It
has been interesting to see what CommScope experts think about trends in
certain networking market sectors for 2018. If you haven’t see them, then let
me share some highlights with you:
When
reading them, however, I was struck by another trend in society that is a huge
driver in each of those networking areas—social media.
Use
of social media literally has changed the world. From mundane communicating and
information gathering to spreading political ideas and discourse, it has
changed the way our society and culture function. This will only increase
because of younger generations.
There
are two groups that see social media and mobility as vital to their everyday
lives—Millennials and Generation
Z (Gen Z).
Here is some background CommScope has on Millennials based on
global research:
- Two-thirds
use social media as their major form of social communication
- Millennials
spend more than 2.5 times as many hours per day receiving social media messages
than Baby Boomers
When talking about Gen Zers, those numbers
increase. Considered the “always on” generation, recent research by CommScope
found:
- 96
percent own a smartphone
- 70
percent check their phones more than 30 times an hour
- More
than half create content they share with others
CLICK TO TWEET: CommScope's Joseph Depa explains that service providers must make sure their networks can handle the increased data generated by Millennials and Gen Zers.
Social platforms are the most commonly
used method to share content by Gen Zers; however, 30 percent post content on their
own websites.
Not many think about it, but as both
groups get older, the data created from their devices will continue to put a strain
on network infrastructure. Moving content to the edge will prove an invaluable differentiator
in overall service quality. More agile networks designed to enable service models
to scale usage and costs will also have a decided advantage over today’s fixed traditional
providers.
Gen Zers don’t even recognize how their
content is passed through the network. Research reveals that they see the cloud
as essential, yet it’s a benefit that they do not attribute to a source or brand.
Technology is essentially an indistinguishable part of Gen Z identity and daily
life.
Millennials and Gen Zers do not care
about the technical details of how network technology enables them to experience
ultra-fast-anywhere connectivity. What they care about is the quality, reliability
and flexibility of their service. The advantage of a converged wired and wireless
network architecture will likely give network providers—many of whom are expanding
by acquiring content providers—the freedom and flexibility to affordably tailor
a wide variety of services to customers.
Service providers must keep up with
the data demands. The need to support these higher speeds has a large impact on
the physical layer infrastructure. A shift to higher speed requires better
optics and better physical link performance. Therefore, for the first time,
singlemode optics are starting to be deployed within a data center. It is because
the increased size of some of the cloud operators—link lengths cannot be
supported at the required speeds with multimode optics. Singlemode is being perceived
as the inevitable future for optic networks as speeds
continue to climb.
The future of the wireless mobile
networks market will be driven in part by the continuation of current capacity
growth trends. But it is the industry’s migration to 5G—expected to be standardized this year and initially deployed
in 2020—that will have the greatest impact on the future.
At its essence, 5G is a “network of
networks”—a convergence of wireline and wireless with deep fiber penetration in
both. The road to 5G is marked by the evolution of wireless networks to centralized RAN and ultimately to
cloud RAN, which will enable cell virtualization. Cell virtualization will enable
operators to manage multiple radio points within the footprint of a single cell,
eliminating intercell interference while providing high capacity. The move to 5G
is the foundation of everything wireless operators should deal with in the coming
years.
Technology is
essentially an indistinguishable part of both Gen Z and Millennials lives. It gives them comfort, purpose and focus. As
both groups continue to get older, their reliance on connectivity will continue
to increase as well. No matter what happens, service providers will need to
make sure their networks can handle the increased data generated by these
connected groups.
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