The telecommunications industry is undergoing one of the fastest transformations he has witnessed in two decades. “Last year, we were experimenting with these tools in laboratories; today, they are becoming part of our everyday business,” Dejan Turk, President of the Management Board and CEO of A1 Croatia, tells ICTbusiness Media – ICTbusiness.info. The shift, he argues, is no longer about whether operators should adopt artificial intelligence but about where it can produce tangible results.
At A1 Croatia, AI is moving beyond isolated trials. Turk points to the introduction of a chatbot and to tools used in network planning and fault prediction. These applications bring artificial intelligence into both customer-facing services and the operational infrastructure on which those services depend. “We are already using artificial intelligence in a number of areas,” Turk explains, presenting the technology as an increasingly practical instrument rather than a distant promise.
The role of a telecommunications company is changing at the same time. Mobile and fixed networks, built through decades of investment, are now being combined with data-centre capabilities and additional digital services. Turk sees connectivity as the foundation of a wider offering rather than the entirety of the operator’s business. “We are no longer talking only about connectivity,” he says.
Security is central to that development. Turk does not treat protection as a separate issue depending on whether a customer uses a smartphone or a server. The need to safeguard information follows data across devices, infrastructure and services. “Protecting customer data is extremely important,” he stresses, linking cybersecurity to the trust on which digital services depend.
As for mobile network evolution, Turk does not expect 6G to replace the current generation overnight. He estimates that the next generation is still at least five or six years away. In the meantime, he says A1’s 5G signal reaches approximately 99 percent of the population, while practical applications of the existing technology continue to develop. “We still have plenty of opportunities with 5G,” Turk observes.
For the coming years, Turk therefore expects mobile infrastructure, AI and cybersecurity to become more closely integrated. The strategic question is not simply which generation of network an operator deploys, but what customers and businesses can actually do with it. “Technology has to deliver value to the user,” he concludes, placing practical outcomes ahead of technological labels.
