FROM THE INDUSTRY
Can you bring this a bit closer to home for our readers? If you look at your network at home, there’ll be an edge computer looking after you that you’ll be sharing with everybody else. Netceed’s strategy was initially data centres, then the energy sector; actives is the next phase of expansion, and that encompasses the compute power, the power supplies, the backup power. Consumers now find that everything works from that edge. Expand that out to the whole ecosystem: how does your computer work? How does it talk to the router? Does it use the right language? Is it using WiFi 6, WiFi 7? Due to all this critical infrastructure, actives need to be more important. Who are you competing with in this space? We work with many of the leading technology vendors — companies like Juniper, Cisco and Ciena — but we don’t see ourselves as competing with them. Our role is to bring these technologies together in a coherent, deployable solution. Operators don’t need more complexity; they need integration. They need a partner who understands how all the pieces fit together — from optical transport to IP routing to access networks — and can deliver that as a complete, operational system.
Every time I meet up with Netceed at ANGA COM there is another big announcement and this year seems to be no different. Talk me through what you’ve been up to. Until now Netceed has offered passive solutions to our customers; building the networks, putting the physical layer together; the start of the supply chain, putting the ducts in the ground. Now our focus has shifted to include offering active solutions: powered, electronic devices, processing signals and requiring power. Actives is an area that, until now that we haven’t focused on in a broad, strategic way. This isn’t just an incremental step. It’s a strategic shift. We are moving from being a supplier of infrastructure to becoming a partner that supports the full network lifecycle — from core to edge, and ultimately all the way to the customer. Has Netceed ever provided products in this area before? In the past it’s been mainly only the kit in cabinets and in the ground, components that didn’t need powering. There’s a few that would go into a head end, at the bottom of a telegraph pole. Plus satellite distribution equipment. With actives, that’s a whole
It makes sense for Netceed, given all your acquisitions, to expand your remit like this. We’re calling it core-to-edge: from the core routers all the way to the enterprise edge routing. This includes the core, through the optical, packet transport, aggregation, out to the small outlets where you start dividing it back out again, and in the end to the users and the access points. We feel well positioned to advise on the entire process and our reputation puts us in a strong position to do that. What challenges are you experiencing currently – presumably rising costs? Memory has gone up exorbitantly, as well as processing power. we’re looking at a 50% increase in the last four months alone, and the new situation in the Middle East isn’t helping. A lot of the raw material comes from other areas than Europe. The demand for memory stretches from data centres to solar panels, everyone needs these components. Ordering in the right parts and just enough of them is critical. But as networks are constantly evolving on the active side, not the passive side, there’s a big difference in how we prioritise. Presumably you’re stockpiling again like you did with semiconductors during the pandemic? We’re stockpiling. Anything we know that’s volatile pricing wise, we try and get it and make sure we’ve got it in advance. Forecasting is difficult during unstable periods, but experience is handy. Experience and guessing. You’ve been in the industry a long time, experienced a few world events, you will have experienced issues with supply and demand. There was a time when copper was a problem. There wasn’t enough copper in the world. It was all going into 3G and 4G masts. There was no copper available for coax. Telecommunications is cyclical. We just hope it will be better next year.
new area. We like to call it from ‘edge to
That orchestration capability is where we see our differentiation.
the customer,’ going all the way from the edge of the network - all the way in.
And the bit in the middle is running out. Exactly that. If you look at the UK, the UK is nearly finished building. It’s not everywhere else. Germany needs to rebuild most of the network, there’s a lot that needs to go on there. Scandinavia, same thing. Spain have done well. France is nearly finished, but now even France needs a rebuild of actives, and actives are always changing, unlike passives, which generally stay the same. But you do need to change both ends: what goes into the home and the other end keeps changing and evolving. Then we need to consider what standards are going to be used in the future. Right now, we have 10Gb. Is it going to be 100Gb? 50Gb? A terabyte? No one knows yet.
Volume 48 No.2 MAY 2026
79
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