By design and tradition, telecoms networks are built to last. But in a world where the rate of innovation seems to be accelerating, the end result is that a lot of legacy infrastructure needs to keep pace with, and accommodate, multiple ‘next generation’ phases. How long this can be maintained before the imperative to rip and replace becomes impossible to ignore is the multi-million-dollar question.

This is the third blog post in a series on “Smart Cities and Urban Environments” and the implications for networks & telecoms. About 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas; for developed OECD countries the figure is about 80%. Urbanisation is good for economic and even environmental reasons, but brings challenges for transport, roads and personal mobility*.