Fiber-to-the-home networks service more than 130 households today, and PON is the dominant FTTH architecture. This trend is expected to continue, with 90 percent of the forecast 300 million FTTH subscribers by 2019 to be served by PON, according to Ovum.
As PON subscriber numbers grow, so will the types of users it can address. And that will include enterprise customers. That said, TWDM is the best and obvious way forward for service providers in the GPON realm, according to Ana Pesovic, senior marketing for wireline networks at Alcatel-Lucent who in a recent TechZine posting, TWDM technology moves ahead: XG-PON1, explains why TWDM is superior to XG-PON1 on a number of fronts. These include from a bandwidth perspective, in terms of revenue potential, and in its ability to lower carrier risk.
Ovum backs up those statements in its recent article TWDM-PON is on the horizon: Facilitating fast FTTx network monetization, in which the firm suggests that communications services providers would do well to leapfrog XG-PON1 and move on to TWDM-PON.
Ovum explains the case for TWDM citing its ability to:
“Now is the time CSPs should begin evaluating TWDM PON, analyzing deployment scenarios in terms of operational and monetary benefits,” Ovum suggests.
Pesvoic of Alcatel-Lucent, which launched its Universal TWDM-PON technology solution last year, agrees, commenting: “TWDM-PON lets operators offer high revenue generating commercial services, consolidate all services (residential, business and mobile backhaul) over one network, or perhaps co-invest to share deployment cost and risk. As a result, TWDM-PON monetizes the network faster.”
]]>Today’s technology now allows a single fiber strand to carry up to 17.6 terabits per second of traffic. That’s the equivalent of transmitting 88 Blu-ray discs in a second. This ultra-broadband capability, and the new software-defined networks that service providers are embracing, have important impacts on optical networks further upstream.
“…we need to stay in the light/photonic domain as long as possible in order to reduce the cost associated with repeatedly converting wavelength photonic signals to electrical,” notes Scott Larrigan, senior marketing manager of IPR&T product and solution marketing at Alcatel-Lucent, in a recent TechZine posting, CDC-F optical networks propel us forward, and in the podcast embedded below.
While carriers already add to their fiber optic capacity by introducing different colors, or wavelengths, to move to 100gbps, 200gbps, and even 400gbps capacities, that only gets them part way there. There’s also now a need to more efficiently route high-capacity wavelengths in a cost effective manner, and an optical networking technology called CDC-F can allow for that.
“Together, CDC-F and SDN technologies are set to propel our networks forward – and make what’s science fiction today, a reality in the not too distant future,” says Larrigan. They enable what Alcatel-Lucent calls agile optical networking.
CDC-F optical networks are colorless, directionless, and contentionless (thus CDC). Their ability to dynamically optimize and reroute wavelength connections helps carriers recover network capacity so they have a longer lifespan. They lessen requirements for optical to electrical to optical conversions, saving capital equipment and power costs in the process. And with CDC-F, there’s no need for on-site visits to change or route wavelength connectivity.
Alcatel-Lucent today offers a CDC-F wavelength routing solution the Alcatel-Lucent 1830 Photonic Service Switch, which can both efficiently route wavelengths at scale, and deliver in-band per wavelength OAM that can precisely isolate wavelength issues throughout the network. A North America Tier 1 service provider will be leveraging this offering in its national optical core network.
]]>Originally posted on Alcatel-Lucent Blog February 3, 2015
Talk of “cyber armies” working on behalf of nations might once have been the work of Hollywood, but recent events have demonstrated the opening of a new front in the global war on terror: cyber security.
High-profile attacks on film studios, a US military Twitter account, and several US retailers have led President Barack Obama to declare that cyber terrorism is "one of the biggest threats to national security" and that his administration is working to develop better intelligence on cyber threats. "No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids," Obama said during his State of the Union address on January 20.
The head of cyber defence for the French military, Arnaud Coustilliere, also expressed his concern at apparent attacks on French websites in the wake of the terrorist tragedy in Paris on January 7. "What's new, what's important is that this is 19,000 sites." Coustilliere said. "That's never been seen before."
A similar cyber attack at an unnamed German steel factory in 2014, which sabotaged parts of the control system resulting in severe damage to a blast furnace, show that it's not just web servers and databases that are under threat, but complete ICT (information and communications technology) infrastructure. Train, air and road traffic control systems are as a result all vulnerable, which poses unthinkable consequences for governments around the world.
There is currently a widespread misconception that IP communication networks are more susceptible to attack than a proprietary or TDM network. However, the German steel plant attack in 2014 and the hacking of legacy and proprietary industrial SCADA infrastructure in the Middle East by Flame and Stuxnet worms in 2012 show any kind of infrastructure is vulnerable.
Alcatel-Lucent has consistently invested in researching and developing highly secure solutions for its communications networks and infrastructure to ward off potential threats and provide added peace of mind to its customers.
For example, IP network infrastructure utilizes Network Access Control (NAC), encryption, and traffic anomaly detection. IP/MPLS also uses traffic segregation and isolation, which means that if one VPN network is compromised, the attacker cannot reach out to other VPN domains.
In addition, to detect intrusions and protect optical fiber networks, Alcatel-Lucent integrates advanced security features into its DWDM optical equipment, 1830 Photonic Service Switch. Layer 1 encryption of high-speed lines (10G), which are based on AES 256, one of the most advanced market standards, guarantees data integrity and confidentiality, and by preventing latency of even a few microseconds, does not compromise performance.
This type of encryption is ideal to secure the transmission of real-time high-speed data used by data centers, cloud infrastructure, and all critical communications. For railway operators, airports, road authorities and government agencies, which rely on these networks, constant availability is essential. However, with cyber threats only likely to become more sophisticated, they should be mindful of taking necessary precautions to avoid becoming the cyber terrorists' next victim.
See a detailed demonstration of how to fully protect the confidentiality of the information carried over the fiber:
Originally appeared on Alcatel-Lucent Blog February 10, 2015
Perched on the southern edge of New Zealand, a small picturesque city with a big digital vision is about to be wired with the fastest broadband speeds in the Southern Hemisphere.
You may never have heard of it, but Dunedin is the envy of New Zealand after being crowned the winner of Gigatown, an online and real world competition for communities to receive 1Gbps broadband* and two development funds to support entrepreneurs, innovators and social initiatives. The competition was run by Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications infrastructure company which is rolling out the nation’s world-leading Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) program.
Gigatown was developed by Chorus to help educate and inspire New Zealanders about the possibilities and opportunities for a country connected with ultra-fast broadband. It attracted entries from no less than 50 towns and was something of a social media phenomenon with almost 6 million online conversations about Gigatown and the power of UFB during the 13-month long competition. Dunedin was one of five finalists – alongside Gisborne, Nelson, Timaru and Wanaka – which competed to develop a plan for their gigabit future.
Gigatown placed ultra-fast broadband firmly into the community consciousness and raised awareness of the social and economic benefits the New Zealand government’s investments in UFB and RBI could provide. It highlighted the very real human benefits enabled by the rollout of ultra-fast broadband.
Now having won Gigatown, Dunedin is very much focused on the future, placing its gigabit vision at the heart of a plan to be recognized as one of the world’s great small cities. Drawing inspiration from Chattanooga Gig, Dunedin has outlined a smart city framework that brings community together, and encourages innovation and enterprise. Its Gigatown plan identified key opportunities for smart infrastructure, engagement, accessibility and culture, health and medicine, digital inclusion, and a smart city hub, while creating a comprehensive community of engaged stakeholder groups.Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says Gigatown has awakened the city. “This has been a time for us to think about the possibilities that 1Gbps ultrafast broadband will open up for Dunedin,” Mayor Cull said. "Win or lose, the Gigatown competition has helped us focus on the fact that faster broadband is part of our future and, as a community, we need to be ready to make the best of that. Winning means we can bring the future forward much sooner.”
Bringing that future forward is where Alcatel-Lucent comes in, both as a significant technology and services partner with Chorus, and via the ng Connect Program, which has invested with Chorus in a development fund to support entrepreneurs and innovators taking new gigabit services to market in Dunedin. ng Connect will also work with Dunedin and other Gigatown finalists to foster innovation through collaboration and broadband vision.
While best known for its stately gold rush era buildings and as the home of New Zealand’s oldest university, Dunedin has gradually transformed and experienced the flourishing of niche industries such as engineering, software development, biotechnology and fashion. With Gigatown, it now has a new advantage to grow those and other sectors to become a true smart city of the world.
* Chorus will make a special 1Gbps UFB service available in Dunedin at entry level broadband prices.
Gigatown Dunedin - Plan for Gig Success from Virtual Eye on Vimeo.
]]>It goes without saying anymore that people and businesses in an increasingly connected world rely on the Internet for personal and commercial communication. We are also in the midst of a continuing migration of people are increasingly moving to cities as the world is becoming more urbanized. What has also become clear is that cities with a smart grid and a solid IP infrastructure thrive more than cities that do not. The case for the smart city has never been stronger.
First, the demographic shift: Roughly half of the world’s population lived in an urban area in 2010. By 2050, according to the World Health Organization, nearly 7 out of 10 people will live in an urban environment. Unsurprisingly, by 2025 there will be 37 mega-cities with a population above 10 million people, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
This alone should be reason for government and industry to come together and invest in the network resources to support this city population. But there is good economic reason, too.
Cities with good broadband infrastructure reap the benefits, according to stats compiled in a recent TechZine posting, Smart cities are built on smart networks, by Marc Jadoul, Strategic Marketing Director, and Jacques Vermeulen, Director, Global Solution Leader for Smart Government, Alcatel-Alcatel-Lucent. As the authors note, a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration produces between 0.25 and 3.6 percent growth in GDP, and 80 new jobs are created for every 1,000 additional broadband users. Further, broadband is responsible for 20 percent of new jobs across all businesses, and 30 percent of new jobs in businesses with less than 20 employees.
But what does it mean to be a smart city?
First, it means having a city-net based on wireline and wireless broadband networks that give access to a high-capacity IP and optical communications infrastructure.
Second, it means investment. Smart cities invest in data centers and a government cloud, control platforms for multimedia and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
Third, once the foundation is laid, the city’s public infrastructure (including buildings, public space, roads, traffic lights, parking, etc.) is optimized for peak efficiency and environmental preservation.
“Elements like a smart grid helps reduce CO2 footprint and energy bills, and wireless sensors can continuously monitor and control pollution, lighting, and waste,” noted the Alcatel-Lucent blog post.
Fourth, entrepreneurship is leveraged to create new applications to enrich daily life of all citizens. New York City, for instance, relies upon third-party developers for apps that make its metro easier to navigate.
Participation is also key. In fact, community engagement is a crucial factor for successful smart city rollout. This includes citizen participation, feedback loops, as well as social media interaction and dedicated community portals.
The case for the smart city is obvious. But will government heed the call.
Triple play was a good start. But Cable multiple-system operators (MSOs) must continue their evolution.
Cable MSOs have been leading the residential entertainment and communication services segment for years. The expansion of their service offerings from broadcast video to video-on-demand, high-speed Internet and voice has enabled MSOs to expand their market share in the face of changing technology and viewing preferences. But to stay competitive, cable MSOs cannot rest on their laurels.
The explosion of connected devices, competition building Gigabit networks over fiber, the expansion of over-the-top applications such as Skype and the evolution of higher quality video such as 4K resolution are demanding that cable MSOs continue to beef up their access networks.
The access technology of choice for most cable MSOs is some form of passive optical network (PON) technology. There are four leading PON variants.
First, there is Ethernet PON (EPON). This delivers 1 Gbps symmetrical bandwidth, which is good for speeds of multiple 100 Mbps. Being symetrical, this technology is best suited for commercial services.
Second, there is 10G EPON. It provides 10 Gbps symmetrical bandwidth to cover the needs of multiple 1 Gbps.
The third option is GPON. GPON delivers bandwidth of 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.25 Gbps upstream, and is the most widely deployed PON technology in fiber networks worldwide, according to a recent blog TechZine post by Els Baert , Fixed Networks Product Manager, Alcatel-Lucent, Cable MSOs—Full speed ahead with PON
Then there is TWDM PON, the newest evolution of PON technologies. TWDM PON stacks multiple wavelengths on the same fiber, and each wavelength provides a variety of upstream and downstream bandwidths: 2.5G/1.25G, 10G/1G and 10G/10G.
“Considering these options, our recommendation is a combination of 10G EPON and DPoE [CableLabs’ DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON],” noted Baert. She added that: “Together they allow cable MSOs to extend their reach into the mid-market and large enterprise segments while preparing for the Gigabit needs of residential customers.”
Whatever PON technology cable MSOs choose, however, they can scarcely afford to stop evolving and growing their IP networks.
]]>Anyone who knows “futbol” (aka “soccer” in the U.S. and “football” elsewhere) knows how enormously popular it is in Latin America. Hence, being able to provide as many fans as possible great inside and particularly remote from stadium user experiences has become something of an obsession. Illustrative of this is that thanks to its newly installed 100G ultra-broadband network, Colombia’s mobile provider, UNE, was able to debut widespread streaming video services in time for the recent 2014 FIFA World Cup. This meant its subscribers could have quality viewing experiences over their smart TVs, tablets and smartphones.
Columbia, like many countries, is in the midst of an explosion in interest in streaming video, and meeting this demand meant need, of course, requires better infrastructure. In fact, Columbia has been working hard to build its high-speed infrastructure, and it has grown its Internet connectivity by roughly 300 percent in the past 2.5 years, according to a recent Alcatel-Lucent case study, UNE Secures Colombia’s Ultra-broadband Future with 100Gbps Network.
Colombia’s growing its infrastructure highlights some of the problems that are common with connectivity in emerging economies—namely, dealing with the needs of large territories with widely dispersed urban centers and chronic constraints on NOC space and power consumption.
“Integrating the legacy infrastructure—in this case, the optics management system and unused fiber—with the ultra-broadband network, is also daunting on the professional services front,” noted Earl Kennedy Earl Kennedy, IP Transport Product Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent, in a recent TechZine article on the UNE network deployment. “Indeed, the heart of UNE’s challenge is nation-building—extending UNE’s fiber-optic network to connect 1,053 municipalities, 50 percent of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and 50 percent of Colombian households by the end of this year.”
As a result, the top priority for UNE is to sustain momentum by growing capacity.
To meet this challenge, UNE looked to Alcatel-Lucent for its optical 100G infrastructure.
“We needed integration for the management system that we had been using for several years, and we were able to gain peace-of-mind knowing that the previous technology, which also had been deployed by Alcatel-Lucent, and had served us well, would be easier to integrate with the new network,” noted Alejandro Toro, network engineering and operations director for UNE.
He added: “Other considerations, such as the maturity of the platform, capacity, and power efficiency, posed even bigger challenges, and Alcatel-Lucent exceeded the qualifications of other providers for addressing those.”
The Alcatel-Lucent solution provided the relief that the capacity-strapped UNE needed, bridged incomplete fiber spans up to 180 kilometers long, and did it all with significantly less space and power use than the typical deployment requires.
And, Alcatel-Lucent did it in time for the FIFA World Cup, making Columbia’s sports fans very, very happy.
]]>
Conventional wisdom seems to be that rural America moves a little slower than other parts of the country. That isn’t necessarily always true, however – especially not in the case of rural areas served by Alcatel-Lucent’s ultra-broadband gigabit technology.
In fact, such areas are among the country’s elite when it comes to ultra-fast connectivity, as highlighted in a recent Alcatel-Lucent paper, Municipality Rural Ultra-Broadband .
Chattanooga, Tenn., for example, already has gigabit services in place, serving more than 100,000 home and businesses via its municipal electric utility. Alcatel-Lucent built this network, which was the first gigabit network in the U.S., for Chattanooga in 2008.
Opelika, Ala., has an Alcatel-Lucent-powered gigabit FTTH network in place that generates millions in triple play revenue, which means the town should be able to earn back its investment in this infrastructure – which serves 5,000 customers – in less than five years. And Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative’s Bolt Fiber Optic Services is just getting ready to flip the switch on a new gigabit ultra-broadband network that will power end-to-end triple play solutions for 30,000 subscribers.
“Much of our original motivation to do this had to do with economic development and competition for services so that the citizens can have good, affordable options,” says David Horton, director of Opelika Power Services.
These efforts, of course, are just a few examples of what is possible with Alcatel-Lucent’s Gigabit Express solution, which provides an average connection speed that’s 100 times faster than the average speed available today in the United States. As indicated above, that means rural businesses and residential customers can leverage these connections not only to get ultra-fast broadband access to the Internet, but also to enjoy top-quality IPTV and voice experiences. Gigabit Express is also an ideal solution to support education, public safety, smart grid, and telemedicine applications.
The availability of ultra-broadband connectivity and the kinds of services and applications mentioned above, among others, can bridge the digital divide and enable rural communities to prosper. That encourages residents to bloom where they’re planted, and it can spur new growth by attracting business to these areas.
“Broadband access is the great equalizer, promising to affect rural communities in the 21st century as much as roads and highways did in the 20th, without compromising their small-town qualities,” notes Alcatel-Lucent.
]]>
It has been called the “data storm;” due to increased online video usage, the cloud, and mobile devices, bandwidth demand is increasing relentlessly, and operators are straining to keep up.
Research from Bell Labs suggests that from 2013 to 2017, operators will see a 550 percent increase in bandwidth demand due to the shift to cloud and a 720 percent increase in bandwidth to support IP video across fixed and mobile networks. This will result in a 320 percent increase in the amount of traffic in the core network.
“Telecom operators are starting to realize that simply increasing the line rate is no longer sufficient to control the costs associated with increasing bandwidth demands,” noted David Stokes of Alcatel-Lucent in a recent TechZine article, Optical transport networks and bandwidth demand. In fact, we really are seeing exponential traffic growth as recent research from Bell Labs below shows expected traffic growth from 2013 to 2017.
Source: Alcatel-Lucent
As Stokes explains in a podcast on the subject, Optical transport networks (OTN) are increasingly being used to help meet this demand. OTN is a set of optical network elements connected by optical fiber links that provides transport, multiplexing, switching, management, supervision and survivability of optical channels carrying client signals.
A recent survey by Infonetics predicted that by 2016, 86 percent of respondents plan to use OTN switching in the core of their networks.
“OTN allows the photonic network to inherently support multiple protocols,” notes Stokes. “Transport rates have been defined to maximize network utilization for a photonic network carrying many different service types.”
The advantages of OTN for telecom operators are many, leading to an overall lower total cost of ownership for those that employ the technology.
Specifically, OTN enables better capacity utilization by eliminating stranded bandwidth and maximizing wavelength utilization. Through OTN, it is possible to add resiliency to legacy photonic networks where resiliency was previously not possible. Also, OTN can bring better service utilization and provisioning because OTN switching makes it easier for telecom providers to make service additions and changes.
“With optical transport networking, telecom operators can move to a single converged network capable of cost-effectively and efficiently transporting new and legacy services in a way that maximizes network utilization,” noted Stokes.
Given that demand is not expected to slow down any time soon, the converged network enabled by OTN cannot come quickly enough.
]]>Optical network operators have already made the move to 100G. But skyrocketing bandwidth demand means many are already pondering what’s next. With a 200G optical solution hitting the market, you probably have questions about when to move to 200G optical – and what you need to know when you make that move.
200G Optical: Move to Metro Creates Demand
If you are like most optical network operators, you are looking to move content closer to your end users. This is a good option to meet skyrocketing demand and relieve some of the pressure on today’s networks. While this is a practical solution, it will have consequences — dramatically shifting traffic from the optical core to the metro network.
As a result, you will need to bring long haul-type efficiencies to your metro. Agility, scalability, and software configurability will become increasingly critical.
Suddenly the question isn’t whether the market will go beyond 100G, but how soon. The 100G networks that were practically unimaginable four years ago already appear to have a finite shelf life.
Beyond 100G: What’s Next
When transitioning beyond 100G, there are a few considerations. Now that a 200G solution is commercially available and deployed by some operators, it’s an interesting option to consider. It gives you an immediate doubling in your capacity – so it’s very attractive purely to accommodate demand when and as you need it. But what are some of the other key ingredients you will want to see in your solution? It’s simple. You will want your solution to be:
And of course, it needs to be cost-efficient in order to support your return on investment.
200G Optical Networks: Critical Features
Let’s take a look at why each of these ingredients is so critical to deploying a successful 200G optical solution.
Agile
Today network operators are looking for solutions that optimize IP and optical networking equipment to reduce layers and complexity. They want one platform that collapses multiple networks into a single dynamic and reconfigurable multiservice, multilayer infrastructure that is efficient and agile. This will allow providers to support rapid delivery of high-performance, on-demand, application-driven network services.
Operators want network solutions that deliver multi-technology, multiservice architectures that serve as a single platform for applications such as business wholesale, mobile backhaul, IPTV, datacenter connectivity and enterprise vertical applications.
Scalable
Metro networks are forecasted to grow 560% in total traffic by the end of 2017. In order to meet that demand, networks deployed today will have to be scalable. The ability of a network to scale and aggregate wavelengths from 10G to 100G to 200G and beyond is of the utmost importance. It’s essential to meet the demand for dynamic services economically with terabit-scale and multilayer networking technologies in order to deliver a broad set of services at the most economical layer.
A flexible “metro core” architecture that supports network convergence with minimal impact to service operations or organizations is a vital part of moving metro networks forward. A scalable solution provides investment protection with the ability to double network capacity when you need it without incurring the upfront cost of buying twice the capacity you require today.
SDN-ready
Networks will need to address unpredictable and dynamic traffic demands as the number and complexity of services continue to grow. An optical network solution that is software configurable simplifies operations, increases service velocity and automates provisioning. Software defined networking (SDN) and a control plane automate the process of activating optical services.
SDN offers the promise of greater network agility and efficiency through multilayer resource discovery and control as well as dynamic path selection. Based on policy driven provisioning, SDN simplifies and automates service creation resulting in rapid service innovation and delivery. Solutions that are software configurable lay the framework needed to implement SDN in the future.
A software configurable 100G/200G solution that allows a doubling of capacity with the touch of a button, results in a faster time to revenue.
Cost-efficiency
A network that is agile, scalable and programmable is critical to minimizing CAPEX and OPEX. Agile optical networks are able to meet demand for dynamic services economically. Scalable solutions that prevent costly overbuilds and recurring investments in space and power will be paramount going forward.
A programmable solution drives higher network utilization without sacrificing network or service reliability.
Finally optical network intelligence helps to monetize network assets by shortening delivery times and reducing operating expenses typically associated with provisioning and maintenance.
Protect your optical network
To keep up with surging broadband traffic volumes, service providers in virtually every market are moving their optical transmission networks to 40G and 100G. But how long will this be enough? Consider a move to 200G. You can protect your network from the prospect of premature fiber exhaustion. And you can avoid investment in costly photonic overlays.
Podcast Link.
Find out more about the Alcatel-Lucent 200G optical solution
Bright House Networks loved its 1G Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). But there was just one problem: demand was increasing, and 1G EPON was quickly becoming not enough.
The cable multiple system operator, the sixth largest owner and operator of cable systems in the United States, serves roughly 2.5 million subscribers with its video, high-speed data, home security and automation and voice services.
Bright House Networks is a proponent of EPON because it allows the company to provision multiple customers onto one fiber and still provide dedicated bandwidth without oversubscription. It is their preferred way to accelerate the transformation of their network to an all IP ultra-broadband infrastructure.
“We’re big fans of EPON because it fundamentally lowers the cost of our last mile infrastructure to provide fiber-based services to commercial businesses,” Craig Cowden, senior VP of network engineering, operations and enterprise solutions at Bright House, said in a recent case study. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving. There are benefits from day one.”
But increasing bandwidth needs, especially from cellular providers trying to meet mobile video demand, were starting to require ultra-broadband for cable that reached speeds beyond 300 Mb per tower. This required 10G EPON.
Bright House selected Alcatel-Lucent for the upgrade, and this has led the company to use the Alcatel-Lucent 7360 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) FX product family card and optical network unit (ONU). The solution can simultaneously support multiple fiber technologies including 1G EPON, GPON, CWDMP2P and 10G-EPON, and the 7360 ISAM FX also has DOCSIS provisioning of EPON (DPoE) integrated into the platform.
By having DPoE integrated, Bright House will be more easily able to provision and support fiber-based services on a greater scale. It also will reduce operational expenses by allowing them to activate and manage EPON-based network services while using DOCSIS-based back office systems.
“Alcatel-Lucent really helped us to be near the leading edge with that solution, and the 10G EPON solution we’re currently deploying from Alcatel-Lucent will help match our enterprise customer and cellular backhaul capacity requirements for the foreseeable future,” noted Cowden.
The 10G EPON service will initially be used to provide commercial business services for enterprise customers. But it also will be used for purely symmetrical services that are generally not technically feasible with many other access technologies, use both 1G and multi-G services on the same EPON link, leverage higher individual speed services, and deliver guaranteed high-bandwidth throughput for mission-critical end-user applications.
Bright House knows it must always stay ahead of demand, however, so plans are already being considered for 100G deployment.
“We have traditionally been an early investor in next gen network technologies that enable capabilities that set us above the competition,” said Cowden. “10G EPON with DPoE continues that legacy, and we look forward to continuing that technology journey to solve our customers’ needs.”
]]>As leaders in Europe debate whether the EU is “back” during the World Economic Forum, the region is increasingly falling behind when it comes to telecommunications, according to Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes.
“There is a real danger,” noted Combes in a recent blog post on Europe’s digital divide (published in the Wall Street Journal, “that Europe is losing ground in the information era.”
That’s because there is an increasing gap between what the latest smartphones can deliver and what Europe’s telecommunications companies can support due to a price war that inhibits infrastructure upgrades.
“Europe is locked in a vicious circle of competition focused exclusively on price, one that forces operators to reduce their investments and destroys their innovation capacity,” noted Combes. “This type of competition is bad news for a digital Europe and its consumers.”
The digital agenda in Europe needs to be reset by the likes of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) and others. Telecommunications investment in the order of between €110 and €170 billion will be needed by 2020 if the region is to keep pace with the rest of the world in terms of cellular infrastructure and innovation. Failure could cost Europe €750 billion in lost GDP growth, and as many as 5.5 million highly-skilled jobs for young qualified European graduates.
“That’s a high price to pay for accepting life in a slow-motion telecoms world,” he noted.
What Europe must do, first and foremost, is move to an all-IP network infrastructure, supported by a virtualized infrastructures based on cloud technology.
Combes also suggested that Europe must invest more in applications and analytics and capabilities such as SDN and NFV.
“Today eight out of the top 10 global Internet platforms are American,” he wrote, and the two others are Chinese. “A new model of international work distribution seems to be taking shape in which the profitable operators are in the U.S. and the American Internet platforms are taking most of the residual value in Europe, while the application development centers are in India and the manufacturing is in China.”
Europe led the way when it came to 3G deployment, but now it is being left behind.
To fix the problem, operators need to end a competition model that is only based on reducing prices in the short term. Spectrum allocation also needs to be reviewed, and shared and efficient policies on net neutrality must be crafted to allow operators to differentiate themselves and revive investment.
“We also need to come back down to earth and stop thinking that the telecom sector can continue with 120 operators in Europe, subject to rules and procedures that change from one country to another,” Combes boldly wrote.
If Europe is not to fall too far behind, its digital agenda must tackle the recent decline in telecommunications. Importantly, as Combes stated, it must do so with a sense of urgency and purpose.
]]>It seems these days that no matter how much bandwidth and services multiple systems operators (MSOs) it is not enough. Subscribers want higher quality user experiences not just for their televisions but for the exploding number of other network connected devices they possess which are multiple media bandwidth hungry.
Even if cable MSOs can meet current demands the pressure to go faster is intense, especially when the competition is only a click and a quick connection away. This need for speed to the market and in the market is placing increasing strains on cable system architectures and creating a need to accelerate cable network IP transformation.
As Time Warner Cable senior director and chief network architect Michael S. Kelsen has written: “Cable operators are seeing their network capacity requirements double approximately every 24 months to keep up with customer demand and the launch of new services.”
One way to cope with increasing capacity demands is ensuring cable operators have a flexible network edge. A flexible network edge helps maintain growth but reduces costs at the edge of the network by supporting the evolution of residential, commercial and even mobile services.
This simplified, flexible cable hub architecture at the edge can help in a number of ways, including the simplification of multiple routers and protocols that make deployment more complex and rigid. It also can remove dependence on less-capable IP routing platforms such as today’s cable modem termination system that limits the cable operator’s ability to effectively leverage the benefits of IP, scaling and service functionality at the cable edge.
A flexible edge means that cable MSOs will have an IP service routing plane that can be deployed behind multiple technology access networks including current and future DOCSIS, point-to-point Fiber, PON and Carrier Wi-Fi, and deliver a converged service network while also enabling cable operators to transition their access networks for the latest requirements.
“In my opinion the flexible cable edge hub architecture will provide a number of benefits that help solve the challenges cable operators face today,” noted Nicholas Cadwgan in a recent TechZine posting, Cable Operators Get the Edge on Capacity & Cost.
These benefits include a simplified cable hub that also allows for a migration from existing network architecture to a future mode of operation, the introduction of new technologies that can evolve independently, and the delivery of common personalized and differentiated services consistently across multiple access technologies. It also can accelerate service innovation, and it provides a platform for future migration towards new network paradigms such as network personal video recorder, virtual customer premises equipment and cloud applications.
There’s never enough for subscribers. Cable operators will just have to get used to it and make sure they have the cable architecture to support continued growth.
]]>With this as context of its consideration of how best move to next generation communications capabilities, UPMC, a Western Pennsylvania healthcare provider, turned to Alcatel-Lucent to upgrade its IP and optical networking capabilities, starting at its core, so it could better accommodate and leverage the large data sets that are gathered on a regular basis. And, at the HIMSS event in the U.S., the annual conference and exposition for healthcare information technology professionals and their suppliers, UPMC’s selection of Alcatel-Lucent to better enable critical communications services to doctors’ offices, hospitals and other sites throughout Western Pennsylvania was announced.
A key component of the new network will be Alcatel-Lucent’s 7950 Extensible Routing System (XRS). This solution is positioned by the company as the most powerful IP core router on the global market. In working with UPMC, Alcatel-Lucent will also provide advanced 100G fiber-optic technology to support the needs of the organization’s network.
“Here at UPMC we see our network as a vital tool to support our mission – providing our patients with world-class healthcare,” said William Hanna, Vice President, Technical Services, Information Services Division of UPMC. “Our ongoing network modernization is ensuring that we remain at the forefront of healthcare innovation. This new project with Alcatel-Lucent, the latest step in our long-standing collaboration, will enable us to not only increase the capacity of our network, but to make our entire enterprise smarter and more efficient, and ultimately improve patient care throughout the UPMC system.”
This new 7950 XRS core router is based on the 400G FP3 chipset, providing a significant boost in efficiency, capacity and flexibility within IP networks. At the same time, the technology reduces power consumption and increases operational efficiency. Telefonica and Belgacom both recently deployed the 7950 XRS and are enjoying the increased capacity. And, in a recent Alcatel-Lucent blog, Alcatel-Lucent’s new core router – Off to a BIG start!", the company shares the early enthusiasm for the 7950 XRS which has more than 20 trials either underway or complete and also has six service providers confirmed as wanting to evolve their core networks using this technology.
Michel Emelianoff, President of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise said: “The ‘big data’ needs of large-scale enterprises such as UPMC are breaking down the barriers between traditional IT systems and communications networks. This project with UPMC offers a great example of how advanced IP and fiber optic technologies can enhance the operations of enterprises in a wide array of fields. We are particularly thrilled to play such a critical role in bringing improved healthcare services to the communities that UPMC serves.”
According to Alcatel-Lucent, a majority of its 7950 XRS wins are IP core network transformations that are driving away from 10G into the era of 100G or even beyond. As cloud service, video and the proliferations of wireless devices continue to change the dynamics of the network, changes have to be made to support the demand today and into the future.
Given all of the government mandates surrounding data storage, retention and access management, the explosion of data in general, and the need for enterprises of all sizes to able to share the value of structured and unstructured data and derive actionable insights that can drive more efficient performance and sustainable business advantage, we are going to see more and more enterprises upgrading their entire network infrastructures. It starts with rethinking the core and includes a healthy dose of fiber.
]]>Demands on broadband providers have been nothing short of intense the last few years. The predicted “data storm” has arrived and users now expect more flexibility, capability, quality performance, and access to rich applications and features. This can be a challenge for service providers trying to meet the need, but is also creating new opportunities and revenue streams when challenges are overcome to improve service delivery overall.
A recent Alcatel-Lucent blog, Connecting the World – from Innovation to Reality, highlights these opportunities. Author Dave Geary, President Alcatel-Lucent Wireline, points out the socio-economic benefits of broadband. And, while we’re aware of the increase in mobility and growing demand for access, there are also a few other stats that may be surprising for some vendors, including that wirelines still mater.
For instance, did you know that:
Even at a young age, we feel a constant need to stay connected. Yet at the same time, much of the world is still not connected to available to what Alcatel-Lucent calls High Leverage Networks.
For instance, while 80 percent of users in North America have access to high speed connections, there are still 75 million who are unserved. In APAC, more than a billion people are connected, but that’s only 25 percent of the population and three billion are still unserved. In fact, 4.5 billion people throughout the world do not have broadband service.
This represents considerable opportunity for broadband service providers able to reach this target audience – the underserved. Telkom South Africa is in the process of connecting 4 million subscribers through a combination of fiber and copper technologies. Telmex and Oi in LATAM have launched similar initiatives, and fiber networks are being rapidly rolled out in China by China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom.
Even with this progress, however, it’s not enough to just stay connected. It’s also important to ensure new and existing subscribers have access to the bandwidth they need, while also supporting the applications and services they want access to. As a result, Geary says that service providers need to establish bandwidth targets based on the population they serve.
In doing so, they need to leverage new technologies that will deliver higher bitrates. For instance, Belgacom plans to offer 50Mbps to all subscribers using the VDSL Vectoring; KPN relies on P2P fiber to push out 500Mbps and Vectoring will soon be used to improve overall performance; and massive programs have been adopted by Verizon and AT&T as they focus on LTE and delivering speeds up to 1Gbps.
These examples demonstrate a clear effort on the part of service providers to try and meet a very real and growing need to reach those who are not connected and improve services for those who are. In the process, the deployment of robust infrastructures, the high leverage network and strategic plans with realistic and measurable outcomes will enable real and profitable progress that enable users to get to fast faster and service providers to monetize the need for speed faster as well.
Whether it be bringing wired broadband to customers by cost-effectively upgrading existing copper plant with VDSL2 in a timely manner or installing new fiber optics, wires still matter in enabling the under and un-served the vital links they need to be part of the connected world.
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