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of us can grasp today). We have space for only a few examples of the new markets that are springing up on the edge of the network and that thrive, we should all remember, only because the network is there to provide the connectivity the edge needs.
Innovation from the Edge (OTT services): When we were younger we saw the cool gadgets of the TV cartoon animation The Jetsons - including a neat video phone. We waited and waited for the traditional service providers to build this enrichment to communication-at-a-distance, but it never happened. Certainly SPs tried, and each time failed. But today I have a video phone in my laptop and I can buy a video terminal in any consumer electronics store, ready to plug in to my broadband access. I have all the facility of the Jetsons and more. But no traditional SP built and marketed this service. Edge companies did: OTT VoIP companies and IM service providers working with consumer electronics companies.
“Service providers can create or host applications within their own network, however this is naturally constrained—the greatest breadth of application and content innovation will always fall outside any one network service provider. There will always be a wider range of applications and content off-net driven by content service providers like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft or specialized providers and start-ups.” [Chris Komatas, Director, Service Provider Marketing at Juniper.]
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Explorers hope that the voyage will yield new riches. Today’s edge is richer than we could have imagined just a few years ago (indeed richer than most of us can grasp today). |
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GPON fiber network and built a local data center to provide all the community services, and struck its own interconnect deal.
Similarly, aiming at their next fortune, the Anasari family (of the near-space X-prize space race) have invested their capital and their management talents in a new enterprise aimed at linking smart homes and service providers. They are designing this alone without service provider partnerships. Perhaps, with a partnership, a sharing of insight and plans with a SP, their end product might be better. But they need a reason, an example, to see it that way. And the traditional service provider industry is not providing good references here.
Smart retail & supply chain: Retail stores in Germany have deployed web applications that help shoppers create their shopping lists, which are then downloaded to in-store smart shopping carts that guide customers around the store. Eventually these systems will interconnect with smart devices in smart homes to build shopping lists based on usage. This works because the Internet portal, sales application, cart, and order-stocking programs, all are networked.
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Smart homes: What is an intelligent neighborhood and smart home? Phil Johnston’s company has helped design intelligent communities including one in Thousand Palms, CA with completely automated energy, automated lighting, security, entertainment, advanced learning, and elderly person monitoring. Houses are connected to neighborhood systems delivering security, local retail, local activity groups, local learning facilities, and other local services. Phil told us how the local telecom service provider is simply not needed for this development. The community laid its own |
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Indeed, there is a natural symmetry between the function of networks and the function of supply chains. Goods and services, to an extent, travel from supplier to receiver much likes packet are routed in the network. Further, a synergy exists between supply chains and networks. Information of place, time, and routing can be fed from automated package readers and smart dollies over the network to supply-chain applications. None of these applications needs a telecom service provider to host or support these complex
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