This is Fiber Tap?  Light Reading.com had an interesting article recently on the potential impact of coherent optical technology on submarine cable capacity, which in many cases was built for the old “10 Gbps Information Super Highway”.  Today, the Internet is much more than that, with mobile, video, and cloud services dominating growth.  The key point is that new technology is enabling existing systems to be easily upgraded from 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps simply by replacing the DWDM equipment, without the cost to deploy new cable and other costly fiber infrastructure. As a result, companies which specialize in undersea cable deployments face economic challenges because of the lack of needed new projects. Why buy new when you can supercharge existing assets, especially in this economy?

We’ve seen this trend to Read More »

Tags: BT, Cisco, coherent, elastic core, Farice, MegaFon, nLight, Service Provider

In a blog post last week, Cisco cited its recent landmark 100 Gbps IPoDWDM trial with BT, which demonstrates ways to create a Next-Generation Internet, one that can handle a million minutes of video every second without having to trench new fiber or dig up streets. However, there is more behind this story because faster alone doesn’t represent a complete solution to the enormity of the challenge facing network operators.  Carriers such as BT need the solution to be bigger, stronger, and smarter.

Take for example, the complexity of traffic flows. To a basic user, the Internet “Information Superhighway” of yesteryear had essentially one on-ramp and one off-ramp.  Traffic traveled largely in a very straightforward pattern. Due to the growing popularity of mobility and cloud computing, traffic is quickly becoming multidirectional. According to Cisco’s recent Visual Networking Index (VNI) forecast, the mobile Internet will increase 18-fold by 2016 and cloud services will expand 12-fold by 2015. What’s more, VNI research indicates that by 2016 there will be nearly 19 billion global network connections. That’s 2.5 connections for every per person on earth!

To keep up, service providers must deploy networks that are more elastic to more easily grow and keep pace with these shifts. Like exercise, these innovations are vital for the heart of the Next-Generation Internet, the service provider core network.  Today we announced several innovations for the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS) to Read More »

Tags: 100G, BT, CESNET, Cisco, CRS, CRS-1, CRS-3, elastic core, GTS CE, IPoDWDM, Service Provider, Surya Panditi

“Video changes everything”.

We laugh at silly cat movies.  We learn to dance Gangnam style.  We cheer for the underdog in an obscure sport (or perhaps even the Spice Girls reunion) at the 2012 London Olympics. Doctors use video to save lives. Cops use video to catch the bad guys. Video (TelePresence) means we can spend the night at home instead of getting on a plane.

Regardless of the content however, the amount of video travelling on the Internet continues to set records every year.  By 2016, the latest Cisco Visual Networking Index forecasts video to exceed one million minutes -- the equivalent of nearly 700 days ―every single second.

This has caused service providers to upgrade existing 10G transmission speeds in the network to 100G and beyond. How do they do this without breaking the bank?  Just because you need a bullet train between two cities doesn’t mean you want to replace the track.

This is why one of the world’s largest network operators, BT recently completed a Read More »

Tags: 100G, BT, Cisco, CRS, IPoDWDM, Service Provider

During my recent visit to London, while at the Cisco House — way up on its perch above the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, I had the opportunity to look out across the huge Olympic Park in amazement. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget — for as long as I live.

Most visitors to the Olympic Park will immediately notice the cluster of majestic sports arenas and a plethora of newly planted landscaping. Besides the obvious, there’s the potential for it to become so much more. This community regeneration project could be the basis for a socioeconomic metamorphosis in East London – a very welcomed new beginning.

Read More »

Tags: BT, ICT, Intelligent Network, London 2012, Olympic Network, Service Provider

Anticipation of the upcoming summer Olympic Games has already lifted my spirits. This week I received an invitation from Andrew Millar, the British Consul General in Houston, Texas – it’s an opportunity to attend a viewing party for the opening ceremony later this month. I’m really looking forward to that event.

You may recall that in my last story, the ICT Infrastructure Investment, I shared some of the interesting high-level details about economic outcomes and seven of the the key principles that were used to develop the overall ICT solution.

Read More »

Tags: BT, Intelligent Network, LAN, London 2012, Olympic Network, WAN