The Net Works: Recent Episodes
None
At this year's Adtran Symposium, Carl Delaney from euNetworks delivered one of the event's most talked-about sessions, exploring whether carrier networks can once again become a strategic asset in an era of distributed AI. In today's episode, we join Carl live on the keynote stage as he examines the current industry landscape and explains how AI is poised to redefine the carrier's role.
If you have any questions about today's discussion, please reach out on our social media channels.
At the recent Adtran Symposium, Stephan Rettenberger sat down with Robert Conger and Stuart Broome for a fireside chat that covered everything from 50G PON and rural connectivity to enjoying a whisky in the north of Scotland. In today's show, we join them live on the keynote stage in Berlin as they reflect on the standout moments of 2025 and look ahead at the technologies that will shape tomorrow's networks.
If you have any questions about today's discussion, please reach out on our social media channels.
At the recent Adtran Summit, we unveiled REAL AI – a new foundational approach to artificial intelligence that will transform network operations. In today's show, we join Daniel Barnes live on stage as he outlines how Adtran is applying AI pragmatically to deliver real-world outcomes for service providers. Daniel shares how REAL AI – which reasons, explains, acts and learns – is already helping customers simplify operations and lower costs. During the keynote session, Daniel is joined by ACE Fiber's Brandon Curry, Highland Broadband's Cameron Warren and GOCare's Kevin Mitchell, who share their experiences as early adopters of Adtran's AI-powered capabilities.
Links:
Adtran launches Mosaic One Clarity to transform network operations with AI-based predictive maintenance and proactive assurance
Meet Adtran's REAL AI engine and start your journey to phased AI adoption
If you have any questions about today's discussion, please reach out on our social media channels.
Earlier this year, Adtran and Netomnia delivered the UK’s first commercial 50G PON service. At Connected Britain 2025, Adtran’s Eric Joyce and Jeremy Chelot, Group CEO of Netomnia, YouFibre and brsk, took to the keynote stage to lift the lid on this industry milestone. In today’s show, we join Eric and Jeremy live as they discuss the deployment and share what’s next.
Links:
Netomnia and Adtran deploy UK’s first commercial 50G PON service
SDX 6400 Series
If you have any questions about today’s discussion, please reach out on our social media channels.
Service providers have reached a turning point at the edge of the network. The demand for high-performance enterprise connectivity is creating new revenue opportunities, but traditional single-appliance routers are holding them back. Could Ensemble Cloudlet vRouter be the key to unlocking this opportunity? In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks with Adtran’s Brian Van Voorhis about the company’s new virtualized edge solution and how the market is responding.
Links:
Ensemble Cloudlet vRouter
Unlocking new revenue at the network edge with Adtran’s Ensemble Cloudlet vRouter
If you have any questions about today’s discussion, please reach out on our social media channels.
Wi-Fi 7 marks a major step forward for the networking industry, promising to deliver multigigabit connectivity for homes and businesses, but are service providers ready to seize this new opportunity? In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks with Adtran’s David LaCagnina and Michael Sumitra about the current state of the wireless landscape and why Wi-Fi 7 holds such potential for the industry.
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
OFC is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to LightCounting analyst and Gazettabyte editor Roy Rubenstein, along with Adtran’s leader of advanced technology, Jörg-Peter Elbers. Together, they look back on five decades of optical innovation, explore what’s next for the industry and discuss hot topics for OFC 2025 – including why this year’s rump session has an alien vibe.
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
AI is still in its infancy, but it’s already pushing the photonics and computing industries to rethink product roadmaps and drive new levels of innovation. In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks with authors and analysts Daryl Inniss and Roy Rubenstein about the fast pace of AI development and the changes needed to unlock its full potential. They also discuss the upcoming sequel to their book on silicon photonics and its focus on AI.
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
Network as a service (NaaS) is rapidly gaining momentum, enabling enterprises to accelerate the speed of digital transformation. In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to Adtran’s Brian Van Voorhis about the growth of NaaS and how new edge cloud technologies are simplifying operations and unlocking new possibilities.
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
M&A is a hot topic in the telecom industry right now. Just take a look at the media attention surrounding Vodafone and Three’s proposed combination in the UK. But aside from the financial and regulatory implications involved, another key aspect is infrastructure consolidation. At this year’s Connected Britain, Adtran’s Stefano Fogli took to the keynote stage to outline a central office consolidation strategy that will help service providers win at M&A. Here’s Stefano’s session.
Links:
Central office consolidation: A practical guide
Adtran’s OLTs
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
At this year’s Connected Britain, 50G PON was the breakout topic. From the conference to the exhibition, everyone wanted to know when products would be available and when services would be deployed. Eric Joyce from Adtran hosted the show’s must-see 50G PON session. He was joined by Jeremy Chelot from Netomnia and brsk, Mike Goodwin from ITS and Tim Stranack from INCA and Community Fibre. If you didn’t have a chance to attend the panel discussion, here it is in full.
Links:
50G PON innovation
Adtran and Netomnia partner to launch UK’s first 50G PON services
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
Recorded live at the Adtran Symposium, Robert Conger talks about Adtran’s long-term product strategy, the importance of data-driven intelligence and how the company is helping customers drive data from the core and through the door.
Links: Products and services https://www.adtran.com/en/products-and-services
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
Electric co-ops are a hot topic in the US right now. They’re playing a key role in helping to drive high-speed connectivity to underserved communities throughout the country. In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to Adtran’s Paul Breakman about his recent trip to the NRECA CEO Close-Up and what he learned at the show.
Links: Utilities https://www.adtran.com/en/industries/utilities
If you have any questions about today’s show, please reach out on our social media channels.
The network edge has come into sharp focus recently. With growing demands from residential broadband, 5G X-Haul and business access, service providers are under increasing pressure to evolve their edge solutions. In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to ADVA’s Stephan Rettenberger about the key challenges service providers face and how an open and disaggregated optical edge can help them meet customer needs.
Links:
BAI Communications selects key ADVA technology to bring mobile connectivity to London Underground
https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20211207-bai-communications-selects-key-adva-technology-to-bring-mobile-connectivity-to-london
G.metro
https://www.adva.com/en/products/open-optical-transport/optical-access/g-metro
MicroMux™ Edge BiDi
https://www.adva.com/en/products/open-optical-transport/pluggables-and-subsystems/micromux-edge-bidi
Network virtualization
https://www.adva.com/en/products/network-virtualization
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Is your smart grid or critical network infrastructure too reliant on GNSS-based positioning, navigation and timing? What would happen if there was an outage? In today’s show, we present an audio version of our “Assured PNT sync planning for smart digital grids” and help you develop a strategy to stay operational and online. If you want to download the guide, please check out the link below.
Links:
Assured PNT sync planning for smart digital grids
https://go.advaoptical.com/l/637941/2022-02-10/2fjpzc
ADVA protects critical network infrastructure with new end-to-end assured PNT solution
https://www.oscilloquartz.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20211005-adva-protects-critical-network-infrastructure-with-new-end-to-end-assured-pnt-solution
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
What impact will the Future RAN Competition have on the UK’s 5G development, and will it help the government push its “leveling up” agenda in the north of England? In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to ADVA’s Anthony Magee about the 5G DU-Volution project and a possible new O-RAN lab in York.
Links:
UK government awards Future RAN Competition funding to ADVA-led consortium
https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20211209-uk-government-awards-future-ran-competition-funding-to-adva-led-consortium
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
What impact will the Future RAN Competition have on the UK’s 5G development, and will it help the government push its “leveling up” agenda in the north of England? In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to ADVA’s Anthony Magee about the 5G DU-Volution project and a possible new O-RAN lab in York.
Links: UK government awards Future RAN Competition funding to ADVA-led consortium https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20211209-uk-government-awards-future-ran-competition-funding-to-adva-led-consortium
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
How can you fully maximize your investment in uCPE and develop a true multi-vendor solution that delivers flexibility, simplicity and scale? In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to ADVA’s Prayson Pate about six key strategies that enterprises can follow to achieve uCPE success.
Links:
Six strategies for success with uCPE
https://www.adva.com/en/resources/resources-gated-page/solution-briefs/six-strategies-for-success-with-ucpe
Beware of DINOs!
https://www.blog.adva.com/en/beware-of-dinos
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
How has ADVA managed to succeed during the past 12 months and can it keep this momentum in 2021? In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to ADVA’s CEO, Brian Protiva, about the challenges of Covid-19 and how he intends to transform the company’s business model to drive higher revenues and greater profitability.
Links:
ADVA posts strongest Q1 results in company’s history
www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-…n-companys-history
ADVA unveils path to higher profitability at 2021 capital markets day
www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-…apital-markets-day
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Recorded live at ADVA’s Virtual Symposium, Brian Protiva talks about how ADVA has managed Covid-19, overcome supply chain challenges and is helping customers with their 5G rollouts.
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Can service providers unlock hidden potential in their networks and drive whole new revenue streams? Stephan Rettenberger believes that ADVA has found the key to help service providers do exactly this. That key is ADVA’s new spectrum-as-a-service solution. In today’s show, Gareth Spence talks to Stephan about the new solution and examines the role ADVA's open technology is playing in helping service providers open up entirely new business opportunities.
Links:
Spectrum-as-a-service innovation page
https://www.adva.com/en/innovation/photonic-networking/spectrum-as-a-service
Spectrum-as-a-service video
https://youtu.be/FBCuuvYWN4A
Spectrum-as-a-service slides
https://www.slideshare.net/ADVAOpticalNetworking/introducing-spectrum-as-a-service
FSP 3000 open line system product page
https://www.adva.com/en/products/open-optical-transport/fsp-3000-open-line-system
If you have any questions about today’s show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
How do you increase access network capacity without expensive upgrades? This is the question that many service providers are trying to solve right now. Stephan Rettenberger believes that ADVA may have found the solution with its new G.metro technology. In today's show, Gareth Spence talks to Stephan about this turnkey solution and how this product all started many years ago with a discussion about WDM-PON.
Recorded live at ADVA's London Symposium, Anthony Magee delivers a 5G reality check and takes a look at how important latency will be for mobile network operators to really succeed.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Recorded live at ADVA's London Symposium, Prayson Pate takes a look at the rapid acceleration of NFV deployments and explores the reasons for uCPE's recent success.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Recorded live at ADVA's London Symposium, Steve Penticost takes a look at the evolution of open optical networks and examines what it means to be open.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Recorded live at ADVA's London Symposium, Christoph Glingener takes a look at what lies ahead for networks in 2030 and also digs deep into the latest network edge developments.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
The FSP 3000 TeraFlex™ is a hot topic in the industry right now. Its 1200G capabilities, combined with adaptive modulation schemes and tuneable baud rates, make it a compelling solution for operators in both brownfield and greenfield environments. In today's show, Stephan Rettenberger talks to Gareth Spence about this technology and why it's proving such a focal point.
Links: FSP 3000 TeraFlex™
https://www.adva.com/en/products/open-optical-transport/fsp-3000-open-terminals/teraflex
Boosting the capacity of disaggregated optical networks webinar with ADVA, Acacia and Cignal AI
https://youtu.be/ooxixio10eI
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
What does it take to build a successful and dynamic team and how can you ensure everyone is achieving their potential? In today's show, Brian Protiva talks to Gareth Spence about how he is personally helping to drive forward ADVA's training and development program and why it's so important to him.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
Fiber is the gold of our communication networks. It’s what enables every aspect of our modern connected lives, but are we effectively taking care of it? In today’s show, Stephan Rettenberger and Ulrich Kohn talk to Gareth Spence about the development of ADVA Optical Networking’s ALM – a new technology that forever changes how networks are monitored.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
How does a company transform its culture and its processes to put sustainability first? And what impact does this change have on its customers and its bottom line? On today’s show, Michael Huthart talks about ADVA Optical Networking and how he’s using a sustainability lens to revolutionize the company’s operational models.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.
What makes a CEO jump for joy? Is it purely financial success or is there something more? On today’s show, Brian Protiva talks about ADVA Optical Networking’s record revenues and lessons he’s learned as the longest-standing CEO in the optical networking industry.
If you have any questions about today's show, please email thenetworks@adva.com.