LIVE FROM BROADBAND WORLD FORUM 2014: Operators need to look to network modernisation to get away from “complexity that is bogging us down”, Mike Wright (pictured), group MD of networks for Telstra, warned.

“As we think about the future, you’ve only got to look at the demand for machine-to-machine and the Internet of Things, video taking over our networks. If we’re not careful we’ll tie ourselves up in complexity,” he warned.

“Increasingly, a lot of talk is about ‘let’s go and save some capex and get some cheaper boxes,’ and that’s important. But most of our costs are operational costs, engineers planning every next connection, every solution, integrating boxes. We need to get to a world where we can more dynamically spin those up in the software sense, rather than the physical world,” he continued.

But this is a process that is going to take time, as a raft of new technologies such as NFV and SDN are added to operators’ armouries.

“I think what we’re going to see is things evolving in stages, but the end game is a network that we have much more control and flexibility over, that is dynamic, that can adapt to these new applications and uses. Because if we don’t do that, we bog ourselves down not only in complexity, but in process,” Wright said.

Anders Lindblad, SVP and head of the cloud and IP business unit for network equipment vendor Ericsson, also noted that network evolution will take operators not only to a point where new services are introduced more quickly, but investments can also be managed with more flexibility.

“What we really need to do is to try to transform these networks, not only to IP, but also to a much, much more simplified architecture that enables us to be both quicker in introducing services, but also much, much more efficient in how we manage these networks,” he said.

“You can invest in hardware, you can invest in operating systems, and you can invest in applications with different cycles,” the executive continued.

While one of the major themes at the event has been the modernisation of networks through technologies originating from the IT world, this is seeing a need for a whole new approach from vendors.

“What is different for us coming from the very regulated and standardised way in telecoms, is that it’s not really dominated by 3GPP standards or any other kind of standards, it’s very much driven by the market itself. This is a little new for vendors like Ericsson,” Lindblad said.