Technically Speaking

If things work out the way proponents hope, software-defined WANs will make tying corporate locations together far more efficient, increase functionality and reduce costs. SD-WANs are an implementation of software-defined networks. Today, network elements are purpose-built physical devices. If a company wants a firewall to protect an office, it calls a service provider or carrier who sends out a guy – it always was a guy – with a firewall in a truck. He deploys it into the network ...

It's an interesting time in telecommunications because the fundamental approaches to carrying data are changing in dramatic ways. Two changes are particularly impactful: virtualization and 5G. Virtualization is the core concept behind software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV), both of which are massively impactful. The other great change is in wireless. The industry is on the cusp of the 5G plunge, which will have massive ramifications as well ...

The single day in 2017 that will resonate into the future for the broadband industry is December 14. On that day, the US's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to gut net neutrality. It did this by recategorizing broadband internet as an information service. In 2015, Barack Obama's FCC had classified it as a telecommunication service under Title I of the Telecommunications Act. This is a huge change that will upend how ISPs are regulated. It is unclear, of course, how this all will hash out. But here are some possible impacts ...

There is a tremendous amount of buzz about 5G cellular services. Most of the talk is about the great data speeds that the platform will offer. That buzz, of course, is warranted. But the most exciting thing about 5G just may be a change that is not as obvious as speed numbers ...