According to a new report from leading analyst firm Heavy Reading, rapid traffic growth in India means that upgrades to optical transport networks have become a top priority for operators. Network transformation is essential to reduce costs, increase efficiency and to maintain QoS for data hungry and demanding users.

This points to a significant opportunity for vendors of optical solutions. But, it also has implications for applications that must access this data, such as the Deep Packet Inspection engines required for policy reporting and enforcement. Migration towards optical transport will require the deployment of solutions that can passively capture data from Gigabit Ethernet connections and SIP session control equipment. DPI and policy enforcement is viewed as being critical to on-going efforts to optimise and monetise networks.

Renewal of networks to meet surging demand and to provide a foundation for future growth must be accompanied by upgrade of DPI equipment that can meet current and future requirements. As operators deploy 10Gb/s Ethernet, they need to ensure that they can ensure that their policy control framework can capture data in real-time, which demands passive capture solutions that can support optical interfaces.

What’s more, 10Gb/s is just the start – in the coming years, 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s will also gain traction, meaning that operators face a challenge to keep abreast of requirements. The transition to optical transport and next-generation networks represents a huge opportunity for Indian operators, buoyed by rapid traffic growth, but the challenge of – and opportunity associated with simultaneous deployment of appropriate monitoring solutions must also be met – and not overlooked.