Media Coverage

The biggest question for service provider networking in 2023 may never have been asked. That question is “What role will metro play, and what architecture will support that role?” The answer will not only determine what happens to the revenues of network operators, but also how each network equipment vendor will fare, and whether upstart players like DriveNets will really change the market for routers.

Both major vendors (Cisco and Juniper) and startups (DriveNets) could build this sort of thing with their current product sets. It’s therefore going to be a question of positioning the assets properly, and that could be done very, very, quickly. DriveNets and Juniper have taken steps already, and operators tell me that Cisco has been talking about metro at the sales level for about six months, though their marketing/positioning is still lagging a bit. Broadcom, with its position in the white-box and fabric space and bolstered by VMware’s hosting, virtualization, and virtual networking, might also take a run at things.

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