Telstra's plans for Network of the Future take shape
Telstra has announced a number of initiatives that are designed to lay the foundations of its Network of the Future.
The move puts flesh on the bones of CEO Andy Penn’s announcement last year that the company would spend some $3.3 billion on network enhancements over the next three years. Last October, Telstra said it currently had only 20% of the network which it would need by 2020.
Telstra now says it will partner with Ericsson to expand its national long distance, metro and regional networks to equip them to handle the huge growth in traffic expected over that period and to provide the basis for a range of advanced mobile and fixed services.
According to Telstra, the programme also includes:
- 5G New Radio trials leading to early 5G launch readiness;
- creation of a media delivery cloud to complement the existing Telco Cloud project (now carrying live traffic); and
- deployment of Australia’s largest Internet of Things (IoT) network.
The Network of the Future is central to Telstra’s attempts to position itself as a leading-edge digital services provider across big data, cloud and media fields. Unlike past large scale network upgrades, however (the Future Mode of Operation, even the 3G roll-out), this one will be highly software intensive and labour-lite – as will the Network of the Future itself.
And while the programme will boost the capabilities of Telstra’s fibre assets, the focus at the access network level is of course on wireless.
E-bulletin readers interested in this development can find more details at https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/media/media-library/telstra-and-ericsson-lay-foundation-for-network-of-the-future.xml.
