I want to consider, in this blog, a question that arises naturally from the debate on how operators respond to declining profit per bit. Raise revenues or lower costs; those are the choices. Operators seem to be focusing on cost reduction, which would lower cost per bit to improve profit per bit. That would mean…
I’ve blogged a lot about “transformation” of network operator business models, and also about transforming infrastructure. That’s an important issue to be sure, but there’s more to the cloud, network, and computing market than network operators. We know operators are responding to falling profit per bit. What’s driving the enterprises? Operators invest in IT and…
If you want to make money selling carrier cloud infrastructure, you’re running out of time. There are three Light Reading stories to buttress this view. First, Verizon and AT&T are both working through plans to build private wireless networks for enterprises. Second, IBM has joined other public cloud providers in going after network operator carrier…
Ericsson says it will embrace Open RAN, via its “Cloud RAN” initiative. That’s big news because Ericsson is a bit behind others in embracing the new open model. But Nokia is planning a restructuring that’s not getting raves from analysts, despite having taken a positive Open RAN stance well before rival Ericsson. Just how disruptive…
What do operators think makes transformation difficult? That’s a key question not only for operators, but for any who want to drive changes to fundamental network infrastructure principles and architectures. There are technical elements that operators see as barriers, but the biggest ones are far more financial than technical. I’ve gathered this information from 84…
Over the years, we’ve had many different protocols, but the interesting truth is that within each of them, there’s a common element—the data. Whether we’re transporting information in IP or SNA or DECnet or X.25, we’re still transporting information. The protocol isn’t the information, it’s just a contextual wrapper that defines the rules for exchanging…
What the heck is an NGOSS? I’ve used the term a lot, relating to the “NGOSS Contract”, but for those not familiar with the OSS/BSS space or the TMF, it may be mysterious. Tata Consultancy Services, a large and active professional services firm, recently did a paper on “reimagining” the OSS/BSS, a TMF paper asking…
Did Juniper pay too much for 128 Technology? That’s a question that’s been raised by some financial analysts, by some who hold Juniper stock, and by at least one industry pundit, HERE. It’s not unusual for some to question the value of an acquisition like this, particularly in an industry that’s not been a dazzling…
Should prey help predators by cooperating with them in the hunt? A Light Reading story on the Broadband World Forum conference highlights the view that operators want the telecom equipment vendors to “get more involved in open source projects instead of sitting on the sidelines.” Sorry, but that sure sounds to me like proposing a…
Should we be thinking about a Satellite Internet of Things? The emerging battle between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos for low-earth-orbit satellite broadband raises the question, not because satellite broadband is a universal option, but because it’s an option where other options don’t exist, and likely won’t for decades. That could be a killer IoT…