Pete Hall, Head of Middle East and Africa at Ciena, explains that AI traffic is expected to dominate CSP networks within three years, and we are helping regional operators prepare with scalable, automated, and adaptive infrastructure to meet the demands of AI, cloud, and smart cities.
Ciena report shows nearly half of CSPs expect AI traffic to exceed 30% of metro and long-haul networks in three years, with up to 29% expecting over half. How is Ciena helping operators prepare their networks to support that dramatic increase?
The rapid rise of AI applications, from large-scale models to cloud AI services and edge-to-core workflows, are driving local and long-haul network traffic. For metro networks, where AI will compete with video, web, and IoT traffic, the projected growth is striking, with AI expected to take an even larger share of long-haul capacity. As a result, AI data flows, including those used for training and inference, will put unprecedented demands on service provider networks. Ciena is in an excellent position to support this dramatic AI traffic increase by harnessing the power of networking systems, components, automation software, and services, thereby revolutionizing data transmission and network management.
According to the report, only 16% of CSPs feel ‘very ready’ for AI-era traffic. How can Ciena help operators accelerate their preparedness while balancing cost, scalability, and speed of deployment?
The network edge, where the consumer meets the network, is one of the key determinants of the overall user experience. It must have the capacity, flexibility, and scalability to meet these demands. Ciena’s adaptive network uses real-time data from its programmable infrastructure through open APIs, intelligent automation and network management software to deliver actionable insights to optimize networks for peak performance and energy efficiency, even preventing potential issues before they happen. We also have dedicated Account Teams that extend to Sales & Software Engineers throughout the region supporting existing service providers and ready for those who need help to accelerate their preparedness.
The survey suggests enterprises, not just hyperscalers, will drive most AI traffic. How is Ciena adapting its solutions to address enterprise-specific connectivity needs?
Ciena’s technology is largely behind the scenes, helping to support network providers and hyperscalers in today’s cloud and AI era. We focus on cutting-edge technology innovations that are designed to improve network efficiency, and simplify operations, designing products that scale for today and tomorrow. Examples include machine-to-machine platforms for high-volume deployments, photonic layers supporting multiple generations of coherent tech, and 1.6T solutions transporting 400G and 800G clients across the longest links.
In addition to helping support network providers and hyprscalers, Ciena support a number of Government and Large Enterprise customers in the region which has fast-become a growing sector for Ciena.
Low latency, high bandwidth, resiliency, and SLA visibility ranked as top service requirements. How is Ciena innovating around these priorities to differentiate wavelength services for AI workloads?
AI workloads are not just about compute, but rather about connectivity. They need the right network foundation for their full potential to be realized. For example, Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) is designed to address high-capacity connectivity demands driven by AI. Earlier this year, e& UAE, the telecom arm of e&, deployed this advanced technology, which boosts the network with ultra-high speed 400G client infrastructure connectivity, supporting 10 Gb home services and wholesale and domestic business customer traffic with 100G and 400G requirements. It also elevates the delivery of premium customer experiences over e&’s 5G network and optimizes the optical network infrastructure to strategically support the traffic sensitivity of artificial intelligence (AI) data center hub.
With networks quickly moving toward 400G and 800G services, how is Ciena ensuring operators can scale capacity without disruption to existing services?
Ciena enables operators to scale capacity seamlessly and protect existing services so that there is no disruption in connectivity. We do this by leveraging our Adaptive Network framework, which utilizes intelligent automation software, industry-leading coherent optical innovations, and a highly scalable photonic layer. In addition, our solutions are designed in a way that allows operators to provision bandwidth-on-demand – meaning when and where they need it based on changing network requirements.
AI workloads are unpredictable and bursty. How is Ciena leveraging automation, telemetry, and AI-driven network intelligence to help CSPs manage this dynamic environment?
There is a lot of hype associated with the network impacts of AI. However, AI-driven traffic is still in its early days and can be unpredictable. Additional connectivity capacity will be vital to sustain the growth of AI infrastructure and the evolution of AI models and applications. Securing such capacity is an integral part of investments that are already underway, creating tangible opportunities for operators aiming to monetize AI demand. Ciena’s adaptive network leverages intelligent automation and guided by streaming telemetry, data-driven analytics, and intent-based policies to rapidly self-configure, self-optimize, and self-heal by constantly assessing and addressing ongoing network pressures and demands.
The Heavy Reading report notes CSPs cannot address AI demands alone. How is Ciena enabling broader ecosystem collaboration—with cloud players, regulators, or enterprises—to accelerate readiness?
The rise of smart cities has turned the focus on how to converge the disparate technologies into a more collaborative environment, which enables cross-sharing of data so agencies can act to improve services to citizens and business constituents. In the Middle East, as countries forge ahead with their digital ambitions, they will need significant bandwidth and data capacities, powered by a highly flexible network infrastructure. Unfortunately, for many service providers, identifying and resolving service issues across multi-layer networks still remains a complicated and lengthy process, slowing down the momentum. In this regard, the adaptive network framework is transformational. It utilizes a combination of intelligence, software control and automation, to rapidly scale, self-configure, and self-optimize by constantly assessing network pressures and demands, thereby enabling more efficient ecosystem collaboration.
The Middle East is making massive investments in AI, smart cities, and hyperscale data centers. How is Ciena supporting regional CSPs to keep transport networks aligned with these ambitions?
The Middle East is making enormous investments in AI to advance smart city ambitions. In fact, smart city planners are focusing on how to converge the disparate technologies into a more collaborative environment, which enables cross-sharing of data so agencies can act to improve services to citizens and business constituents. They are looking to take advantage of AI and Machine Learning (ML) to improve the citizen experience. AI and other emerging technologies are bandwidth and data-intensive requiring greater network scalability and flexibility. Cities and communities need a network that can constantly and reliably adapt to fast-changing demand. Ciena’s adaptive network approach utilizes a combination of programmable coherent optical innovations and advanced software and network automation capabilities designed to help service providers rapidly scale, self-configure, and self-optimize the network.
With its rapid investments in AI, data centers, and digital infrastructure, do you see the Middle East leapfrogging directly into next-gen 800G+ networks, and then how is Ciena preparing to enable that?
The Middle East is poised for dramatic network growth, driven by a growing reliance on cloud services. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are frontrunners in the region for their spending on cloud. As on-demand content, bandwidth-hungry mobile apps, high-definition video streaming, and new cloud-based IT applications drive large scale and unpredictable traffic patterns, network capacities are increasing every year. With 800G, service providers in the Middle East can transport more data throughput for every wavelength they deploy. This is a game-changer and will help support the region’s digital transformation and success.
