Supercom '98 Preview
internettelephony.com
May 18, 1998
Your show of shows?
Supercomm tries to adapt to its morphing surroundings
JASON MEYERS
There will be new technologies on display at this year's Supercomm show, but most
will be descendants of ones that began to take root years ago. There will be
improvements, developments, enhancements--new spins on old stories. But all of it
will look vaguely familiar.What is changing is the audience--real or intended--for
which all this technology is spun. Supercomm has long been the quintessential event
for traditional telcos, at least in theory. In recent years, though, the show's mission
has been expanded to appeal to the emerging competitive service provider markets
in both the wireless and wireline sectors.
These days, optical transport solutions such as dense wavelength division multiplexing
are positioned to appeal not only to the long-haul interexchange carrier market but
also to the incumbent and competitive local exchange carrier markets that
increasingly are examining such solutions for their metropolitan networks. New
access solutions such as digital subscriber line--in all its various forms--now appeal
to a broader range of carriers.
Wireless solutions, too, are geared not only toward traditional cellular and PCS
operators, but also toward CLECs that intend to use wireless platforms just as they
will use any other broadband access methods. As for the established wireless
players, they likely will look not for voice solutions, but for ways to expand their
existing voice networks to add data components to their offerings.
The reason for this alteration in technological positioning is no doubt the explosion in data networking and the profitability it poses for all types of operators. High-speed Internet access in particular and data transmission in general have all but seized the collective industry consciousness over the past year, and Supercomm is struggling to keep up.
The show has long tried to be all things to all corners of the industry, at times against all odds. That effort is probably most clearly demonstrated by the technology
"pavilions" in areas such as wireless that are there every year but never seem to
generate as much interest as more narrowly focused shows.
Yet the burgeoning data industry might be Supercomm's coming of age. Data networking crosses all intra- and extra-industry borders--for proof, look at traditional enterprise network shows such as ComNet and Networld+Interop that have suddenly attracted the attention of public network operators and their vendors.
Suddenly, the telecom industry's classic trade show overachiever may be the best bet in town for exhibitors and attendees. Given data's range, Supercomm's broad vendor focus and the wide audience range could, if executed correctly, be exactly the kind of all-encompassing venue the industry needs to crystallize all that is occurring.
Throughout the pages of this, Telephony's annual Supercomm preview issue, our editors dissect the contents of this year's show, technology sector by technology sector. From switching and transport systems to access platforms to wireless networks to software and beyond, all regions of the show and the industry it represents are broken down in these pages.
As is often the case in telecom, Supercomm will encapsulate an industry in flux. This time the flux surrounds the area of data networking, and Supercomm will try to act as the collective industry voice to identify and speak the trend. |
