Forging the next-gen digital future

Powered by a significant drop in smartphone prices and relatively cheaper mobile data tariffs, the digital revolution is redefining how Indians work, live, and entertain themselves. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the adoption of digital infrastructure, hastening the shift to online platforms.

During the last few years, the Government of India has introduced several initiatives, including Digital India, to promote a digital way of life. The government is also investing heavily in building various digital platform infrastructures (DPIs), such as Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), to bolster the digital economy and drive socio-economic development.

Also, the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools by businesses and individuals is set to propel the country’s digital economy. The Indian AI market reached USD 4.1 billion in 2023, according to data shared by Statista. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25–35%, India’s AI market is projected to reach approximately USD 17 billion by 2027, as per a report by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

This surge in digitisation, alongside evolving consumer behaviour, is driving unprecedented data consumption, necessitating a paradigm shift in the country’s communication networks. The increasing popularity of video streaming, online gaming, e-learning, and remote work has caused a massive rise in bandwidth demand, which the traditional network infrastructure cannot adequately support.

IP/Optical Convergence is emerging as an ideal solution for network providers to meet the demands of a latency-sensitive, AI-driven digital ecosystem.

The accelerated digital transformation of enterprises in the post-COVID-19 era is also reshaping market dynamics, compelling Indian network providers to explore new strategies to manage skyrocketing bandwidth demand alongside the growing expectation for low-latency experiences.

One key strategy for delivering a superior user experience is to adopt ‘compute on demand’, which involves shifting computing power from a centralised to a distributed network architecture, making computing resources available to users as needed.

While the traditional hub-and-spoke network architecture suits a centralised approach, it may not be able to support next-generation distributed services. In this model, the access and aggregation networks are developed separately to support different types of services and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). However, this traditional architecture is inherently rigid, posing challenges when integrating applications closer to the access and aggregation zones.

Understanding IP/Optical Convergence

Network providers increasingly recognise the advantages of IP/Optical Convergence in optimising network performance and delivering high-speed, low-latency experiences to their subscribers. It is emerging as an ideal solution for Indian network providers to meet the demands of a latency-sensitive, AI-driven digital ecosystem.

IP/Optical Convergence refers to the streamlining and simplification of optical (Layer 0) and IP (Layer 3) networks to achieve greater efficiency and improved quality of experience. While the concept of IP/Optical Convergence has existed for some time, it is only now gaining significant momentum due to technological advancements and favourable market conditions driving its adoption.

In recent years, IP/Optical Convergence has emerged as an integral part of network providers’ efforts to modernise and simplify their infrastructure. Service providers worldwide are adopting IP/Optical Convergence to improve operational simplicity and reliability while reducing the total cost of ownership. A study by Ciena and Heavy Reading found that 87% of surveyed providers view IP/Optical Convergence as critical to developing their next-generation networks.

Indian network providers can capitalise on the vast benefits of IP/Optical Convergence by embracing automation, which enables better planning, control, and dynamic traffic management. Additionally, multi-layer network visibility and analytics are essential for gaining valuable insights and improving network management.

Taking a holistic approach to IP/Optical convergence, network providers are now considering coherent routing, which integrates purpose-built routing, advanced coherent optics, and intelligent, flexible photonics, all driven by cutting-edge, multi-layer operations.

However, evolving to multi-layer convergence requires careful consideration around an adequate building load, as well as thermal and cooling capabilities. Technology solutions are now available to support IP/Optical convergence with fully pluggable, performance-coherent optics and the ability to physically distribute a single node to manage the thermal footprint spatially. Network providers in India now have more options, ranging from 100G to 400G, 800G, and even up to 1.6T.

As India advances and strengthens its position in the digital economy, network providers can reap substantial benefits from leveraging IP/Optical Convergence. It allows for streamlined operations, improved network efficiency, and reduced operational expenses.

Powered by automation and analytics, network providers can harness IP/Optical Convergence to capitalise on emerging market opportunities, increase revenue, and deliver an exceptional network experience to their subscribers. Coherent routing further enables service providers to simplify their networks, enhancing performance and meeting the growing demands of digital users in the cloud era.

By Girish Bhatia

The author is the Head of Sales Engineering at Ciena India.

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