People and businesses across the GCC and the world have become increasingly reliant on internet connectivity for their day-to-day lives or operations.
From consumers enjoying streaming services and binge-watching the latest Netflix series, playing computer and mobile games online, to students at home studying, and enterprises benefiting from business applications like Salesforce and Dropbox, the cloud has become the de facto standard on how people and organisations operate.
A recent Ciena research has shown that, while almost half of the UAE and KSA respondents use the internet for work and business, social networking accounts for 46% of internet usage in the KSA and 42% in the UAE. Nearly a quarter of both UAE and KSA respondents use the internet for gaming and video streaming services. And, let’s not forget, that 5G will also play a key role in driving our digital lives moving forward.
While 5G promises significant improvements in network performance and the user experience, there are key enhancements required to the underlying network infrastructure before we can reap the full benefits. Many of the exciting applications enabled by 5G will require higher bandwidth and lower latency.
It is easy to think of 5G as an improved means of last-mile mobile access for the high bandwidth, low latency use cases that the technology will enable. However, while 5G delivers the application performance to meet more advanced service attributes, it is still reliant on wireline networks and outdated infrastructure, which can negate its inherent benefits. There needs to be a network framework in place that supports and understands the compute-intensive and latency-sensitive needs.
Edge Cloud, too, has a crucial role to play, since delivering 5G will require an approach where cloud resources move closer to end-users, humans, and machines, at the edge of the network. As demand for 5G surges and its rollout continues, a 5G and edge cloud ecosystem is emerging and must evolve to build intelligent and future-proof networks.
We see an increasing demand for 5G connectivity in the GCC region. Ciena’s research shows that 85% of the KSA and 74% of the UAE respondents believe that they will have better access to the internet when 5G becomes widely available.. Moreover, 42% of the KSA and 22% of the UAE respondents find speed one of the most important attributes of the internet. Nearly a quarter of the KSA and UAE respondents believe in the importance of reliable connection and access to the world wide web from anywhere at any time.
This underscores the clear desire for improved speeds, ultra-low latency, and reliable connectivity with consumers ready to embrace 5G.
In comparison to legacy 4G LTE networks, 5G will offer up to 100x higher user data rates, 100x more connected devices, 10x reduction in latency, 1000x more data volume, and a perceived network availability of 99.999%. 5G is essential, as we continue to see a greater reliance on digital connectivity to fuel our home, work, education, and social interactions.
With work life disseminating to a hybrid model, people want the benefits of superior connectivity wherever they may be, as well as on any of their devices. These factors combined mean that it is time to rethink our approach to the way networks are built and managed altogether to support the growing digital landscape. For the networks of the future to deliver an exceptional customer experience, they must be closer to end-users, smarter, and faster.
Today, the way residential and business customers access and use networking services has been completely disrupted. The home has now become the hub for work, school, and entertainment. We now have more users and devices on the home network; all pulling different applications from the cloud at the same time.
So, a new generation of networks is needed. For example, the growth in the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) market has been steadily increasing over the last several years due to accelerated adoption of IoT devices and demand for online entertainment like gaming, high-definition video streaming and, more recently, remote learning and work.
On top of this, the rise in remote work has driven enterprises to change the way they conduct business, which is impacting the services they need. And we’re starting to see the enterprise services mix shift from network-based and private lines to fixed broadband, public IP, direct Internet access, and cloud-based network and security services.
Another key aspect of Edge Cloud is 5G. This exciting technology will enable an unlimited number of new services and applications that would not be possible without the Edge Cloud, where thousands of smaller data centres are being created as close to where the content is generated, consumed, and processed by both humans and machines. Edge Cloud will help reduce latency, lower transport costs, and satisfy our changing digital lifestyle.
What the networks of today and the future require is convergence—not just of business, mobile, and residential networks—but multi-layer convergence in which IP and Ethernet are integrated over an optimised optical layer. With this comes reduced hardware and lower costs for the network provider.
These networks also need to be built from disaggregated components, which can be used together or independently as required, with optimised routing and end-to-end, closed-loop automation, leveraging advanced analytics and intelligence.
Furthermore, we need a network that leverages open APIs and network interfaces that emphasises interoperability and performance telemetry. When combined with premium analytics across the multi-layer infrastructure, real-time network virtualisation capabilities built into the solution are possible.
To achieve a more efficient, less complex, and more profitable service delivery model, our approach needs to change. The evolution of networks is inevitable, especially when it comes to improving the way we work and live. This evolution will have an equally positive impact on the ways network providers deal with inflection points with the services they provide and how they’re delivered to end-users. We will all benefit from the forward-thinking network providers in the ways we work, live, learn and play.
(Jürgen Hatheier is the Chief Technology Officer, EMEA, at Ciena)
