MTN a step closer to streaming video
MTN has moved a step closer to offering a meaningful streaming video service on its network after a successful live trial of a Transport Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and 2.4Tbps wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) system.
This trial, in conjunction with Huawei, is currently the fastest and most intelligent optical network to date in the industry, setting the standard for the evolution of optical transport.
The ultra-fast single-channel 2.4Tbps field trial took place on MTN’s national fibre backbone network in South Africa.
In the first scenario, 2.4Tbps with 16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) was achieved over a transmission distance exceeding 300km.
In the second scenario, 2Tbps with QPSK was achieved over a transmission distance of 1,031 km.
The success of this trial demonstrates the advanced optical transport system, with bandwidth capacities far beyond the existing 100G technology, MTN said.
In addition to the large system capacity, the “world’s first” transport SDN’s new features were also tested.
Huawei Transport SDN solutions, using physical network modelling and resource abstraction, have realised transmission pipe virtualization.
These advances allow traditional communication technology networks to be “IT-like”, the group said.
The trial successfully demonstrated SDN features such as Bandwidth on Demand (BoD), Virtual Transport Service (VTS), and Automatic O&M functions.
MTN’s streaming video ambitions
MTN recently said that it hopes to offer a meaningful streaming video service on its network in South Africa before the end of the year.
Speaking at the group’s results presentation on 7 August 2014, MTN group president and CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, told BusinessTech: “We’ve been working on it…it’s and area in which we are learning a lot. We have looked at a number of opportunities.”
“We think that we can conclude something definitely in Q3, and hopefully, we should have something in the market before the end of the year.”
Bloomberg recently reported that MTN is in discussions with a company based in Asia to provide a streaming service on its network.
Navi Naidoo, group technology officer, MTN, said: “With this successful field trial, we have demonstrated our commitment to digital innovation.”
“We believe that networks such as cloud computing, streaming media and mobile broadband must be scalable, intelligent and flexible. To this end, Huawei’s next generation optical evolution concept ‘SDN-based flex optical network’ properly fits our requirements.”
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