AXON CEO and CTO take the stage at ISE Expo 2024
ISE Expo 2024 took place in Dallas August 20-22 and AXON Network senior executives were front and center discussing best practices and emerging technologies supporting today’s broadband networks.
Introducing Operator-as-a-Service
AXON founder and CEO Martin Manniche shared the stage with Crystal Dowds, VP of Architecture, Engineering and Technology (AET) at Lumen Technologies to discuss “The Future of Home Broadband Networking is Here, Now!”
They emphasized today's modern networks are more than just a conduit for broadband connectivity, they’re the pathway to a true customer-first experience. To achieve this goal, network operators are increasingly turning to real-time, cloud-based network orchestration and management to evolve their networks – using legacy equipment – and employing enterprise networking technologies such as digital twins to drive innovation, optimize network performance and reduce operating costs.
Martin introduced a new concept, Operator-as-a-Service (OaaS), that integrates all of these technologies. OaaS is a single, unified, cloud-based platform that uses real-time data analysis to orchestrate and manage the network, providing end-to-end visibility, automation and control. The cloud-native aspect of OaaS is something operators should lean into.
“The cloud is not something we should be scared about, it’s something we should embrace,” he said.
Crystal shared the transformative impact of OaaS at Lumen:
“What excited me early on was, if you have a business case or a project in front of you that allows you to reduce your capital costs, to reduce your operating expenses, while simultaneously increasing your NPS – your customer experience – thereby, increasing your revenue, and oh, by the way, also reducing churn, you’re hitting on all cylinders.”
Software-defined networking and today’s modern networks
Crystal also joined AXON CTO Siddhartha Dattagupta to discuss “Real-Time Network Orchestration and the Future of Broadband Connectivity.”
Their talk focused on why real-time network orchestration across an operator’s entire network is not only possible, but critical; how network operators of all sizes have embraced real-time, cloud-based network orchestration to maintain network performance and quality; and why those operators don’t need to invest massive amounts of money to deploy real-time network orchestration on their existing infrastructure.
According to Sid, software-defined networking (SDN) will be the key to effective network management, keeping up with the pace of innovation, and ensuring a secure and efficient network infrastructure. At the same time, the convergence of the fixed and mobile networks for broadband service is inevitable.
“The fixed network is converging with the mobile network with the advent of the new dimensions of the broadband network,” he said. “With the explosion of traffic we’ve seen on the broadband network, it is impossible to design and provision the broadband network without the principles of SDN.”
Both Martin’s and Sid’s presentations stressed the importance of real-time network analytics and orchestration to manage today’s evolving home broadband ecosystems.