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"Optical Networking Digital Symposium"

Date/Time: Thursday, September 11, 2025 | 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Summary

The Optical Networking Digital Symposium is a one-day event featuring Heavy Reading’s optical analysts, Sterling Perrin and Simon Stanley. Join them alongside industry experts as they discuss the most significant trends driving optical networking into 2025 and beyond.

This session will be moderated by Sterling Perrin, Principal Analyst, Heavy Reading

Session One - Telecom Opportunities for the AI

11:00 AM Session One - Telecom Opportunities for the AI Boom

To date, the AI optics boom in has been focused on connectivity within the hyperscaler data center, but the impacts of AI beyond the data center walls are increasingly being felt, including by communications service providers (CSPs). As one example, in November Lumen announced that it had secured more than $8 billion in custom fiber deals with hyperscalers including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta, as well as securing 10% of Corning’s global fiber capacity for each of the next two years. The ongoing shift from AI model training to AI inference (i.e., using the models) increases the need to optical connectivity across the diverse AI ecosystem that includes communication service providers, enterprises, content neutral providers, and other players.

This session explores how optical networks must evolve to support diverse connectivity needs for AI, both today and tomorrow.

Topics covered in this symposium include:

• CSP AI-driven requirements in metro and long-haul networks
• Automation use cases to support AI demand
•  Meeting AI inferencing needs at the edge
•  Network requirements to support emerging AI exchanges
•  Addressing capacity, space/power, and security challenges
• Optical line system technology evolution

11:00 am ET – Opening Remarks - Sterling Perrin, Principal Analyst, Heavy Reading
11:10 am ET – Service Provider Keynote -  Juan Pedro Fernandez-Palacios Gimenez - Telefonica
11:25 am ET – Sponsor Keynote
11:40 am ET – Panel Session - Sterling Perrin, Principal Analyst, Heavy Reading. Mark Watts - Associate Fellow, Verizon. Juan Pedro Fernandez-Palacios Gimenez - Telefonica. Joe Mocerino - Principal Solutions Architect, 1Finity
12:20 pm ET – Q & A
12:30 pm ET – End

Session Two - Expanding Capacity Over Metro, Regional, and Long Haul Networks in the AI era

12:45 PM Session Two - Expanding Capacity Over Metro, Regional, and Long Haul Networks in the AI era

Growing bandwidths across wireless and wireline access networks, together with the massive expansion of generative AI, are driving ever greater demands across service provider metro, regional and long-haul networks. The introduction of 1.2T and 1.6T coherent optical interfaces has enabled higher capacity per channel but reduced the number of channels per band. Finding the optimal solution for expanding capacity is now more challenging than ever.

This session will take an in-depth look at the latest coherent optical solutions and consider the best strategies for expanding network capacity.

Topics covered in this symposium include:

• Reality check: metro, regional and long-haul network capacity today
• Hyperscaler and other operator capacity requirements for AI data center interconnects
• The benefits and limitations of higher baud rates - 200 Gbaud and 260+ Gbaud
• Growing available spectrum, challenges and opportunities
• Strategies to optimize network capacity including the use of AI

Agenda:

12:45 pm ET – Opening Remarks - Simon Stanley, Analyst at Large, Components & Subsystems, Heavy Reading
12:55 pm ET – Service Provider Keynote - Zishan Siddiquee - Senior Specialist, Optical Engineering - COLT Technology
1:10 pm ET – Platinum Sponsor Keynote - Tim Doiron - VP, Solution Marketing, Nokia
1:20 pm ET – Panel Session - Simon Stanley, Analyst at Large, Components & Subsystems, Heavy Reading. Zishan Siddiquee - Senior Specialist, Optical Engineering - COLT Technology. Tim Doiron - VP, Solution Marketing, Nokia. Tom Williams - Vice President of Marketing, Acacia. Deepak Kumar Singh - Sr. System Engineer (IP/Transport, DTAG), Deutsche Telekom
2:00 pm ET – Q & A
2:15 pm ET – End

Offered Free by: 1Finity | Acacia | Nokia | Exfo
See All Resources from: 1Finity | Acacia | Nokia | Exfo