FEATURE
THE CARRIER GUIDE TO 2021 Traffic, Technology and Unsung Heroes BY MATTIAS FRIDSTRÖM
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ccording to the Chinese Zodiac, 2021 is the Year of the Ox. In Chinese culture, oxen are considered to be honest and earnest. They are determined and stubborn, but also low-key and don’t seek praise. This often hides their talent, but they earn recognition through honest hard work. In many ways, I can’t help but thinking this is a good metaphor for the telecom industry in general. Our world was turned upside down in 2020 and it was gratifying to see the industry come together and solve many of the communication-related challenges that arose from the pandemic. For example, the need to socially-distance and work from home. As traffic growth continues unabated, many of these challenges will persist into 2021. Addressing these, we’ll need to relentlessly pursue our mission to ensure reliable, fast and secure connectivity across the globe. And in keeping with our traditional ‘Top 3’ predictions for the year ahead, here are a few thoughts about 2021.
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SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
THE TOP 3 GLOBAL CARRIER INDUSTRY TRENDS
1. People may not go back to the office - at least for the first part of the year. With the unprecedented and brutal impact of Covid-19 on networks worldwide, every day started to look like a Sunday, with traffic spread more evenly throughout the day. Traffic peaks grew more than 60% compared to pre-covid-19 days, and most networks had to rapidly adapt their operations. This will become a new reality in 2021 and many observers predict that this traffic trend will persist, despite new vaccines and other solutions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. 2. The public Internet for everything. Until very recently, the public Internet was a “best effort” network, good enough for certain gaming and streaming applications at best. Today, more and more traffic traverses the 98 000 ASNs that make up the public Internet, and even Enterprises will trust this network with the majority of their internal traffic - between offices and other production facilities. Add carrier security solutions and its inherent flexibility makes it a perfect underlay for all
