What are your predictions for
the telecom industry over the
next 10 years?
The computing and telecom industries
have been parallel engines of growth
over the past 10 years, and the Internet
has been a tremendous driver of both
growth and innovation.
The top three trends I foresee for the
next 10 years are the following.
c;The future of the Internet is wireless.
Apple’s iPhone turned the promise of
3G into a reality. In just two years,
the iPhone and i Touch achieved
57 million subscribers. Other new
devices and form factors will accelerate further innovation and growth.
c;The need for convergence will guide
many decisions. Building the global
Internet infrastructure will require
fiber to the home; 4G/LTE mobile
networks will also be essential. Deep-level fiber penetration will be key
to handling traffic, particularly for
backhauling from 3G/LTE cells and
particularly in dense areas. Hybrid IP/
optical core transport networks will
also play a key role.
c;Eco-sustainability will be crucial.
The information and communication
technology industry’s responsibility for carbon emissions and power
consumption will double in 10 years
if not checked. Today’s networks were
designed for capacity, not efficiency:
They use a lot more energy than is
absolutely necessary.
We need something dramatically
different, which is why Alcatel-Lucent
created its Green Touch initiative—a
consortium of leading experts from
carriers, universities, government
agencies and industry labs targeting
a 1,000-fold improvement in energy
efficiency by transforming Internet
and communications networks.
What can we look for next
from Alcatel-Lucent’s Carrier
Product Group?
Earlier this year, we announced a
breakthrough innovation into the
optical backbone market—the 1870
Transport Tera Switch (TTS). The TTS
features unique innovations such as an
industry-first chipset that sets a new
benchmark for capacity, intelligence
and power efficiency in the optical core.
This optical core switching platform, an
implementation of the next-generation
Optical Transport Network standard,
gives operators the flexibility to trans-
port data at the most cost-effective layer
of the network while increasing revenue
by freeing up bandwidth for higher
value services. It also features unique
innovations that simplify network
operations and increase scalability and
power efficiency to the highest levels in
the industry.
Just as vehicles can
travel long distances
more quickly via an
interstate highway
system, so too can
data be transmitted
more directly by
‘offloading’ it to
lower layers of the
network using light
as the primary
transport medium.”
“
What does the future of
optical transport technology in
telecommunications look like?
I think Internet Protocol (IP) offloading
is a promising technology, because it can
enable service providers to cope with the
increasing demands on their networks.
Just as vehicles can travel long distances
more quickly via an interstate highway
system, so too can data be transmit-
ted more directly by “offloading” it to
lower layers of the network using light
as the primary transport medium. Most
traffic in the core of the network is
transitory, and, as a result, it could be
more economically handled at lower
layers instead of bogging down valuable
router resources. IP traffic offloading
allows higher capacity, greater scalability
and significant power savings in the
transport network.
What is the greatest challenge
you face?
Certainly the greatest challenge we
face at Alcatel-Lucent is how to continuously transform ourselves into one
global integrated company that wins
big on the market even when faced with
increasingly fierce competition. This
transformation is well under way now,
even though the journey is not over.
This includes delivering on the promises
of the High Leverage Network to help
our customers transform their networks
and shape the future. For the Carrier
Product Group in particular, our greatest
challenge is to establish a leading position in wireless, leveraging our strong
momentum in LTE.
What has been the most
significant advance during your
career at Alcatel-Lucent?
I’ve been in this industry for 20 years
now, and, during that time, the biggest
advance has been the unexpected success of mobile networks and services.
Mobile has definitely changed the telecom landscape and people’s lives.
My biggest surprise: the amazing
and unpredictable speeds at which
things change. For example, 3G had a
slow takeoff; now, however, operators
are having trouble coping with capacity demand! Another striking example
is the speed at which new players have
emerged in the telecom market.
My takeaway is that we must permanently strive to be forward-looking,
agile and fast in everything we do—
without expecting advanced notice
as to when change or acceleration
is needed. t
Angela Stark ( astark@osa.org) is the director of
communications at OSA.
