On 5/13/24 04:07, Dave Cohen wrote:
My point was that the technology has little to do with the operational success of the service. Spectrum controllers better enabling providers to get out of their own way in selling spectrum did not actually enable the providers* to get out of their own way in selling spectrum. It *should* be easier than it used to be, but it isn't, and the problem is not really technical, but a question of 1) not having full-throated commitment to wanting to sell spectrum and 2) not having the talent to support it, which is really just a function of #1.
Fundamentally, I agree. This is one area where terrestrial operators will be late bloomers, as subsea shows and leads the way. My prediction is that there will be a slightly improved chance of spectrum services gaining a little more traction (not a lot) on the terrestrial side when the new-age DWDM vendors are able to offer more competitive and standards-based spectrum controllers. The other avenue of interest will be in mitigating the costs associated with upgrading to C+L network topologies, where some spectrum comes up for grabs as a quick way to recover the investment. And lastly, content folk looking to enter markets on the back of existing operators where the appetite for negotiating dark fibre is relatively low, will apply pressure on those reluctant operators to offer up some spectrum. We have already seen, across the world, how "convincing" the content folk have been at this sort of thing. But for the most part, yes, I expect the bulk of DWDM services sold to terrestrial network users will continue to be electrical bandwidth, and not optical spectrum, at least for the next few years. I could potentially see a case for a specialist DWDM operator who focuses on a spectrum-based service network that sells to 3 - 5 high-capacity customers, but those will be very specialist. Mark.