Optical innovation will meet operators’ future broadband demands

The 4th Generation of IP Networking, and the related innovation in optical technology, will be key to transforming life as we know it in the Networked Society. Our film outlines what Ericsson is doing to ensure operators are in a position to capitalize on future opportunities through optical network evolution.

Phil Winterbottom, Head of Ericsson’s Product Line Optical & Metro, highlights some of the company’s key focus areas in optical technology as the global society moves toward this all-connected world.

Ericsson believes that the evolution of network architecture through 4th Generation networks is central to this transformation and the realization of our vision of a world of more than 50 billion connected devices by 2020 – where everything that can benefit from being connected will have a connection.

Winterbottom outlines how Ericsson is pushing the boundaries of current possibilities through innovation in optical components and optical research.

"Ericsson’s vision of the evolution of optical networks is that technology which is unaffordable today in the core, will move out into access and metro," he says.

He discusses how this evolution will enable operators to meet future traffic demands through innovations such as dense wavelength division multiplexing high-bandwidth phonetic networks and Ericsson expertise in combining radio technology with the related transport requirements.

Winterbottom addresses the savings that converged networks can deliver to operators and how Ericsson’s innovative solutions can help their networks become profitable assets.

He also explains why Ericsson invests in partnerships with smaller companies, such as US-based silicon phonetics firm Skorpios Technologies, to drive innovation in optical technology.