Technology talk: Innovation engine

Research and development is a huge activity for Nokia Siemens Networks. With some 17,000 employees, the function focuses on new ways to overcome the challenges facing operators today and into the future.

“A major challenge is the explosion in network traffic, with an expected 100-fold rise over the next few years. We offer many innovations to meet this huge growth, including access technologies like LTE and Next Generation Optical Access, as well as WDM and Carrier Ethernet to handle the traffic efficiently in the core network,” says Stephan Scholz, CTO, Nokia Siemens Networks.

“Rising network complexity is another concern, as new technologies are introduced on top of legacy systems. Simplification lies in flat network architectures, which we pioneered, with converged core and transport to handle all traffic the same way regardless of the access, and common administration and maintenance systems.”

Scholz also highlights the need for greater efficiency and meeting environmental issues, as well as the changing role of operators, and adding value for end users. Innovative solutions for all these issues exist, from low power base stations to sophisticated tools to help operators understand their customers’ needs more easily.

“What marks us out from other vendors is our wide perspective on product development. We don’t just focus on pure product price and performance figures, such as the highest bit rate, we go beyond that to develop solutions that address the serviceability, manageability and evolution of the network to reduce operator costs in the long term,” explains Scholz.

Global thinking

Another guiding rule for the company’s product development is to use the same technologies as much as possible to meet the diverse needs of both mature and emerging markets. Not only does this help to achieve significant economies of scale, but it supports the aims of major operators that want a common portfolio for different regions in which they operate.

“Many larger operators think globally and we are in good shape to support them. We are truly global with broad R&D resources in China, India, Europe and the USA. We recently opened our LTE competence center with 500 employees in Dallas, for example,” Scholz explains.

Services are an increasingly important part of the mix too he says. “We develop products that support services for operators, to drive down costs even more. For example, our offers include managed services, which can be delivered extremely efficiently from centralized Global Network Solution Centers (GNSC) to operate our customers’ networks at the lowest possible cost and with the highest possible quality, specifically in areas such as customer care.”

Summing up, Scholz refers to the company’s vision of an individual communications experience for every consumer. “Whether a customer is using a laptop in Munich, a handheld device in Dallas, or takes a phone call in Beijing, we want them to enjoy the best experience tailored to their needs. Our innovation is helping operators realize this vision through broadband networks that are simple and low cost to operate.”