"Connecting the unconnected” at the TIP Summit 2017

Earlier this month our two co-founders Vassilis Seferidis, CEO and Mayur Channegowda, SDN Architect, swapped Silicon Gorge in Bristol for Silicon Valley in California, where they joined technology giants including Facebook and global Tier 1 telcos at the Telecoms Infra Project (TIP) Summit. Attendance at the TIP Summit followed our selection, by leading telecoms companies, for a place in the TIP Ecosystem Acceleration Centre – giving access to over £125 million in venture capital.

The ultimate goal of the TIP Summit is to “connect the unconnected” around the world. With 56% of the global population not yet online,  and wider access to the internet actually slowing down – this is a massive challenge. A huge barrier here is cost –  building big telecommunications networks can be expensive making large-scale deployments prohibitive for the developing world and also for rural areas in developed countries.

Our NetOS® technology is helping to turn TIP’s vision into reality by enabling an open networking solution that can offer super-fast broadband connections in challenging geographical areas by substantially reducing the costs for the construction and maintenance of the network.

NetOS® is an enhanced software defined network solution (SDN) able to provision and manage high-speed connections from the datacentre at one end, through the optical transport and wireless access networks to a mobile phone at the other end. Since NetOS® is completely independent from any vendor-specific hardware it is ideal for use with low-cost ‘bare metal’ devices such as those specified in TIP working groups. In such a scenario NetOS® operates as ‘end-to-end’ orchestrator of the whole network for the provision and management of connectivity services.

A new TIP project group, the end-to-end network slicing group, was announced at the Summit, which will combine academic research with real-life experience and deployments. Our experience from existing deployments, at Ashton Gate stadium and the Bristol is Open Smart City testbed will help steer the direction of this group and we look forward contributing to its work.

Zeetta Networks CEO, Vassilis Seferidis said:

“We were delighted to participate in the TIP Summit in the heart of Silicon Valley, and receive such positive feedback on our NetOS® software; our contribution to the project’s working groups; and our ultimate vison to ‘connect the unconnected’.

“The announcement of the new end-to-end working group on network slicing was particularly exciting, reinforcing TIP’s recognition of the need for a cross-network solution – one that Zeetta Networks is in a unique position to provide. We’re looking forward to continuing to work on this innovative project, and expect our software to have a huge impact.

The next step is to work with our existing partners, Facebook and BT but also other service providers such as Orange and Deutsch Telecom, to identify how we can deploy our software to help solve connectivity issues in the developing world. We are certain that this work on TIP standards will be transferable to tackle connectivity issues in the UK, and other developed countries, to cost effectively deliver ultra-fast connectivity in rural areas.”

Interested in hearing more about our software? Get in touch to find out more.