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JDSU lights the way to NGN
Another key partner in the 21CN project is JDSU. Andrew Paulley heads up the UK arm of the company’s Communications Test Division. The division (which became part of JDSU’s operations following its acquisition of Acterna) serves both tier one carriers, like BT, as well as tier two firms.
Paulley is of the opinion that “Moving from PSTN to a completely IP based backbone isn’t something to be taken lightly. BT’s footprint is obviously immense. It has somewhere in the region of 25 million standard lines, and 8 million broadband lines.” He claims, “Where JDSU is uniquely placed is it is vertically integrated to a far greater degree than other test partners. My team can benefit from the in house expertise that is
found within the firm’s components division. This means we have access to higher performance components and associated sub-systems, and are more potentially aware of exactly what is required to get the job done. This is something that other players in this sector just don’t have.”
Paulley also believes the broad spectrum of test equipment that the company can offer has been a key factor in securing its involvement in the 21CN project. He argues, “We are capable of covering the whole fixed wire-line network, as JDSU is very strong in bother copper and fibre optics. This is a major plus point when it comes to the company’s involvement in 21CN.” As he further explains “BT has a significant amount of our equipment in their network already in operation for test lines primarily, but the challenge to the likes of JDSU will be in the medium term when we become involved verifying that parts of the network can fully support services like VoIP, Video-on-Demand, IPTV, etc.” It will be QoE that will decide the success of 21CN implementation, as when BT has to rely on a service-based business model it will be the customers’ experience that counts.”
In Paulley’s opinion “BT knows that it has to bite the bullet, and move to a service-based business model. The market simply dictates this.” By way of an analogy he notes that “several years ago IBM identified that the value in the computing industry was no longer in hardware, but in services, and so it refocused itself to address this. BT has to do the same. It won’t be just the
possession of its network that brings in revenue, but how this can be utilised for optimum return for the company.”
“The drive is clearly for broadband provision supremacy, and this is decided primarily at the access level. BT has very limited ability to drop its prices, as stipulated by the regulator since it is the incumbent national carrier and competition is to be encouraged. So it has to make sure that it can offer more value to its customers for their money” he continues, “One of the main plus points , from BT’s perspective, being huge savings in opex. Currently significant amount of money is wasted on engineers having to make trips to the field. These are quite unnecessary in a large proportion of cases. If these sort of expenses can be curbed, it will free up a lot of budget which can then be invested in developing new services and generating additional revenue streams. This is where JDSU’s primary advantage resides in that we provide network test tools, systems and services that have significant positive impact on operational expenditure savings. ”
Though the stakes are high, the spoils that could be taken might not be limited to those found within the UK. “If BT is successful, then the company will clearly be in an enviable position on the global stage. It will potentially be able to replicate this model throughout the world, and have a considerable head start over other carriers, who may not still not be fully up to speed with network technology evolution” states Paulley “BT isn’t just looking at the domestic market, it is looking on a wider stage and the rewards could be potentially far greater.” “However, this is not the only change that will have to take place. It isn’t just the business model that has to evolve” he continues “there will also be a need for reassessment of the culture and the commercial practices it employs. As well as upgrading the network BT will need to have a ‘21CN-ready’ workforce to run it effectively. Revised practise, and in some cases new management from the outside, seems to signify the change in philosophy that the management is looking to engrain within its ranks.” he concludes.