The COVID-19 pandemic forced populations to make an immediate shift to working and schooling from home full-time, driving all of us to connect via the Internet. At Telia Carrier, we saw a 56 percent year-on-year traffic growth which remains high. The pandemic highlighted the Internet’s essential role. By providing the critical foundation of the Internet and enabling the core services that facilitate ubiquitous conferencing and e-learning, backbone networks have enabled us to stay in touch.  

Our reliance on the Internet also exposed the lack of reliable broadband, especially in rural areas of America. According to the FCC, it is estimated that at least 6.3 million households in electric co-op service areas lack reliable, high-speed internet access, which can lead to a loss of $68 billion over 20 years. Electric cooperatives in the US are addressing this deficit by building broadband communications to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural populations. Service providers connecting to these rural consumers need more diversity in routes between major markets. Telia Carrier is continually expanding across the US to build a more scalable network. 

From a technology perspective building and operating a multi-layer architecture requires a transition to more open optical and packet networking allowing the use of technologies like 400ZR pluggables, lowering the cost of entry, creating a more cost-effective solution for service providers and leading to greater network expansion. Telia Carrier was the first to test 400ZR coherent connections between Cisco’s NCS 5700 and Cisco 8000 platforms over a third-party open line system and plans to rollout these solutions in the coming months.

Telia Carrier is also trailblazing a path in the 4G subsea market by evolving its networks to support the explosive traffic growth and high-bandwidth services driven by the cloud and video streaming. Telia Carrier and Aqua Comms recently completed a successful trial of a 400 Gigabit Ethernet service the two plan to offer between New York and Frankfurt, Germany.

In June, Telia Carrier officially became a standalone company with a new owner, Polhem Infra – which is focused on long-term infrastructure investment – allowing Telia Carrier to accelerate the network growth. This podcast will share fresh perspective from Telia Carrier’s CEO about the future of the company, the role of empowerment in building a culture of excellence, thoughts on the Digital Divide, and this unique time we are living in to reimagine and rearchitect the Internet backbone.

Accelerating the Internet’s Backbone Capacity, What’s Next Post Pandemic?

Join us as we discuss the unique challenges faced by service providers when designing and installing rural networks. Rural networks are more challenging on many fronts, including density, network reach, labor availability, operation, and maintenance. But with great challenges come great opportunities, and here you will learn about leveraging the network you build for revenue-generating opportunities as well as strategies to simplify and address some of these challenges.

Presenters:
Paul Hubbard, Director Business Development – Network Connectivity, CommScope

Presenter Biography:
Responsible for identifying and developing market opportunities for fiber-based outside plant (OSP) solutions globally. Focusing on long term network evolution such as network convergence, identifying technology and market trends that will impact future telecommunication networks.
Paul joined CommScope in 2010 via the BNS acquisition in 2015 and recently relocated to North America in 2020. Paul’s primarily focus has been on the successful deployment of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) and working with carriers around the world development of network solutions to minimize total cost of ownership and improve return on investment. Prior to CommScope Paul worked for Prysmian for 10 years as part of the connectivity product management team, moving to Australia in 2006. 
Paul holds a BEng (hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Reading (UK) graduating in 1998.   

Company Description:
We shape the networks of the future. From material design through to solving the most complex of architecture or bandwidth challenges, our unmatched expertise in copper, fiber, wired and wireless infrastructure underpins the networks of today and makes ready the networks of tomorrow. Enabling 5G, private networks and Gigabit speeds everywhere - we’re always anticipating what’s next, to ensure you’re always ahead.

Unique Challenges And Considerations For Rural Network Deployment

Service providers are facing an incredible challenge, which is also a tremendous opportunity. Today, the demand for 5G deployment and the promise that it can bring to communities is at an all-time high.  

Companies who find innovative ways to adapt will be the ones to claim the lion’s share of the emerging market. However, getting there requires change. In this podcast, John Sciarabba, CEO of Alden Systems, explains exactly what changes your company can make now to capture more business in the future—even beyond broadband deployment. “It’s really about being positioned for what’s next,” Sciarabba says. 

Our current climate is unique because we haven’t seen this kind of volume of work involving so many areas of a company at once, while also requiring coordination among multiple companies within the industry. If any one area can’t keep up with demand, it can bottleneck the whole process.  
 
In this podcast, we discuss: 
•	Project to Process – How this crucial mindset shift will position your company to gain efficiencies without adding more resources
•	How the data you capture can affect processes downstream
•	How to use your data to drive better decisions and reduce unnecessary trips to the field
•	The most impactful way to utilize “human capital” through automation

As the work of 5G deployment and collaboration becomes exponentially more complex, the gains for companies who implement process improvement now grows immensely. Learn how you can reap the benefits by tuning in to this podcast. 

Presenters: 
John Sciarabba, CEO, Alden Systems

Presenter Biography:
John is an outcome-focused thought leader. He has the mindset and education of an engineer with heart and soul of an artist. This means John likes to create things that have impact. John founded Alden due to critical needs emerging from the utility and telecommunication industries. John’s leadership is represented through company-wide core values and Alden’s mission to unite utility professionals. He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University and his MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to Alden, John worked for over a decade in industry, including positions at Bellcore and Kodak, where he was responsible for emerging video technology and services and project management. John founded the Birmingham chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization and served as its first President and is a member of Vistage. He also serves on the board of PMMC, a revenue cycle software solution for hospitals and health systems.

Company Description:
Alden’s purpose is to create better communities through better infrastructure. We serve the people that power, connect, and inform the world, including utilities, communications, broadband providers and their engineering and construction partners. 
 
We ensure our clients improve internal and external communication to enable data-driven decisions with a collaborative system designed to speed up service deployment. The Alden One platform is a centralized database of assets and activities that provides clarity and control through business process automation. www.aldensys.com

How to Become a 5G Market Leader in Challenging Times

"There's simply no doubt that the world of data centers and enterprise networks are extremely critical to our current way of life and for the foreseeable future.  Can one even imagine where we would have been the last year and a half with the Covid-19 pandemic and the inability to work remotely, communicate via video, and supply ourselves with essentials without ever leaving our homes?  

Of course demand changes like this most always drive an increased need for flexibility.  And that's no different in Data Centers and Enterprise Networks where increased amounts of fiber, changes in density and changes in technology regularly require changes to the hardware holding the network together.

Of course, all of this drives massive growth in those things that data centers and enterprise networks provide, and with that growth is the inevitable change...and change of course inherently drives the need for flexibility.  

On this podcast we will explore a variety of common products that are available in the marketplace that provide a greater level of flexibility...and therefore lower costs and more efficiency...when that inevitable need to change comes.  "	

Presenters:
Greg Pierce, Product Manager, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave

Presenter Biography:
Greg Pierce is the Product Manager for Sumitomo Electric Lightwave’s 4th Level® Enterprise and Data Center Products.  Greg has 30+ years of experience in the industry and is based at Sumitomo Electric Lightwave's facility in Raleigh, North Carolina. Greg is a lifelong NC State Wolfpack and Kansas City Chiefs and Royals fan!

Company Description:
At Sumitomo Electric Lightwave (SEL), we are a recognized leader in innovation, design and development of advanced and integrated end-to-end solutions. We specialize in the manufacturing of these innovations for data center, enterprise and communication network centers.

We are the provider for the industry’s fast, most reliable, and advanced fiber optic technology and solutions. Catering to today’s most well-known optical fiber outside plant and indoor plant deployments, we are committed to not only our shareholders, but our customers. We value providing a high quality customer service experience, designed to meet and tailor to the customer’s desired product solution needs.

Since 1983, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave is committed to producing the finest high-speed quality of fiber optic technology innovations.

Flexible Product Offerings for Data Centers and Enterprise Applications

The approach to real-time data management had dramatic implications for faster network deployment, service activation and reparation, and better reporting. But what did it cost to change? Not surprising, there were hard and soft costs. Although it seems self-evident that accurate and real-time data can provide the best operational and strategic value, it came at the expense of letting go of familiar methods and integration into existing environments. These insights are shared to help guide the costs to make the change.

Presenters:
Michael Measels, VP of Product Management , 3-GIS 
Tim Sherman, Engineering Director, Ervin Cable

Presenter Biography:
Michael Measels
Michael Measels, VP of Product Management, is an experienced product leader specializing in driving vision and roadmap for 3-GIS. He most enjoys the consultative nature of product management, where he interacts with customers to resolve complex business problems. Having supported numerous large-scale FTTx build-outs, Michael brings a hands-on understanding of the information needed by customers to manage their network assets to achieve their digital transformation initiatives.

Tim Sherman 
With over 8,000 miles of fiber network design under his belt, Tim has seen his share of fiber network Design engineering software, equipment, and processes deployed. In response to many operators "speed to market" initiatives at the engineering and construction group of Ervin Cable Construction LLC Tim has been able to implement design engineering workflows that leverage current technologies to increase production, accuracy and ongoing flexibility of the operator's network. 

Company Description:
3-GIS
3-GIS helps the telecom industry achieve better results. We design solutions to meet the challenges of building and managing increasingly complex fiber networks.

Ervin Cable Company 
ECC is a leader in the telecommunications industry with over 40 years of experience. We deliver turnkey construction, design, and engineering services.

Real-Time Revolution: Achieve Faster Network Deployment Leveraging Geospatial Intelligent Ecosystems

In this podcast, we’ll discuss the steps and considerations that service providers can take to ensure the network is not only ready for today’s subscriber needs and demands but also for the future of broadband demand. We’ll look at the many options available, particularly focusing on the options that claim to make upgrades very simple. Join us for this podcast to hear about PON technologies and upgrading from GPON to the next PON. Also, learn more about access network architectures and how smart choices made at the time of every upgrade can significantly improve your ability to simplify the network and your next upgrade.

To learn more about Calix and PON Solutions, visit our website:
https://www.calix.com/solutions/technologies/10g-pon-solutions.html?utm_source=ISE&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=pam22&utm_content=ISE_Podcast_PON_CC-7858-CC 

Presenter:
Teresa McGaughey, AVP, Access and Field Marketing, Calix

Presenter Biography:
Teresa has over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry with a focus on the access network in software development, product management, sales and marketing, as well as a patent in router on a chip technology. She has extensive knowledge on what it takes to make networks work and a global perspective on them. Teresa holds a BS in Computer Science and at Calix she is currently Area Vice President of Access and Field Marketing.

Company Description:
Calix cloud and software platforms enable service providers of all types and sizes to innovate and transform. Our customers utilize the real-time data and insights from Calix platforms to simplify their businesses and deliver experiences that excite their subscribers. The resulting growth in subscriber acquisition, loyalty and revenue creates more value for their businesses and communities. This is the Calix mission, to enable communications service providers of all sizes to simplify, excite and grow.

PON Deployments: 3 Key Steps You Can Take to Future Proof Your Network

As service providers transform their businesses to become agile and responsive and support configurable digital services, the question of network modernization is more and more urgent. Legacy networks are not only struggling to keep up with customer demands, they are increasingly difficult to maintain and costly in terms of real estate and power consumption, as well as contributing to an increased carbon footprint. 
While an up-to-date, efficient network is the aspirational vision for any service provider, it’s easy to hesitate in the face of modernization’s daunting challenges and risks. Network digital transformation needs a broad range of technical, business, and planning expertise that few operators have available. 
In this podcast, we’ll explore a vendor-agnostic, three phase approach to modernizing legacy TDM networks.
Topics to be discussed
•	The phased approach to Network Modernization and how it benefits the service provider
•	The importance of a partner’s personnel in the Network Modernization process
•	Types of projects available for modernizing legacy networks
•	The role of Circuit Emulation (CEM) in modernizing networks 
•	The need for advanced tools and automation to speed the process while increasing accuracy 

Presenter:
Al Errico, Network Modernization Practice Leader

Presenter Biography:
Mr. Al Errico is the Practice Leader for Network Modernization Services (NetMod) at Fujitsu. He is responsible for the development, standardization and life-cycle of all complex Network Modernization Services. Previous to his joining Fujitsu, Mr. Errico held positions at Tellabs, designing, marketing, and supporting large-scale, live-traffic migration projects for all of the major Telecommunications companies. He has also held positions at T-Mobile and Westinghouse Electric. Mr. Errico is certified in many Telecommunication systems, has attended over 45 technical schools, and holds a General Radio Telephone license with a Ship Radar Endorsement from the FCC. `

Company Description:
Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. customizes digital transformation solutions for network operators, service providers and content providers. We combine best-in-class hardware, software and services to enable cost savings, faster services delivery and improved network performance. Working closely with our ecosystem partners, we design, build, operate and maintain better networks for the connected world

Preparing for the Future: A Three-Phased Approach to Modernizing Legacy Networks

We all know about the critical need to upgrade aging networks. The internet of things is here and technological advances like telemedicine, precision ag, distance learning, remote work, autonomous vehicles, and 5G and beyond all require huge amounts of bandwidth with lower latency. But this is a massive infrastructure undertaking, so how do you properly plan for this transition, especially when it comes to upgrading the current fiber optic closures within your embedded base?

Presenters:
Dan Levac: National Sales Manager, Communications Markets, PLP
Matt Becker, Market Manager, U.S. Communications Markets, PLP

Presenter Biography:
Dan Levac: National Sales Manager, Communications Markets
Dan began his career in the telecommunications industry as a Cable Splicer with Bell Canada in 1980. After cutting his teeth in the splicing trade, Dan transitioned to a career with PLP in 1990. He began his PLP career as a Field Service Representative, where he was able to utilize his decade-long experience as a cable splicer to provide exceptional training, troubleshooting, and customer service to PLP’s end users. Dan was quickly promoted to Field Sales Representative in 1991, where he was responsible for sales and product support for the five-state region of IN, IL, MI, OH, and WI. He was promoted to Western Regional Manager in 1998 and to National Sales Manager, Communications Markets in 2017, where he is responsible for implementing PLP’s national sales strategy. Dan also has extensive international sales experience, helping to grow PLP’s Communications market abroad. In addition to his impressive sales and product support career, Dan is also focused on developing new products for the communications industry and currently shares three patents for OSP products developed by PLP.

Matt Becker, Market Manager, U.S. Communications Markets
Matt began his career in the telecommunications industry in 2012 as a Technical Support Engineer in PLP’s R&E department. Utilizing 3D modeling software, Matt was responsible for creating parts for internal fiber optic management, storing and routing componentry, and mounting hardware, among others. He was also responsible for cost reduction efforts, supplier qualifications, and manufacturing troubleshooting. In 2015, Matt was promoted to Product Marketing Engineer, where he focused on new product development projects for PLP’s telecommunications market - taking formal stage-gate projects from inception to launch and serving as a liaison between PLP’s Technical Marketing and R&E departments. In 2017, Matt was promoted to Product Manager, Communications, where he was charged with developing and marketing new products for OSP, including splice closures and trays, routing and fiber storage products, cable retention hardware, and mounting hardware. In 2019, Matt was once again promoted to Market Manager, U.S. Communications, where his product management duties remained, but he is also now responsible for U.S. customer support for bid proposal documents, product life cycle management, and P/L statements. Matt has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio University and a Master of Business Administration from John Carroll University.

PLP Description:
Preformed Line Products (PLP®) is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and supplier of high-quality cable anchoring and control hardware systems, fiber optic and copper splice closures, and high-speed cross-connect devices. PLP offers innovative product solutions, such as the COYOTE® family of fiber optic splice closures, organizers, and trays, the ARMADILLO® line of copper splice closures and accessories, and the FIBERLIGN® family of pole line hardware. The reliability of PLP's complete line of fiber optic, copper, demarcation, bonding, and cabling solutions combined with the company's knowledgeable sales, customer service, and technical support teams truly make PLP the connection you can count on.

ISE Magazine