Cloud Wi-Fi makes deploying and managing networks easy

CommScope Technologies Australia Pty Ltd
Friday, 01 November, 2019

CommScope is an international network infrastructure provider, the parent company of ARRIS (a US-based telecommunications equipment manufacturer) and Ruckus Networks (a provider of wired and wireless networking equipment and software), and in April 2019 acquired the ICX switching component of Brocade.

Ben Cardwell is senior vice president and segment leader for both CommScope Mobility Solutions (CMS) and CommScope Connectivity Solutions (CCS). Here, he gives an overview of current developments in the cloud Wi-Fi, mobility and enterprise spaces.

What are some of the major trends as you see them?

What’s going on in wireless is similar to what’s going on in all service provider networks. Wireless networks are virtualising, meaning some network functions are being moved into software and/or the cloud. They are densifying and centralising, meaning more cell sites with more network functions grouped in centralised locations. And there is the ever-present and ongoing need for more bandwidth, spectrum, and network capacity to support more and new types of users.

Of course, 5G has been the talk of the wireless industry for a number of years now, and we are seeing some of the first network deployments. CommScope Mobility Solutions has solutions that address all these trends.

What about the enterprise, wireline, data centre and cloud markets?

Again, service provider networks are virtualising and densifying. But more specifically, we see outside plant networks for our cable service providers moving ‘fibre deep,’ meaning fibre optic cabling being deployed further out to the edge of the network to support wireless densification as well as fibre‑to‑the‑x.

In the data centre space, the ongoing trends are hyperscale (meaning, massive-sized) and multi-tenant (meaning, leased to many customers) data centres. These huge data centre operators are looking for customised and complex solutions, which happens to be our sweet spot. CommScope thrives on delivering customised solutions specific to the complex challenges in each major operator’s network.

Portrait photo of Ben Cardwell

Ben Cardwell, senior vice president and segment leader, CommScope Mobility Solutions and CommScope Connectivity Solutions

What sort of solutions do you see customers needing as they create the future connected society?

In one word, convergence. We often say, “Behind every great wireless network, there is a great wireline network”. With the push towards virtualisation so prolific, it is getting hard to figure out where the wireless network starts and the fibre network ends. CommScope is positioned to deliver the most comprehensive and innovative set of solutions as we are one of the only manufacturers in the industry that supports both markets.

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