Only last month Google revealed that sharks had been caught on camera attacking its undersea cables.
And, it’s not just sharks that pose a physical threat. Fishing trawlers and natural disasters have the power to cause extensive and expensive damage too.
Network resiliency has long been the goal for operators. However, as age-old physical challenges join forces with increasing demands from new bandwidth-hungry services, the hurdles are getting increasingly harder to jump. Laying hundreds of kilometres of fibre cable on the ocean floor has long been a test for network operators, but so is their ability to meet an insatiable appetite for non-stop data streaming.
We’ve witnessed an explosive rise in data traffic in recent years. Businesses and consumers are increasingly demanding the safe and speedy delivery of data-intensive content, for the likes of video streaming and gaming. Moreover, the move to cloud-based data centres and storage architectures adds additional strain to existing networks.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. As core network traffic continues to increase at a rate of 40% year-on-year, the key to success lies in the ability of service providers to make the most of the innovative technology available and ensure that the network is ready.
This is where super-channels come into the fore. A long-haul transmission technology that delivers both scalable, cost-effective capacity and optical reach is just what’s needed. By transporting large volumes of video data in bulk via super-channels, operators can ensure their customers have access to all the content they need without deploying new fibre or incurring huge costs. This revolution in Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) provides the best of both worlds and paves the way for an infinite pool of bandwidth for network operators to capitalise on.
Network operators are certainly up against it when it comes to delivering a seamless experience to their customers, but the need to rise to the challenge is not only a necessity, but an opportunity. If they can master their futureproofing with intelligent networks, then they will be able to deliver the scale, convergence and automation required to get ahead of the curve.
