AT&T is just the latest telco to offload some or all of its data centres to a new generation of non-competitive colocation companies as it shifts emphasis to core connectivity provision and cloud service delivery from third party hosting facilities.

It's always important to take analyst forecasts with a pinch of salt. Predicting the future is difficult at the best of times (see our article on predictions in ITProportal) and a single unexpected geo-political event (Brexit anyone?) can scupper the most meticulously prepared financial projection overnight.

Adoption of a standard network automation platform could accelerate service provider NFV/SDN deployment

One of the more intriguing decisions facing communications service providers in 2018 will be whether or not to adopt the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) - the open source project built as a standard for the design, creation, orchestration and lifecycle management of network function virtualisation (NFV) and software defined network (SDN) and the services those technologies enable.

SD-WAN may provide the low cost, low maintenance branch office router solution that enterprises and service providers have long craved.

Access to BT’s dark fibre network will open new commercial possibilities for communication service providers

After sustained pressure from the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom BT has agreed to open up its dark fibre network to rival communications service providers (CSPs) from October 1st 2017. The new product - Dark Fibre Access (DFA) - should allow companies which want to lease BT’s network to deliver a wider range of higher speed network services to business and consumer customers under their own brand.