Telecom's Global Warming

Fixed vs. Wireless. Speaking of the future, what medium will be carrying all of this IP data in a Jetson-era mobile backhaul network? Fiber is the logical answer. Just as fiber to the home promises the scalability and reliability to support whatever new consumer services we can imagine, fiber to the cell site should deliver the scalability and reliability to support tomorrow’s wireless applications. Fiber, however, can’t be everywhere. Today, that means that operators looking for fat, IP pipes will be forced to rely on microwave in many cases; the traditional option in Europe for years, the popularity of microwave is bound to grow elsewhere too. Tomorrow, even when fiber is super-prevalent, the need to reach remote areas (in mature and emerging markets), temporary hotspots and even metro coverage holes ensures microwave’s longevity.

Dumb Pipes vs. Application Aspirations. Not long ago, I had a discussion with a major wireless infrastructure vendor about the decision to build their new microwave backhaul portfolio from scratch rather than buy a microwave vendor. Backhaul, they explained, was a relatively simple technology to engineer – the proverbial, “dumb pipe.” Ignoring for a moment that microwave radio isn’t all that simple – at least when including support for adaptive modulation and coding, advanced OAM and QoS features, native TDM and Ethernet – the notion of backhaul as a network of dumb pipes is simply dated. From a capability perspective, it’s now possible to integrate advanced functionality such as service differentiation, policy enforcement, traffic shaping, and deep packet inspection into the transport layer. Perhaps more importantly, as wireless services become more and more sophisticated, operators need to do more than simply deliver basic voice and unfettered access to the Internet; they need the tools to differentiate their services. And, if they can integrate those tools directly into the transport layer, the simplicity and cost benefits that follow should be welcome.

Solutions vs. Products. Upfront, I mentioned that the hype around mobile backhaul has been followed by the development of numerous vendor “solutions.” What I didn’t mention, however, was that the concept of a solution is fuzzier than either of my dogs. If the problem you’re attempting to address is support for IP at the base station, a vendor’s cell site router might be considered a solution. If you need to get connectivity out to a remote site on short notice, microwave or millimeter radio products (maybe even in license-exempt spectrum) might be a solution. If you need to extensively evolve your entire backhaul network to keep up with new 3G and 4G demands – more data, in more places, with more sophisticated applications – a real solution must include more than a single point product. At a minimum, it needs to include wireless and fixed-line products at the cell site, access layer, aggregation layer and metro core. On top of that, it would ideally include a management solution that touches all of these products. Of course, only a select few vendors can pull together all of these assets on their own…and those who do, cannot always claim to be best-of-class across the board. Meaning? The most important component of any mobile backhaul solution may be the professional services expertise to help an operator architect the ideal transport network and integrate the products (in-house and third party) necessary to make it a reality.