Het Nets – Page 5

MWC 2014: 5G – More Relevant Today Than You Might Think

March 4, 2014March 4, 2014 by , posted in Het Nets, Ultra Broadband

As the tail-end of February rolled around, there were only two things I felt comfortable saying about “5G” with any certainty:

1. Given South Korea’s penchant for using the international event to showcase technological wonders, Pyeongchang would likely be hosting 5G demos, along with the next Winter Olympics four years from now.

2. In the meantime, the 2014 edition of Mobile Word Congress would include its fair share of 5G messaging and positioning.

Coming out of MWC 2014, then, it’s worth reflecting on whether or not I can say much more.

The answer is: yes, but just barely. Continue reading “MWC 2014: 5G – More Relevant Today Than You Might Think” →

Mobile World Congress 2014: What Operators Should Look For – Backhaul

January 29, 2014 by Glen Hunt, posted in Het Nets, SDN/NFV

Summary Bullets:

Mobile World Congress represents the best opportunity for operators to track backhaul evolutions.
Backhaul should be a hot topic again, since the backhaul network is clearly a point of both contention and opportunity.
A number of themes should dominate the backhaul discussion: self-organizing network (SON) and automation, scalability, convergence; using routers, switches, microwave and advanced copper-based solutions.

When we launched our backhaul coverage around 2005-2006, the backhaul network discussion was just beginning to transition from TDM to packet; for some, the thought of using a wildly unpredictable packet model to support mobile traffic was considered heresy. However, 3G mobile data was beginning to rock the boat and IP was beginning to make its way into the mobile core network. The backhaul portion of the network then began a rather slow and painful evolution, driven not by choice but by necessity. The primary concerns were how to install more T1 or E1 circuits in a timely fashion to satisfy meager bandwidth increases and whether packet technology could ever provide the resiliency and accurate timing and synchronization so fondly held by TDM proponents. Flash forward to today and seldom is a TDM discussion heard, and packet discussions are all about capacity and throughput – not surprising given the real demands being placed on the network as a result of LTE. However, the bigger discussion centers around using multiple media types and the ability to ease operator pain points related to configuration and ongoing operations; in comes an SDN vision for backhaul. Continue reading “Mobile World Congress 2014: What Operators Should Look For – Backhaul” →

Mobile World Congress 2014: What Operators Should Look For – Small Cells

January 29, 2014 by , posted in Het Nets, Ultra Broadband

Small cells at Mobile World Congress? How two years ago. The last time we all met in Barcelona, even the juggling magicians of small-cell hype couldn’t compete with the fire-eating trapeze act of software-defined networking and network function virtualization. This year is probably going to be more like 2013 than 2012.

Still, small cells will be there in volume, just as surely as there will be meager slices of Iberian ham hidden inside crusty loaves of bread. So, what can small-cell enthusiasts expect to see at this year’s show? Here are some things to look for: Continue reading “Mobile World Congress 2014: What Operators Should Look For – Small Cells” →

Will Chinese LTE Rollouts Help Transform ZTE?

January 9, 2014January 9, 2014 by , posted in Het Nets, SDN/NFV, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

ZTE stands at an inflection point – will it grow increasingly regional or global?
Massive Chinese LTE rollouts provide an opportunity for transformation

Coming back from the New Year holiday, a wave of déjà vu made me question what year I was in as I read ZTE’s announcement of “organizational changes.” Didn’t the vendor implement organizational changes awhile back? Some of the same vague concepts mentioned in that previous reorganization seemed to echo in this new one – its infrastructure business vowing to “intensify its focus on key areas of higher profitability” (whatever those might be). At least on the infrastructure side, are these changes more of the same? Continue reading “Will Chinese LTE Rollouts Help Transform ZTE?” →

Small Cells: Will Operators Be Willing to Share?

December 10, 2013 by , posted in Het Nets, Ultra Broadband

Summary Bullets:

Conventional wisdom says operators won’t share small cells.
There’s reason to believe that could change in some areas.

“Operators don’t like to share.”

We hear it all the time. If small cells are the hot new toy this holiday season, we’ve already been warned that operators are not going to want to share them. There are some good reasons to use common, shared infrastructure (whether small cells or backhaul or something similar): to distribute deployment and installation costs; to overcome the resistance of municipalities and other site owners to clusters of hanging boxes; and, for indoor/enterprise deployments, to address operator neutrality preferences. However, we’re told that operators want to control their own fate. They want their small-cell networks optimized for their unique needs. So – at least initially, while they’re trying to climb the learning curve of small-cell networks – they don’t want to have to play nice with anyone else to get what they need. Continue reading “Small Cells: Will Operators Be Willing to Share?” →

Altiostar + Cisco: Where’s the Connection?

December 6, 2013December 6, 2013 by , posted in Het Nets, Net Transformation, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

What Altiostar is working on, much less its connection to Cisco, will only become clear when the company comes out of stealth mode.
Cisco’s interests in new LTE RAN R&D would align well with C-RAN architectures.

We’ve all heard of Ötzi, right? No? Well, here’s what you need to know:

He lived around 3,300 BCE.
He was found – naturally mummified – by tourists off a walking trail in the Ötztal Alps (Austrian-Italian border).
He had a number of tattoos. Brad Pitt has a tattoo of him.
An arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder and bruises/cuts on his hands led researchers to speculate on the cause of his death.
Some people claim that Ötzi is cursed, with people involved in his discovery mysteriously dying.
When I build my next tech startup, it will be known as ÖTZIcom until it comes out of stealth mode.

Beyond some engaging discussion points for your next holiday party, what’s the point here? Ötzi reminds me a lot of your average stealth-mode startup. We don’t know a lot about them. Absent solid knowledge, a mythology builds up around them. They really aren’t impacting daily lives, but people get obsessed trying to figure them out. Which leads us back to Altiostar. Continue reading “Altiostar + Cisco: Where’s the Connection?” →

Who Is Altiostar?

December 5, 2013 by , posted in Het Nets, Net Transformation, Vendor Transformation

Summary Bullets:

Altiostar is a stealth-mode company focused on the LTE RAN; per an SEC filing, it has raised over $50 million and seems to have a connection to Cisco.
What, exactly, the connection between Cisco and Altiostar is remains to be seen, particularly in light of Cisco’s acquisition of Ubiquisys earlier this year.

Everyone loves a stealth-mode company.

Okay, we may not all love the companies, but we like talking about them. We like being a part of the “in crowd,” the people who are connected and have some knowledge that isn’t shared by everyone else. We like the intrigue and challenge of trying to figure out what the company is up to, particularly if it could be disruptive to our own business. And if it looks to be disruptive, we might even think we need to understand the company in order to stave off a future competitor. Continue reading “Who Is Altiostar?” →

Small Cell Backhaul: Tarana Knows a “Good Story” Isn’t Enough

November 22, 2013November 22, 2013 by , posted in Het Nets

Summary Bullets:

Tarana Wireless, a start-up small cell backhaul vendor, held its first Analyst Day on November 19th in Berkeley, CA.
While the event was important for lending insights into the company’s products and strategy, it was more important as an opportunity to see its solution in action – operating as promised.

Last week, looking back at the messaging out of Alcatel-Lucent’s Tech Symposium, we talked about the value of a “good story.” It wasn’t meant in a negative way. It wasn’t meant to suggest that the “story” was more important than products. Instead, where Alcatel-Lucent hasn’t always been expert at publicly showcasing its strengths, the value of a good story was simply meant to signify the importance of getting a coherent, compelling message into the market that addresses would-be customer demands.

Often, however, a good story simply isn’t enough. Continue reading “Small Cell Backhaul: Tarana Knows a “Good Story” Isn’t Enough” →

Ericsson’s NEST 2013: 5G and Using Network Slices to View the Forest for the Trees

November 21, 2013 by , posted in Het Nets, Net Transformation, OSS/BSS/CEM, SDN/NFV, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation

At its recently concluded Networked Society Forum (NEST), Ericsson brought together its senior leadership team, many of its customers, and a fair number of deep thinkers who make their living as “futurists.” The goal of the event was to stimulate some out-of-the-box thinking regarding future challenges that will face society as the world’s population becomes increasingly urban; one stat thrown around at the conference, for example, was that by 2050, 70% of the earth’s people will live in cities. Of course, as part of this discussion, Ericsson took care to cultivate the message that ICT networks are going to be at the center of many solutions aimed at maintaining and, hopefully, increasing quality of life as we will increasingly be forced to live our lives while encroaching on each other’s personal space. Continue reading “Ericsson’s NEST 2013: 5G and Using Network Slices to View the Forest for the Trees” →

Think You Know What Small Cells Are? You’re Wrong

November 18, 2013November 19, 2013 by , posted in Het Nets, Ultra Broadband

Summary Bullets:

Vendors are expanding the definition of “small cells.”
It’s not just a semantic question.

At this point in the small-cell hype cycle, you might think we’re far past the time when anyone could ask aloud what a small cell is without shame. However, the question is actually getting harder to answer, not easier. Continue reading “Think You Know What Small Cells Are? You’re Wrong” →