PROFILE COMMSCOPE


as network functions virtualisation (NFV), which itself is in its infancy. Whilst both SDN and NFV have been popular industry topics of conversation for quite a few years, they are only now beginning to come to fruition and, Sorsky believes, will grow significantly during the next few years. He also predicts that once that trend kicks in, the wave of micro data centres will also. ‘Te great thing about the telecoms market is


that it never stops changing,’ Sorsky stated. ‘I’ve worked in the industry for 33 years and in that time there hasn’t been a 12, 18, or 24-month period that has not seen a revolution – and I still find it absolutely fascinating that in all this time we’re still talking about revolution in the industry.’ He commented that when DSL (digital


subscriber line) broadband first began, in the late 90s, he and others in the industry discovered that the technology was slow to gain traction until there was a serious level of competition in the market. ‘Competition is a massive driver, as is legislation, and we’re starting to see more government intervention and help in terms of fibre adoption.’ In Europe, the European Commission’s


@fibresystemsmag | www.fibre-systems.com


What were once local telephone exchanges are now being transformed into micro data centres, thanks to advances in software- defined networking


recent proposal for a ‘Gigabit Society’ aims to provide consumer broadband connections with an easy upgrade path to gigabit speeds. Whilst technology neutrality hasn’t been dismissed out of hand, the Commission identifies fibre as the most likely means by which we can reach that aspirational target. ‘I really believe we’re now at a tipping point


where fibre is no longer something we’re just going to see in pockets of locations and that over the next three to five years we will see a significant boom both in terms of homes passed and homes that have already committed to


fibre, especially when people realise how much they can receive down a gigabit link,’ he added. Sorsky noted that fibre will inevitably be


pushed further into the network in response to the ever-growing demand for bandwidth. ‘We believe multi-play operators will merge their fibre networks to cover both FTTH and fibre backhaul for 5G. In fact, according to a recent global survey [Broadband Outlook 2016, by Telecoms.com Intelligence], 71 per cent of respondents expect to transition the majority of their network to FTTH by 2025.’ All this makes it an incredibly exciting time


to be in the fibre-optic industry. ‘Part of the passion at CommScope is that we all want to be at that leading edge,’ said Sorsky. ‘We all want to be able to look back and say that when these revolutions were happening, we were right in the thick of it. ‘It really is an exciting time and if a young


graduate were to ask me whether they should begin a career in telecoms infrastructure or if it’s all played out now, I’d tell them that it’s only just begun and that we’ll see some incredible changes over the next 10 years.’l


Beth Harlen is a freelance science writer based in Cambridge, UK


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