[Editor’s Note: The following blog post, originally published on the Metaswitch Networks Blog, provides a glimpse of what Mr. Gleave will be discussing at the event Viodi is producing with ITS Fiber. ITS Fiber is an independent operator that made the transition from copper-based rural telco to one that provides business services via an all-underground fiber network that connects to their state-of-the-art data center. Thanks Metaswitch for your support of this upcoming event!]

Communications network infrastructure is on a path to become more software-centric: virtual network functions running on commodity hardware, in the cloud. Intelligent software, separated from hardware, driven by the double-header of both network functions virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN).
In turn, assets will be part of a “new global network” that will be used to deliver services on a local, national or global basis. Geographically, there will be no limits on where services may be sourced from, or delivered to. This new global network will be:
- A collection of assets (owned or leased by a network operator) that can be chained to deliver communication services
- Built on commodity servers and storage
- Cloud-based, software-centric and all–IP
- Comprised of commercial, free and open-source software
- Made possible by NFV and SDN and delivering a more cost-effective, flexible, programmable, revenue-generating, intelligent and competitive network
- Enabled by software that is designed, developed, deployed and chained across geographically agnostic data centers.
As the new global network emerges, traditional boundaries for networks and businesses will be blurred; in terms of both assets owned and services that are delivered or wholesaled.
Regardless of where a network operator is located or where its customers may be, the services that it offers will then be delivered through a chain of global assets that include:
- Compute hardware: x86 servers, storage, white box switches, hardware accelerators
- Virtualized operating environments: virtual compute, virtual storage, virtual networking, plus a cloud OS
- Network intelligence: IMS Core, call switching, VoIP network interconnect, SDN control planes, NFV infrastructure networking
- Service intelligence: hosted business unified communications, residential VoIP, PSTN service emulation, VoLTE
- Orchestration and management software for instantiating and scaling virtual network functions
- Bandwidth
Network operators of all sizes are effectively helping build this new global network. For many operators, this is a gradual transition that is sensitive to, and can be congruent with, the significant investment already made in their existing networks. Savvy network operators are working with their technology partners and suppliers to see how quickly and comfortably they can move down the path of becoming more software-centric and defining both their role in, and business model for, the new global network.

Steve is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Metaswitch Networks. At Metaswitch, Steve evangelizes the software solutions that have successfully transitioned operators from TDM to VoIP and IMS, and an NFV/SDN portfolio that charts a path to their becoming scalable, programmable, feature-rich, cost-effective, cloud-based and heavily-hyphenated “software telcos.”
Born in the UK, Steve graduated from Bristol University in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and has lived and worked in the USA since 1996. Along the way he has acquired something resembling an Australian accent, a reputation for delivering engaging presentations, a half-decent understanding of American sports and an expensive dependency on HBO dramas. Steve maintains a home in Arizona, a depleted bank balance, and his innocence whenever stopped by the police.
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