COMMSCOPE THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS

WHAT TYPES OF TRENDS ARE WE SEEING WHEN IT COMES TO BANDWIDTH, EDGE DEVICES AND POWER OVER THE ETHERNET (POE)?

Last year saw the introduction of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 products, the long-awaited launch of 5G devices and services, the initial commercial rollout of shared spectrum, as well as increased global interest in private networks. In 2020, we expect these new standards, products and services to drive the demand for more bandwidth and more power over ethernet (PoE) for edge devices across a wide range of connected spaces. These include smart homes and cities, intelligent buildings and stadiums, as well as mining sites, factories and warehouses.

THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS

EHAB KANARY, VICE PRESIDENT OF ENTERPRISE FOR EMEA, COMMSCOPE, ON HOW THE ENTERPRISE CAN PREPARE FOR CONNECTIVITY REQUIREMENTS IN 2020

WHAT WILL THE ROLE OF INFRASTRUCTURE PLAY AND WHY IS CABLING A KEY PART OF THIS STORY?

Governments across the region are investing in telecommunications infrastructure in order to provision smart services.

The demand for sufficient bandwidth to support these types of technologies and the applications they will enable will become even more of a priority in 2020. We see options for in-building wireless acting as a catalyst in 2020 for the cyclical upgrade of back-end infrastructure including new multi-gigabit switches and fiber cabling that support Power over Ethernet (PoE).

IT departments engaged in cyclical upgrades during 2020 will deploy CAT6A cabling – which supports transfer rates of up to 10 Gbps – to prevent network bottlenecks and fully support new PoE demands. In addition, to support the expected increase in the amount of data and number of devices, we believe enterprises will spend time and money in 2020 bringing in new multi-gigabit switches.

HOW WILL THE INDUSTRY BE SUPPORTING NEW REQUIREMENTS WITH NEW INFRASTRUCTURE?

Power over ethernet (PoE) is the preferred technology for delivering power to edge devices and wireless access points. The latest 802.3bt Power over Ethernet standard (also known as 4-Pair PoE or simply 4PPoE) stipulates support for a full 90 watts which is deliverable via CAT6A cabling. Although older wireless access points (APs) tend to draw a minimal amount of power, some newer APs require more power to drive all their radios and provide power for devices connected via their USB ports. The number of edge devices demanding more PoE – such as HD/4K digital signage, pan, tilt and zoom cameras and smart LED lighting – will increase in 2020.

Mission critical use cases will also demand the use of PoE to reduce faultfinding time, especially in far-flung locations. With a non-PoE system, a power failure event requires the on-premise attention of an electrician to investigate the root cause of the outage. With a PoE-fed device, power and data are combined and centralized at the network switch in an equipment room with dedicated power circuits, thus simplifying and automating the faultfinding process. This reduces the time it takes to track down and repair outages, significantly improving the mean time to recovery (MTTR).

The demand for sufficient bandwidth to support the above-mentioned technologies and the applications they enable will become even more of a priority in 2020. We see new connectivity options and converged PoE edge devices acting as major catalysts for the upgrade of back-end infrastructure including new multi-gigabit switches and fiber cabling that supports 90 watts of PoE. IT departments engaged in cyclical upgrades during 2020 will also deploy CAT6A cabling – which supports transfer rates of up to 10 Gbps – to prevent network bottlenecks and fully support new PoE demands.

With the introduction of new technologies such as Wi-Fi 6, the launch of spectrum sharing, the uptick in interest for private networks and the continued rollout of 5G networks, 2020 will offers consumers and businesses a wide range of connectivity options.