MANAMA: The global telecom industry is currently witnessing the move from physical to virtual, which Deloitte predicts will be the new revolutionary move by 2020, through two disruptive technologies: network functioning virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN).
Deloitte in the Middle East in collaboration with Deloitte’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Center of Excellence for Telecom Engineering, headquartered in Portugal, launched new services which provide support to clients in managing revolutionary disruptive technologies. These technologies and Deloitte’s new offerings to Middle East clients were presented at the 5G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) World Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2016 conference held in Dubai.
“Every 20 years or so, telecom networks experience huge advances in the way they are planned, implemented and operated. Key industry revolutions include moving from analog to digital (1960), from copper to fiber (1980), and fixed to mobile (2000),” said Pedro Marques Tavares, Associate Partner and Leader for Telecom Engineering Center of Excellence at Deloitte. “We are currently witnessing the move from physical to virtual, which Deloitte predicts will be the new revolutionary move by 2020, through two disruptive technologies: network functioning virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN).”
“Deloitte in the Middle East is constantly working to expand its range of services and offerings to clients challenged with new technologies and disruptions,” said Rajeev Lalwani, Lead Partner, Technology Consulting, Deloitte in the Middle East. “Our collaboration with Deloitte’s Center of Excellence for Telecom Engineering will provide our clients with cutting-edge tools to adapt and benefit from these disruptions.”
SDN is an emerging architecture of computer networking that allows administrators to manage network services with a higher-level functionality. Tavares shared how SDN will boost network efficiency and how the implementation of SDN will offer new products and services such as: Bandwidth Calendaring, Bandwidth on demand, Real-time network self-service control, and Context-dependent Quality of Service (QoS).
Deloitte also led a panel focused on Long Term Evolution in the Middle East and North Africa based on current market assessment and projections. The discussion aimed at assessing: (1) how the MENA market fares compared with global deployments of LTE-Advanced, (2) the impact of emerging technologies and its corresponding effect on LTE players, and (3) subsequent security related issues.
“This is the first time we participate in the 5G World Series and it has reconfirmed our belief that the Middle East Telecom market is ready to make needed advances ahead of the new telecom revolution,” Tavares, added.
