As the demand for seamless connectivity skyrockets globally, Australia is emerging as a vital digital hub. On this episode of the Ciena Insights Podcast, Jarrod Nink, Chief Operating Officer at Vocus offers an insider's perspective to how the Australian network provider is capitalizing on this surging demand for bandwidth. Nink also shares more on Vocus' dynamic collaborations with global hyperscalers and its commitment to using the very best in networking technology, elaborating on Vocus' recently announced plans to deploy Ciena's WaveLogic 6.

Ciena's Adaptive Network vision for guiding network evolution with enhanced programmability, scale, automation, and intelligence first set sail back in 2018—and it's even more relevant today with the growing presence of AI, 5G, and cloud. On this episode, Mark Bieberich, VP of Portfolio Marketing at Ciena, discusses how the Adaptive Network enables service providers to optimize their existing infrastructures while incorporating new technologies and ways of leveraging their network assets. This podcast also features Ciena customers who have embraced the Adaptive Network vision.

While we usually speak with our customers or partners on the Ciena Insights Podcast, in this special episode, we speak with Yoonee Jeong, a Senior Digital Technology Specialist with the Asian Development Bank's Digital Technology for Development Division to get a different perspective on what is driving connectivity in Asia. Yoonee also shares with us what more can be done by the public and private sectors and the impact of continued innovation.

Tune in as Chief Technology Officer, Steve Alexander gazes into his crystal ball and shares 2024 predictions on emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on the network. He also discusses other key technology trends, such as the relentless growth of bandwidth, IP/Optical convergence, and the evolving role of PON (Passive Optical Network) in improving residential broadband connectivity.

What a year! In 2023 we were joined by so many amazing customers, industry experts and organizations. To close out another successful year, Bo Gowan shares our most popular episodes.

In this episode, DISH Wireless' Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, Marc Rouanne speaks with Blue Planet's Head of Portfolio & Engineering, Kailem Anderson on DISH's success in building the first cloud-native 5G network in the world and the progress they are making in enabling 5G broadband services for its customers in the United States. They also discussed the unique benefits of running on a true cloud-native network and trends in the 5G space. Blue Planet supported DISH with a dynamic real-time source of truth for its network, empowering DISH to rollout 5G services with speed and agility.

Ciena customer Cogent Communications operates one of the largest fiber-optic networks in the world, carrying around 1/4 of all internet traffic today. The ISP acquired the legacy Sprint long-haul fiber network from T-Mobile earlier this year. In this wide-ranging conversation, Cogent Founder and CEO Dave Schaeffer sits down with Ciena's CTO Steve Alexander and outlines the company's plans for the network, including a data center footprint of around 1.9 million square feet. Dave also shares his views on what it takes to build a better internet backbone and discusses wavelength services.

In 2021, Digital Promise and Ciena announced the launch of the Ciena Solutions Challenge, a global design challenge for middle and high school students to create innovative solutions that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within their communities. Now entering its third year, Karissa Bowen, Senior Project Manager of Learning Experience Design at Digital Promise joins the podcast to talk with Ciena's Beth Hunter, Director of ESG Communications and Social Impact, about the impact the program has made on students around the world, while sharing inspiring stories about her experiences.

Around 65% of India's total population is below the age of 35, yet more than 50% of Indian youths are not on track to have the education and skills necessary for employment by 2030. On this podcast, Ciena International's Internal Comms Lead, Shreya Chakraborty speaks with Dr. Kiran Modi, Managing Trustee from Udayan Care, an organization that Ciena is collaborating with to fund digital inclusion initiatives in India. They discuss how we can bridge the disconnect between the demand and supply of skilled labor in India and why this is key for the country to prosper.

On this podcast, Highline's CTO Matt Hayes and Ciena's CTO of the Americas Kevin Sheehan have an insightful, wide-ranging discussion on everything from the many challenges and opportunities involved in rolling out rural broadband, to operational excellence in networking, to the great potential and worrying risks of generative AI and its machine-learning capabilities.

The demand for data traffic and connectivity has skyrocketed – especially these past few years during the pandemic. On top of this, there is greater concern about the world's climate situation. On this podcast, Geoff Pegg TELUS' Head of Sustainability and Environment and Ciena's Beth Hunter, Director of ESG Communications and Social Impact discuss ways telcos can create more sustainable networks while also meeting subscriber demands for greater connectivity.

On this episode, Dave Lewis and Amanda Molina from broadband solutions consultancy JSI join Ciena's Trey Hall and Vini Santos for a discussion about the opportunities and challenges that network operators are facing at this unique moment in the broadband market. Hear their insights on funding options, network build considerations, and why a disruptive mindset is key to long-term sustainability, monetization flexibility, scalability, and successful business outcomes.

The internet permeates everything we do today – from how we work, to how we play and learn. Yet, for some, affordability can be a problem. On this podcast,Ciena's Director, ESG Communications, speaks with Spark Skinny Jump's Lead, Martin La'a on why providing internet access can be a gamechanger for students and how Ciena and Spark are collaborating to create positive repercussions in the community.

This episode features Lumen's CTO Andrew Dugan and Ciena's Steve Alexander. The two industry veterans discuss Lumen's recent 400GE network enhancements and how wavelengths enable Lumen customers to modernize and scale their Core Digital Network so that their data, applications, and workloads can be distributed securely between their IT instances residing in data centers and public cloud. In addition, they discuss ways Lumen is uniquely positioned to help enterprises modernize their network infrastructure and what customers are looking for from a Digital Experience standpoint.

On this episode Kate Mace and Chin Guok from the DOE's Energy Sciences Network along with Stanford's Amadeo Perazzo discuss ESnet6 with Ciena's Rod Wilson. ESnet6 will enable scientists to significantly advance their ability to gain insight from massive datasets produced by experiments that use large scale instruments like genome sequencers, telescope observatories, X-ray light sources and particle accelerators, among many others.

Did you know that around 95% of the world's intercontinental communications traffic is carried over submarine cable networks? What's more, our need for connectivity shows no signs of abating. According to research firm TeleGeography, capacity along the transatlantic corridor alone is forecast to grow by about 77 times between 2015 and 2028. Simply mind-boggling! On this podcast, industry veterans Ed McCormack and Brian Lavallée look back at some of the important milestones in submarine network history and envisage what the future might hold.

800G and beyond, 5G, Greener Network solutions and Submarine buildouts. Host Bo Gowan talks with Ciena CTO Steve Alexander, and Submarine/5G expert Brian Lavallée about the key tech trends and predictions that will shape the industry in 2023.

Ciena's executives were joined by many amazing guests throughout 2022. For our final episode of the year, Bo Gowan, Ciena's social media director and today's host, highlights some of our most listened to podcasts of the year. Tune in to see if your favorite episode was included!

Service providers are tasked with the challenge of decreasing carbon emissions while also meeting surging demands for high-bandwidth services and broadband connectivity. On this podcast, euNetworks' Tetyana Mozhayeva, Senior Director of Sustainability and Ciena's Beth Hunter, Director of ESG and Social Impact, join host Sara Atkinson to discuss the importance of working toward a more sustainable network architecture. Tetyana shares ways that the Network Construction Carbon Calculator developed by euNetworks has helped to assess the impact of network construction projects and provide transparency around the emissions impact of euNetworks' solutions.

Everything from home (work, play, game), along with new bandwidth-hungry cloud-based applications, have ignited investments to help build a digital future for all. On this podcast, Rebecca Smith highlights three of our previous episodes about ways we are helping improve residential broadband and driving digital inclusion. We hear from rural electric co-op, Cullman Electric; tech futurist, Shivvy Jervis; and STEM evangelist from Academy Achievers, Paulette Watson.