Vaishnavi Bichu, a telecommunications engineering leader specializing in Radio Access Network (RAN) deployment, spoke with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, on addressing network deployment challenges using digital twins.

As 5G deployments continue to scale and the industry begins laying the foundation for 6G, mobile network operators are facing increasing challenges related to site complexity, infrastructure accuracy, and coordination across deployment teams. Traditional planning methods, often dependent on manual site visits and fragmented data sources, are struggling to keep pace with the precision and speed required for modern and future network rollouts.

In a recent Telecom Reseller podcast, Vaishnavi Bichu, a leading expert in Radio Access Network (RAN) deployment and optimization, shares insights into these evolving challenges and the growing role of digital twins in addressing them.

A key issue highlighted during the discussion is the lack of reliable and up to date infrastructure data during the planning phase. In many deployment scenarios, engineering teams must rely on outdated site documentation, repeated field visits, and manual validation processes, factors that contribute to delays, inefficiencies, and increased deployment costs.

Vaishnavi notes that digital twins are helping shift this paradigm by enabling a more accurate and data driven approach to network planning. By leveraging technologies such as drone-based imaging, photogrammetry, and LiDAR, operators can create high fidelity 3D models of physical sites. These models allow teams to validate designs, simulate deployment scenarios, and identify potential issues before on-site execution.

The conversation also underscores the role of digital twins in improving cross functional collaboration. With a shared and continuously updated representation of site conditions, stakeholders across design, construction, and operations can align more effectively, reducing errors and accelerating deployment timelines.

Beyond immediate deployment benefits, digital twins are increasingly seen as foundational to the industry’s transition toward AI driven network operations. As networks evolve to become more software defined and adaptive, and as the industry progresses toward 6G, accurate digital representations of infrastructure will play a critical role in enabling automation, predictive optimization, and closed loop network management.

As operators continue to invest in 5G and prepare for 6G evolution, digital twins are expected to become an integral component of more efficient, scalable, and intelligent network deployment strategies.

Listen to the full podcast to hear more insights on how digital twins are reshaping modern network deployments at scale.