What makes telecoms networks inefficient?

  26 April 2017    Read: 1289
What makes telecoms networks inefficient?
IT DOESN’T take an expert to be able to tell the difference. Big data centres of the kind operated by cloud-computing providers such as Amazon and Google are packed with thousands of servers, all of which look more or less the same.
Central offices, where telecoms operators keep their networking gear, are populated by many different kinds of devices. Yet both aim to do essentially the same thing, which is handling digital information. No points for guessing which does the job better. But why are they built so differently?

There are three main reasons. First, unlike servers, which deal only with bits and bytes, telecoms networks have to interact with the physical world, in particular the radio spectrum, which requires specialised equipment. Second is the role of history: telecoms networks have been around for decades, and changes in technology or new service offerings have been handled by adding new boxes instead of overhauling systems. Third, equipment-makers have had little interest in making things simpler, since complexity helps them make money by allowing them to keep selling expensive gear. Operators have had little choice but to go along.

Now the telecoms industry is being forced to confront the limitations of its approach. The complex nature of networks architecture today does not “scale”, in the lingo: if demand for data services, in particular, continues to grow, muddling through by sending in technicians and adding physical boxes will sooner or later become unsustainable. It takes months if not years to set up a new service for text messages, for example, let alone a new network. The next generation of wireless technologies, called 5G and expected to be operational by the end of the decade, will require networks that can be scaled and extended much more quickly for the reason that they will be called upon to do lots different things beyond simply voice and data, such as servicing the internet of things. Moreover, the full range of requirements will not be clear when the networks are launched; they will evolve with the market and with technology. And operators will have to change in any case, whether they want to or not: they badly need to cut costs. In rich countries, the mobile industry is maturing. The smartphone boom has run its course and prices for service plans are declining.

Confronted by a wealth of reasons to rethink their technology, some operators have started to “virtualise” their networks. That involves moving from physical switches and boxes to software running on off-the-shelf hardware: instead of adding specialised gear, operators can install programs, much like smartphone users download apps. Such networks would function more like computing clouds, which allow users to spin up servers as needed. AT&T, America’s largest mobile operator, is leading this trend: by the end of the year it hopes to virtualise more than half of its network. Other carriers are sure to follow. In a few years, it may be hard to tell the difference between a data centre and a central office.

/The Economist/

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