Moderated by Simon Stanley - Analyst-At-Large, Heavy Reading

Session One

Data Centre Connect – Optimising Metro & Regional DCI
Time: 10:00 a.m. ET
Platinum Sponsor: Infinera
Gold Sponsor: VIAVI
Gold Sponsor: CIG

Cloud service performance is dependent on a data centre network with the optimum optical connectivity. Pluggable modules and 7nm coherent DSPs are rapidly changing this market, increasing optical link performance, introducing new network capabilities and optimising costs. This session will cover the latest deployments & technology developments including 400ZR, ZR+, 800G and metro DWDM.

11:30 a.m – 11:45 a.m. ET – BREAK

Session Two

Optical Networks for the Post Covid Era
Time: 11:45 a.m. ET
Platinum Sponsor: Huawei

Covid-19 has changed the way people communicate. Online webinars, meetings, summit, and direct broadcasting become the new normal. However, online communication quality and efficiency is far from satisfactory due to low network connection quality. Problems such as disconnection, voice distortion, and video blurring frequently occur, seriously degrade customer satisfaction as well as business talks of enterprises. Such poor experience reflects a large room in network quality improvement, where indexes of reliability, delay, and packet loss rate is substandard. This session will deep into new innovations and practices in optical network architecture and private line businesses and will invite global operators to discuss how to build a solid, elastic, and innovative optical network to deliver guaranteed online connection experience and accelerate business transformation.

Moderated by Sterling Perrin - Principal Analyst, Heavy Reading

Session One

New Revenue-Generating Opportunities for Optical Networks
Time: 10:00 a.m. ET
Platinum Sponsor: ADVA

Much of the optics focus centers on lowering cost per bit but technology innovation enables a differentiated and brand-new types of services. Examples of these include SDN control, machine learning, and artificial intelligence software coupled with hardware innovations, like programmable DSPs, are all enablers for a new era of optical and packet-optical services. This session will cover the new business opportunities and their associated applications with the underlying innovations to make these opportunities possible.

11:30 a.m – 11:45 a.m. ET – BREAK

Session Two

Optics at the Service Provider Edge
Time: 11:45 a.m. ET
Gold Sponsor: Acacia

Edge computing promises new revenue opportunities for operators, but it also places new demands on networks, with the closer proximity of data and applications to the end user and for services to become more dynamic and on-demand. Networks need to be equipped to meet these capacity and agility demands with optics playing a central role to enable next-generation services. This session will cover how optical networks must evolve to support the coming edge – including both wireline edge and wireless edge-based applications.

Session One

African Telecoms Outlook 2020
Date: 08/18/20 @ 11:00 A.M. SAST

Speaker: Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa

This year did not begin the way most people expected it to, so what does the future of the telecoms sector look like in Africa in 2020? In this Connecting Africa online event, local analysts and industry stakeholders will discuss what African operators’ priorities for the year should be and the most significant market trends expected to dominate in 2020.

• Will MNOs focus on sweating their current assets rather than investing in new technologies like 5G?
• What impact will COVID-19 have on the continent’s networks?
• What are the hot market trends in Africa when it comes to voice, data and mobile financial services?
• Diversification strategies: entering adjacent markets; MVNO sub-brands; cost consolidation
• How are companies unlocking rural connectivity as a growth driver?

12:15 PM - 12:30 PM BREAK

Session Two

Exploring the Value of 5G in Africa
Date 08/18/20 @ 12:30 P.M. SAST

Speaker: Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa

The majority of 5G in Africa is still in the testing stage. However, as operators prepare their networks for the technology jump, what strategies are they deploying to ensure they gain the full value that 5G can offer Africa? This digital symposium will give you an insight into the opportunities and challenges facing Africa’s 5G rollout, with some country specific case studies unpacked.

• How 5G-ready is African enterprise?
• Is 5G a priority for in Africa, should it be? Or can operators and businesses focus on growing their 3G and 4G networks for enterprise instead?
• What are the most significant enterprise business applications for 5G deployment on the continent, and where can 5G facilitate IoT applications?
• Africa’s 5G readiness: infrastructure lag, transition from 2, 3 & 4G
• Which development strategies are being implemented to bring 5G to the African enterprise markets?