Automation can’t keep up with emerging network demands—orchestration will

By Zeeshan Aftab / 10Pearls

Network modernization strategies have homed in on cost-saving and speed, but that approach fails to address the end-to-end needs across the network. As per a report from PwC, the telecom industry needs to “re-imagine how it creates, delivers and captures value in the face of rising costs and competition.”

Now, with fiber set to make up 33% of the North American market and agentic AI adding a new layer of intelligence to digital stacks, piecemeal automation isn’t enough.

The outcomes of an automation-only approach are limited, but the fallouts are steep: fragmented systems, exacerbated silos, and piecemeal efficiency.

Amid increasing demand for high-capacity, low-latency broadband, providers need orchestration: coordinating fiber rollouts, optical switching, edge nodes, and backend systems so that new capabilities can go live quickly. Without it, even the best fiber infrastructure is at major risk. 

Where automation falls short 

Only 7% of CSPs are satisfied with their modernization attempts. Moreover, in the U.S., the telecom industry is one of three sectors generating 64% of the country’s $2.2 trillion tech debt. 

These issues boil down to a ‘quick fix’ mentality that’s pervasive in the industry, where speeding up certain workflows like order management is prioritized for short-term efficiency gains. But slapping automation onto complex tech stacks and legacy OSS/BSS systems only leads to more fragmentation. 

The patchwork approach of an automation-only strategy creates extra legwork and undermines innovation as providers roll out FTTx or scale enterprise connectivity. It’s also holding them back from leveling up for the next stage of growth, including a future that features 6G and AI agents that self-heal networks while taking real-time action.  

A customer makes a new broadband order, but service and installation drag because the backend is mired in chaos due to poor interoperability. AI agents in this scenario can’t take action or operate blindly, causing erroneous outputs that could harm customer relationships. People then have to step in to clean up the mess, eating up valuable manual resources that are better invested in other areas like strategic planning and nurturing meaningful customer relations.

How orchestration future-proofs network operations

Network and infrastructure intelligence requires interoperability, and orchestration is at the heart of that. Keeping orchestration out of the equation will lead to wasted investments in digital solutions, racking up more tech debt for network providers and operators. FTTx rollouts will bottleneck, and operational costs could balloon. 

While automation addresses operational challenges selectively, orchestration does so holistically. Orchestration delivers long-lasting impact and scalable growth across the network and broadband lifecycle, from planning fiber rollouts to logging orders, to activating services and successfully integrating AI agents. 

It bridges the gaps that are created by siloed automation, tying together BSS and OSS systems without the need to build integration every time new FTTx services are added. Specifically, orchestration aligns CPQ, CRM, billing, order management, and network provisioning along one layer while streamlining service delivery and activation across multi-vendor and multi-domain networks. 

Orchestration unlocks scalability and flexibility for future growth. Instead of month-long installation projects, an orchestrated approach means new tech and offerings can be embedded in weeks. That agility is crucial for preparing networks for new waves of innovation, including 6G, edge computing, and autonomous AI. Agentic AI in particular—which is forecast to bring $150 billion in value for the telecom industry—will have a growing role in an orchestrated system. Autonomous agents lean on end-to-end orchestration in order to drive real-time decisions, initiate actions, and resolve disruptions.

Setting the scene for an orchestrated approach 

Orchestration won’t work if the digital foundations are broken. Moreover, providers shouldn’t treat it as another software upgrade: it’s a strategic overhaul that rewires the digital blueprint. 

First, look for gaps where OSS/BSS workflows—CPQ, chatbots, fault management, and more—aren’t integrated into end-to-end execution. These gaps could be outdated software or legacy systems that block interoperability. Auditing digital stacks also reveals priority friction points, like order fallout, missed billing, and revenue leakage, that signpost orchestration KPIs. 

Alongside this, build a strong data backbone. The data used to inform all the software, APIs, edge technologies, and more also needs to be orchestrated and interoperable. Providers also need to embed security protocols and ensure compliance to mitigate risks. 

This also helps plan for agentic AI. When orchestration is set in place and end-to-end unification is locked in for relevant workflows, AI agents can act proactively instead of reactively executing siloed tasks. An orchestrated digital foundation means that AI agents can take initiative—detecting order fallout, triggering corrective responses, or reallocating network capacity in real time.

Teams, not just tech, also need to be aligned. Orchestration rewires workflows, and this will impact teams across operations, IT, and customer service. Cross-department collaboration is key, as silos between teams can seriously undermine orchestration across systems. 

As providers gear up for the next chapter of FTTx growth and digital demands that feature more autonomous AI tools, they can’t afford to fall into automation traps. Scalability, agility, and resilience are made possible with orchestration. Systems that work together in one well-designed layer are much more malleable with innovations.

In the fiber-first era, automation alone won’t cut it. Orchestration is the foundation that unifies broadband systems, together with optical switching, fiber rollouts, and multi-vendor OSS/BSS environments into one coherent layer. With that foundation in place, AI agents can finally deliver on their promise: detecting service fallout, reallocating optical paths, and proactively healing networks in real time. Without orchestration, AI agents are blind. Without AI agents, orchestration can’t evolve into autonomy. Together, they set the stage for resilient, scalable, and future-ready networks prepared for 6G and beyond.