• Build future-proof networks by using scalable network equipment that can grow bandwidth on demand.

Who knows when the next smartphone-like-invention will come? But I can promise you that millennials will be the first adopters.

• Pass on any savings to the consumer. By lowering their own capital and operating expenses (CapEX and OpEX) and improving their business models, providers can create savings which they can pass onto consumers.

I am not loyal to a service provider, like my parents have been—I look for the best price for the best services.

How Service Providers Can Respond

Network technology is keeping up and even anticipating millennials’ trends by continuously innovating.  Service providers can respond to challenges posed by bandwidth-hungry millennials by leveraging the latest networking technologies and taking creative approaches in network architecture to get the most coverage and capacity to their subscribers. Let’s look at some examples.

To increase coverage and capacity in wireless networks, providers are leveraging Wi-Fi systems. In addition, they are using distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells for licensed network frequencies. All of the major US wireless providers are “densifying” their networks by filling in macro network coverage gaps with targeted Wi-Fi, DAS, or small cell coverage in urban areas, suburbs, and large public venues such as airports and stadiums. These efforts will ensure that the networks have enough capacity to give everyone fast and uninterrupted service.

Additionally, 5G technology will bring gigabit-speed connections to every user, ensuring fast uploads and downloads of rich media content.

To increase bandwidth in networks, wireless providers will use densification and 5G technologies as discussed, but wireline networks will also need to deliver more bandwidth. In the data center and central office, providers are already migrating from 10-gigabit technologies to 40- and 100-gigabit technologies.

Providers can also improve the economics of their wireless and wireline networks. In wireless DAS networks, for example, providers can leverage CPRI technology to reduce the cost of DAS head-end deployments by 50 percent. CPRI technology eliminates racks of RF and power attenuation equipment.

In wireline networks, providers can improve network economics by reducing the cost of deployment with fiber indexing architecture (which eliminates custom cable lengths and replaces them with standard, plug-and-play components) and by using fiber spooling terminals that allow installers to pay out the exact amount of fiber needed for a particular run, rather than measuring and waiting weeks for custom fiber to be delivered.

In the central office or data center, providers can deploy physical layer management technologies to capture precise, real-time information on the state of the physical network. This capability cuts troubleshooting costs by up to 90 percent while improving security and insurance reporting capabilities.

So it’s clear that we millennials are joined at the hip to networking technologies, and we expect networks, devices, and network services to satisfy our seemingly boundless (but not unreasonable, of course!) appetites for online content and interaction. Service providers can support this demand by using the latest networking technologies and standards. By planning for the future and investing in technologies that scale and extend networks, service providers can be ready to make happy and loyal millennial customers, today and tomorrow.