The need for universal aggregation
Dimitris Mavrakis, Senior Research Director, manages ABI Research’s telco network coverage, including telco cloud platforms, digital transformation, and mobile network infrastructure. Research topics include AI and machine learning technologies, telco software and applications, network operating systems, SDN, NFV, LTE diversity, and 5G.
Ciena has coined the term Universal Aggregation (UA) to describe a consistent switching and routing platform that can aggregate multiple traffic types – including TDM, Ethernet, IP, and 4G/5G – using dedicated and shared optical networks.
Since 2020, when it launched the UA model, Ciena has released several products that address this domain and the challenges telecom service providers face. In this article, we will address the demand side of this area and why concepts like UA are necessary so that service providers may continue operating healthy and profitable networks into the future.
UA underscores a fundamental paradigm shift that’s currently taking place across networks, and needs to accelerate. All aspects of the telecom network need to become platforms that can be automated, reused, and centrally orchestrated to maintain profitability and openness for future enterprise services.
Service provider challenges in 2022
Telecom service providers – especially mobile network operators – share a common set of challenges and opportunities in 2022, regardless of the market they are operating in :
- Consumer subscriptions are becoming saturated in all developed markets with little upsell opportunity for new generations, including 5G. Mobile network costs must be reduced, especially as 5G is being deployed nationwide.
- Service and network revenues need to increase to counter the CAPEX spent deploying 5G nationwide. Telecom operators now aim to address the enterprise domain, targeting large, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with new types of services.
- Hyperscalers have aggressively entered the market, addressing the very same enterprise verticals that service providers are targeting. Service providers need flexible, automated, and high-velocity networks to create new types of services and adapt to quickly changing enterprise and market demands.
- Current networks are a patchwork of technologies, vendors, and legacy equipment. This translates to high costs and complex management-and-upgrade procedures, especially when new services need network overlays. Service providers need to shift their networks to adaptable platforms that can support existing networks and future technologies.
UA and the need for platform strategies
The last point in the list above is one of the most important for the continued profitability of service providers.
All aspects of the telecom network now need to become platforms – including transport which is a make-or-break component of any telecom network.
This is why UA is an important concept. It combines traffic from multiple networks into a single transport platform that can be centrally orchestrated and automated. The existence of such a platform will create “network effects” that allow new service types to be created at a rapid pace at a time when the value of the network will increase in line with the number of applications of enterprise users.
UA underscores a fundamental paradigm shift that’s currently taking place across networks, and needs to accelerate. All aspects of the telecom network need to become platforms that can be automated, reused, and centrally orchestrated to maintain profitability and openness for future enterprise services.
The integration of these platforms through a central orchestrator is a foundational component of advanced services, including network slicing and service chaining, building the foundation towards 6G.
Join me and Ciena's Gautam Billa on February 23rd as we discuss universal aggregation, from architecture considerations and business value to geopolitical factors.
