September 2015

How Telecom Benefits from IoT: Life and Death Security Implications

September 28, 2015June 3, 2016 by , posted in Het Nets, Internet of Things, Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband

Summary Bullets:

Network security is moving from something that has traditionally been seen as being “baked in” to an overt aspect of vendor solution marketing as all IP-based telecom and IoT networks proliferate.
As IoT security steps increasingly into the light, telecom network operators and vendors have a chance to win business in a number of vertical markets that have been previously out of their “sweet spot.”

The other day, I was invited to hear Ethernet co-inventor Bob Metcalfe participate in a live stream interview at RCR Wireless’ studios in Austin, TX. During the talk, professor Metcalfe touched on a range of topics including the history of Ethernet development, entrepreneurship and IoT networking requirements. While all good stuff, the part of the interview I found most interesting dealt with IoT security, particularly as it pertains to securing the networks needed to enable driverless cars on a mass-market scale. (For those interested, the gist of the automotive security discussion begins at about 25:30 of the video). Continue reading “How Telecom Benefits from IoT: Life and Death Security Implications” →

Hardware Disaggregation: Generating Site and Network-Wide Requirements

September 25, 2015 by , posted in Net Transformation, SDN/NFV

Summary Bullets:

Network element disaggregation drives an immediate need for open operating systems for the separate elements.
The SDN control needs to focus on the end-to-end network rather than the multiple network elements at a site.

In a blog last month (Hardware Disaggregation: Truly SDN-Optimized Network Elements?), I observed that software-defined networking (SDN) can orchestrate the separate traffic forwarding functions – wavelength switching, TDM (SONET/SDH/OTN) switching, packet switching and optical transport – allowing disaggregation of functions previously performed in a single packet-optical switching platform. After noting in a blog earlier this month that demand for this disaggregation exists beyond the theoretical (Hardware Disaggregation: Demand Extending Beyond Expectations), it is now time to consider what is required to provide network element disaggregation (or, in the rest of this blog, simply disaggregation). Continue reading “Hardware Disaggregation: Generating Site and Network-Wide Requirements” →

For ADTRAN, 200 Reasons Why Gigabit Access Is Relevant

September 24, 2015 by , posted in Ultra Broadband

Summary Bullets:

ADTRAN’s August 2015 announcement highlighting its more than 200 networks supporting Gigabit access speeds demonstrates the growing relevance, and demand, for ultra-broadband fixed access services, despite ongoing skepticism about the need for Gigabit-speed connections.
With ADTRAN’s FTTH solutions enabling Gigabit connectivity – primarily for telcos but also for several cable operators – operators will become increasingly compelled to upgrade their networks to respond to competitive pressures, driving additional opportunities for networking equipment vendors.

ADTRAN, while certainly not the largest or most aggressive telecom equipment vendor in the market, has still garnered the rather notable superlative of being the first vendor to claim enabling more than 200 customer networks that offer Gigabit access speeds. While many of ADTRAN’s Gigabit customers are smaller telcos and cable companies in the unique North American market (where there are over 1,200 Tier 2 and Tier 3 service providers), this does not diminish the fact that ADTRAN’s 200-plus Gigabit-enabled communities/networks benchmark is quite an achievement. Continue reading “For ADTRAN, 200 Reasons Why Gigabit Access Is Relevant” →

TEOCO: Supports the 5G Innovation Center, but Backing Does Not Alter Portfolio Limits

September 23, 2015 by , posted in OSS/BSS/CEM, SDN/NFV

Summary Bullets:

TEOCO unveiled its support for the 5G Innovation Center in a bid to elevate its ecosystem influence in the nascent development of 5G technology, especially with starting gate inclusion of SON capabilities.
TEOCO needs to develop or acquire orchestration platforms to ensure it can play a pivotal role in operator adoption of 5G technology, particularly in relation to OSS transformation aspects.

TEOCO’s decision to back the 5G Innovation Center (5GIC), located at the University of Surrey (UK), yielded a sales and marketing opportunity to promote its network planning and optimization portfolio for use and application at the 5GIC. The TEOCO portfolio assets include:

Helix, its cloud-based platform designed to provide service assurance with real-time analytics and machine learning;
ASSET, its radio planning product which includes small-cell planning; and
DIMENSION, developed for end-to-end visualization and capacity planning.

Continue reading “TEOCO: Supports the 5G Innovation Center, but Backing Does Not Alter Portfolio Limits” →

CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day Three – Was It a Worthwhile Show?

September 17, 2015 by , posted in Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

The question of whether or not CTIA’s Super Mobility Week was a successful event is more than just an interesting topic of conversation; it’s an important consideration for any vendor or service provider investing their time (and trade show budget) in it.
The answer to the question is “it depends,” with the greatest value coming to anyone who wants to hear from, or message to, major U.S. service providers.

If you’ve read our last few posts about Day Zero, Day One, and Day Two of CTIA’s Super Mobility Week, you already know that we think 5G, IoT and SDN/NFV were the most important themes. Our assessment is hardly unique. Most people we talked with agreed that IoT and 5G (including 5G technologies like virtualization) dominated the trade show floor discussions in Las Vegas. Continue reading “CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day Three – Was It a Worthwhile Show?” →

CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day Two – The IoT Network Wars

September 16, 2015June 3, 2016 by , posted in Internet of Things, Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

Broadly, 5G and IoT technologies were the dominant themes of CTIA’s Super Mobility Week.
On the IoT front, network technology evolutions and launches – particularly focused on low-data, long-lived applications – came to the fore.
The different approaches to support low-power wide area IoT connectivity come with different time lines and value propositions; a battle is brewing.

CTIA’s Super Mobility Week ran through Friday. But, given a third and final day that was supremely quiet, many people considered the official day two to be the end. In other words, if you’re looking for major takeaways, you probably weren’t surprised past Thursday. Heck, anyone reading my post from last Tuesday probably already figured out the show’s key themes were 5G and IoT. Continue reading “CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day Two – The IoT Network Wars” →

MEF 2.0 Service Certifications Still Necessary, 55 Service Providers Now Certified

September 14, 2015September 12, 2015 by Glen Hunt, posted in SDN/NFV

Summary Bullets:

• CE 2.0 certified services form the foundation for “Third Network” connectivity services, enabled by emerging Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO), SDN, and NFV technology solutions.

• Some 55 service providers, to date, have earned CE 2.0 service certification, with 16 added in 2015, showing that aside from the march to SDN/NFV utopia, fundamental service delivery remains king.

Using the MEF’s upcoming Gen15 networking event in Dallas as a backdrop, it is obvious that vendors and operators alike continue to see the merits of obtaining CE 2.0 service certification in order to deliver on fundamental Ethernet services. Not only are vendors and operators spending the resources necessary to obtain certification, but they are also actively engaged in the upcoming Gen15 event. During 2015, trials and PoCs involving NFV and SDN are clearly moving to the very real beginnings of deployment – this is where the value of CE 2.0 really begins to shine. Not only can operators continue to offer an industry standard set of Ethernet services (E-LAN, E-Line, E-Tree and E-Access), but now with the added agility that is promised by NFV implementations (e.g., CE 2.0 as a virtual network function [VNF]), and with broad industry cooperation, customers can also expect that these more dynamic services will continue to be interoperable across vendor platforms and across multiple operators.
Continue reading “MEF 2.0 Service Certifications Still Necessary, 55 Service Providers Now Certified” →

Hardware Disaggregation: Demand Extending Beyond Expectations

September 11, 2015 by , posted in Net Transformation, SDN/NFV

Summary Bullets:

ICPs are deploying disaggregated solutions across their networks; data center operator interest in specialized DCI solutions for data centers also reflects this trend.
AT&T appears to have taken up the trend as it deploys disaggregated OLTs and proposes disaggregation of additional network equipment.

As I pointed out in a blog post last month, the capabilities introduced by SDN set the stage to present a radical possibility for the network: network element disaggregation (or, in the rest of this post, simply disaggregation). Though this concept would appear to be strictly in the purview of the academic community, several large network operators have called for disaggregation (either by name or perhaps by other names) over the past year. Demand for disaggregation exists beyond the theoretical. Continue reading “Hardware Disaggregation: Demand Extending Beyond Expectations” →

CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day One – SDN/NFV and C-RAN Insights

September 10, 2015 by , posted in Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

An opportunity to moderate two educational sessions at CTIA’s Super Mobility Week provided insights into the state of network virtualization and cloud RAN (C-RAN).
While it’s understood that C-RAN might not be an appropriate technology for every operator deployment scenario, the opportunity to leverage Ethernet fronthaul – enabled by split-baseband architectures – is seen as making it more broadly applicable.
Virtualization, meanwhile, has progressed to the point where it’s a network agenda item for every operator – even if many are still in an investigation phase.
From increased vendor participation in standards bodies to operator cataloging of their transport assets, there’s plenty of ideas for how to help move both technologies faster.

Conspiracy theorists would have us believe that Apple scheduled its ‘Ask Siri’ event to upstage CTIA’s Super Mobility Week. While it’s unclear what Apple would have to gain from this move, it’s fair to say that the events taking place in San Francisco (where Apple made its announcements) dominated many conversations in Las Vegas (where Super Mobility Week was taking place). It’s also fair to say that most conversations at CTIA’s annual trade show had nothing to do with Apple, or devices at all. If nothing else, we already noted yesterday that 5G was set to be a major show topic, including key 5G component technologies like C-RAN, SDN and NFV. Continue reading “CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day One – SDN/NFV and C-RAN Insights” →

CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day Zero – 5G Comes to America

September 9, 2015 by , posted in Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

Six months out from Mobile World Congress, CTIA’s Super Mobility Week provides an opportunity to take the wireless market’s pulse – even if with a North American bias.
Even before the 2015 edition officially kicked off, it was clear that 5G was going to be a dominant theme.

There’s no shortage of opinions about the value or importance of CTIA’s Super Mobility Week. Some vendors – Ericsson and Microsoft, for example – are showing up in full force. Others are opting out, figuring that it’s just not that good of an opportunity to meet with customers and prospects. Keynotes and CTO roundtables featuring every major U.S. operator, along with the FCC Chairman, highlight insights to be gleaned from the event. Yet, if you are in the mobile device business, you’re likely to think there are greater insights being gained in San Francisco, where Apple is revealing its latest innovations. Continue reading “CTIA Super Mobility Week: Day Zero – 5G Comes to America” →