Closing the Metro Gap

Bridging the network gap in metropolitan areas has emerged as a key focus for many wireless companies.

Nasir Ghani, Sorrento Networks (www.sorrentonet.com) senior architect, said the “metro gap” has a legacy in the industry, and companies are trying to build across it. The metro gap arises because so many technologies are competing in the environment that the network often is overloaded.

Ghani, speaking at Supercomm 2001S, said he saw many emerging trends that were making metro-network improvement an emphasis for companies. Growth in corporate and residential data use, higher traffic volumes and stiff competition caused by market deregulation are all adding to the importance of better networks, he said. Wireless optical networks are the solution.

Optical networks are smarter than older network technology, which can make them work better in the complicated metropolitan arena. “Putting intelligence in the network is very important,” said Alnoor Shivji, Ciena (www.ciena.com) president, metropolitan switching division. “Metro networks offer unique challenges. Carriers are faced with saving money and growing.”

Michael Stubbe, AT&T Broadband Network Solutions (www.attbroadband.com) director of technology, said his company was able to operate in the metro space because it owned the last-mile of network infrastructure. He said future networks would need to provide bandwidth on demand and that would mean a move toward optical networks.

Ciena’s Shivji agreed. He said the ultimate reality for the next generation of networks would be the ability to offer bandwidth on demand for short periods of time.

“The network of today is very complex,” he said. “Simplifying networks will be next-generation technology.”

Shivji said wireless networks must be optimized for both voice and data traffic.

“The metro area is flooded with multiple services,” he said. “The network edge needs to have the intelligence to recognize all the different service being deployed.”

The market for new services, both voice and data, is driving the need for bandwidth, especially in metro areas, said Xin Cheng, Sorrento chairman & CEO.

He said optics would help networks get to the next level. “Optical technology will dominate networks, but network migration applications are the key.”