NXTcomm 2008: Everything under the sun

CARRIER ETHERNET

Carrier Ethernet will no doubt once again be a hot topic of conversation (and vendor offerings) at NXTcomm across a range of product categories, from transport and aggregation to access and mobile backhaul.

According to Infonetics Research, Ethernet microwave equipment — designed to serve next-generation mobile backhaul migrations — will be the fastest-growing segment of the metro Ethernet market over the next five years. And being the fastest-growing member of that group is quite an achievement because the overall metro Ethernet space is growing furiously — with sales up 27% last year and expected to continue rising in double-digit percentages over the next four years. However, the market for Ethernet in mobile backhaul is just getting off the ground. Analysts say most carriers plan to migrate their mobile backhaul networks to Ethernet but haven't yet started.

And partly because Ethernet access is expanding across different media, such as fiber and copper, Ethernet access devices are proliferating as well; Infonetics predicts sales of Ethernet access devices to quadruple between 2007 and 2011.

Interoperability and industry standards also are increasingly important in the carrier Ethernet space, as carriers look to hand off Ethernet traffic in more uniform ways to businesses and other carriers alike.

IPTV AND MORE VIDEO

A year ago, more than 3600 NXTcomm visitors rated IPTV as their product interest of choice, and for those attendees and more there is an IPTV/Content Pavillion at this year's show. IPTV is being deployed on a mass scale by major service providers, even as it is running into deployment challenges with many rural Independent carriers, who pioneered the service.

A year ago, NXTcomm entertained multiple middleware vendors intent on cracking the U.S. market. That number has been trimmed considerably, and those vendors who are displaying IPTV at NXTcomm are more likely to be showing end-to-end solutions — and options for IPTV pioneers who may be looking for new middleware vendors to keep their current deployments moving ahead.

Microsoft will be at NXTcomm, focusing on some of the advanced features it is delivering to spark customers' interests, said Christine Heckart, general manager of marketing for Microsoft's TV business. Making the TV part of a connected, two-way network opens the door to a wide range of possibilities that IPTV providers are only beginning to explore, she said.

“Every one of our service providers has multiple applications running on IPTV,” Heckart said. “We'll be showing some of this mostly to spark someone's interest in what you can do.”

One type of application enables IPTV viewers to obtain more information about a sporting event, from player statistics to the view from a NASCAR driver's cockpit.

Cisco Systems will be showcasing its end-to-end IPTV solution, using its service provider video technology group, formerly Scientific Atlanta. While partnering with Microsoft and Minerva for IPTV software, Cisco delivers all the other parts of the video solution, from set-top boxes through home gateways, transport equipment and headend gear, said Pankaj Gupta, senior manager for IPTV marketing for Cisco.

“At NXTcomm, IPTV or video will remain a big highlight, but in the context of the connected home,” Gupta said. “It is a multifaceted show for us. We think in terms of the connected home or empowered consumer.”

Other IPTV players will include BitBand, Ericsson-Tandberg TV, Falcon IP/Complete, IneoQuest and RGB Networks.

SOFTWARE AND SERVICES

Software will take center stage at NXTcomm with carriers focusing on IMS infrastructure as well as the typical back-office, OSS/BSS priorities.

On the IMS front, the emphasis will be on moving forward with big-bang IMS deployments where necessary while also determining strategies and routes to take baby-steps via “IMS light” strategies. Simplified strategies try to be less pure about individual IMS elements — for instance, replacing an IMS server with a standards-based SIP server, or being more liberal with subscriber database architecture — while adhering to the general IMS philosophy of standardizing network interfaces, distributing and modularizing components, and accelerating service creation and delivery.

New service creation also weighs heavily in the area of back-office software. While telco IT department traditionally focused on cutting costs and supporting services, today the back office is taking on heavier roles in the areas of service creation — and ultimately driving new revenues. Still-emerging service delivery frameworks and now fairly mature service delivery platforms — IT-centric platforms for creating, managing and delivering new services — sit at the center of carrier focus these days. So-called SDPs aim to create a more “horizontal” services layer that lets carriers expose service APIs to partners and developers as well provide a centralized location to manage the policies around access to back-office and network resources.

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