EP61: Trends and challenges in optical networking

How has optical networking evolved over the past 25 years – and what’s next? In this episode, Kent Lidström, CTO at Smartoptics, joins Mattias Fridström to explore:

• The biggest shifts in optical networking and what still needs to change
• Openness and disaggregation in the telecom industry
• Shannon’s limit
• How mergers and acquisitions are reshaping the industry
• Why enterprises are moving toward simpler services like “raw bandwidth”
• Encryption-based and physical security 
• Strategies for managing component shortages through dual sourcing

If you’re curious about the past, present, and future of optical networking, this conversation is packed with insights.