #4. Edge computing or shortened response time

According to Statista, the edge computing market will reach $250.6 billion by 2024. By storing, processing, and analyzing data locally, edge computing provides higher performance, bandwidth optimization, low latency, refined security, and soundness for IoT, AR/VR, industry 4.0, and other devices possessing sensitive controllers.

It will allow cutting down on exploitation expenditure by reducing large volumes of data previously kept on the cloud.

It’s critical to ensure a high software level. To achieve this, we see companies applying QA aimed at checking various system aspects and eliminating bugs in them.

#1. OSS/BSS testing

Integrating a myriad of devices, like servers, cloud-hosted machines, tablets, phones, etc., and handling large volumes of transactions, OSS/BSS systems should be able to function correctly around the clock. This allows verifying 3 key aspects of OSS/BSS software:

  • Performance. The number of flowing operations and users skyrockets from time to time, so for the software, it’s mission-critical to withstand all kinds of loads: from regular to peak ones.
  • Security. These systems are vulnerable to unauthorized intrusion, which often results in the leakage of clients’ and company’s private data.
  • Functionality. Can subscribers create, modify, and delete accounts? Can they easily perform all necessary actions, such as tracking and paying invoices? Functional verification assists in confirming that the OSS/BSS solutions comply with the stated requirements and simplify user interaction with the system.

#2. Migration testing

Just imagine this: you have a billing solution containing a slight calculation error. Sure, it’ll cause user dissatisfaction and 100, 1,000, or more customer support calls. Migration should be smooth without affecting the routine actions of subscribers.

The transformation of the telecom product, such as receiving new features, always requires the transition of a large amount of data from the source system to the target one. Migration tests help make this process seamless and ensure required data integrity while preventing its losses.

#3. Integration testing

Telecom software products have a complex structure and comprise a multitude of modules. Just look: one IT solution may include billing, customer support, and self-service systems as well as an integration platform.

But how to make sure that all of them seamlessly correlate with each other? Integration testing is of help in such situations that allow timely identify integration discrepancies in the app and ensure the proper functioning of interrelated modules.

Based on the entire system and its individual parts readiness and the desired deadline, companies may employ different integration testing strategies. For example, the big bang one is aimed at the systems in which all components are already interconnected to assess the integrity of the whole product. If the program isn’t entirely ready, it is better to start with low-level blocks by applying the bottom-up approach.

#4. Performance testing

When you need to combine several systems into a single one or the number of subscribers of your telecom software multiplies, putting performance testing at the core of a business strategy is a must-have.

So, what types of checks are helpful?

  • Load testing — to check that the system handles the required load.
  • Stress testing — to exclude program crashes if the number of users expands.
  • Volume testing — to make sure that the increased amount of data stored won’t cause software breakdown.
  • Scalability testing — to analyze how the telecom product responds to changes in architecture, the number of simultaneous subscribers, and generated requests.

#5. Cybersecurity testing

According to Deloitte, in 2020, cybercriminals stole the sensitive data of more than 500,000 people across the globe from video conferencing and sold it on the dark web. Quite an alarming case, agree? The most common attacks in the telecom sector, where 45% of all are cloud-based, include DNS (79% of companies suffered it in 2020), SS7, DDoS, and others, which ultimately lead to downtime, damaged reputation, and high operational expenditure needed to restore the software.

Well, to prevent breaches within telecom systems, companies make use of cybersecurity tests — conduct a vulnerability assessment, static code analysis, penetration testing, social engineering activities, and more — providing a safe experience for subscribers.

#6. Test automation

Testing telecom software may be time-consuming, especially if done manually. Adopting test automation is a logical choice to reduce test cycles, improve test coverage, and decrease QA costs as well as increase ROI from 37% to 50%, as stated in the World Quality Report.

Closing thought

In 2023, telecom companies may rely on 4 topical trends ― 6G, cloud introduction, NaaS, and edge computing ― to continue providing end users with a consummate digital experience.

And to take exceptional care of telecom software quality, organizations just call for QA and verify the following aspects: OSS/BSS, migration, integration, performance, and cybersecurity, as well as introduce test automation to accelerate the testing process.

In case you don’t plan to boost your telecom product quality yourself and need professional QA assistance, reach out to a1qa’s professionals.

More Posts

Mobile app testing
15 February 2023,
by a1qa
4 min read
Mobile app testing guide: win the race with five-star software
Which aspects of mobile apps to test first to produce a really high-quality product? Find the answer to this and other questions related to mobile app testing in the article.
Cybersecurity testing
Functional testing
Mobile app testing
Performance testing
Test automation
Usability testing
a1qa-articles
31 January 2023,
by a1qa
5 min read
Best of 2022 by executives: 8 most visited a1qa blog posts
Let’s look back and revisit the most visited a1qa articles of 2022!
Quality assurance
Test automation
qa-trends
12 January 2023,
by a1qa
4 min read
The future of software testing: top 4 impactful trends that will dominate in 2023
Consider the major industry trends for the upcoming year to know how to improve current QA strategies and stay ahead of the curve.
QA trends
Quality assurance
Test automation
test-automation
7 December 2022,
by Dileep Marway
3 min read
Release at pace with test automation: What, why, and how to measure success?
An automation-first approach is key to enhancing testing capabilities and increasing overall operational efficiency. However, I would suggest justifying its implementation, so that it can deliver the promised value.
Quality assurance
Test automation
what-is-a-culture-of-happiness
2 December 2022,
by Dileep Marway
3 min read
What is a сulture of happiness for a QA company?
Great culture drives employee engagement and satisfaction, contributes to an impressive work output, and improves organisational performance. But how do we build a culture of happiness? In this blog, I will share more on the answer to this.
Quality assurance
agile-qa
30 November 2022,
by Dileep Marway
3 min read
Agile QA – what is needed for greater flexibility and speed?
What should your QA team focus on to become truly agile, enable quality at speed, and contribute to lasting performance improvement? In addition to introducing test automation, I suggest considering shared responsibility for software soundness.
Agile
Quality assurance
interview-with-dileep
28 November 2022,
by a1qa
9 min read
Interview with Dileep Marway on a series of articles “Agility and speed: Supercharging your business strategies with QA”
We cooperated with the VP of Engineering and Quality at SHL to present you with a series of his blog posts on: culture of happiness, test automation, and Agile-driven QA. Happy reading!
Agile
Quality assurance
Software lifecycle QA
Test automation
optimizing-budget-with-qa
31 October 2022,
by a1qa
4 min read
Optimizing telecom budgets with QA outsourcing: everything you need to know. Part 2 
Welcome to Part 2 of our blog on QA outsourcing and optimizing telecom budget with it. Let’s delve deeper into the topic!
QA trends
Quality assurance
optimizing-budget-with-qa
27 October 2022,
by a1qa
4 min read
Optimizing telecom budgets with QA outsourcing: everything you need to know. Part 1
Learn how to optimize telecom’s quality assurance expenses by relying on a trusted QA partner.
QA trends
Quality assurance

Get in touch

Please fill in the required field.
Email address seems invalid.
Please fill in the required field.
We use cookies on our website to improve its functionality and to enhance your user experience. We also use cookies for analytics. If you continue to browse this website, we will assume you agree that we can place cookies on your device. For more details, please read our Privacy and Cookies Policy.