Report: IP edge routers alleviate carriers' triple challenge of video, mobility, cloud

A new white paper published by Infonetics Research examines how the latest advances in edge routing technology are helping carriers meet the demands of growing video traffic, surging mobile backhaul traffic, and cloud services at the IP edge.

The free 18-page white paper, titled Routers on the IP Edge: Overcoming the Triple Challenge of Video, Mobility, and Cloud, explores the challenges of the IP edge, examines the threats to service provider business models, and presents case studies of four carriers that have made the transition to a more distributed, modern converged IP edge architecture that utilizes advanced IP edge routers.

“The Internet changed everything forever, and it certainly changed service provider networks,” notes Michael Howard, Infonetics Research’s co-founder, principal analyst for carrier networks, and author of the white paper. “The great migration from TDM to IP has been in motion for over a decade, and just as carriers are nearing completion of their IP packet networks, they’re faced with new challenges from video, mobility, and the cloud that have the ability to overwhelm these networks.”

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The white paper's analysis contends that current IP edge comprises separate overlay networks for multiple services -- and is not up to the task of providing the capacity and service granularity today’s video and data services require. As defined by Infonetics, the ‘new IP edge’ is a consolidated multi-service delivery point for IP video, mobile, and cloud services.

Howard adds, “Fortunately, a new IP edge is emerging where multiple IP networks are consolidated into just a few -- or preferably one -- capable of addressing the scalability and performance requirements of today’s services, enabling operators to turn the triple challenge of video, mobility, and cloud into opportunities.”

The paper notes how number of service providers, including British Telecom, TELUS, Portugal Telecom, and Belgacom are using the latest functions of IP edge routers to re-architect their networks, add new capabilities, and innovate new services. Video is seen as the biggest threat to service provider networks today, specifically with regard to: the shift from traditional multicast broadcast IP TV service, where one stream is sent to all users, to unicast broadcast video, where a separate stream is sent to each single user; and 'over-the-top (OTT)' video consumption.

Download the free whitepaper here.