We are living in the age of data with the volume of data stored globally doubling approximately every four years. Creating, transferring, utilising, and managing data is necessary for the smooth running of daily life for consumers, governments and businesses alike.

The International telecommunications union (ITU) has estimated that mobile and fixed broadband traffic had an annual average growth of 30% globally between 2019 and 2023. In that same period the UK’s mobile data consumption increased by 300%.

The operators of the networks that provide telecommunications services to residents and businesses are having to respond to these higher traffic loads and the demands for lightning speed communications. Meanwhile, the venerable synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) that operators have relied on for many years has reached retirement age.

The new generation of telecoms networks must cope with the future growth of traffic loads fuelled by cloud services and use of artificial intelligence. Other services with special requirements and increasing relevance, including massive machine type communications (mMTC) and mobile edge computing, must also be catered for.

Specialist services that depended on the SDH also have to be catered for when transitioning to the new generation of networks. These include the utility sector’s SCADA and teleprotection communications .

Optical transport networks (OTNs) that employ very high capacity optical fibre with optical switching offer the capacity, low latency, and operational flexibility required now and in the future. They also provide the characteristics required by a range of different services.

There are several ways in which OTNs can be implemented each with their own advantages. Choosing the appropriate configuration can be challenging especially as advice from equipment suppliers is unsurprisingly often coloured by their own offerings.

PTT’s new online course provides an in-depth, impartial treatment of the operation and possible architectures of, and services provided by, optical transport networks.