UK infrastructure ready to handle data explosion, says Tata Comms MD

The UK's communications infrastructure has a solid foundation and will be able to cope with ever increasing amounts of data consumption, according to the MD of public comms firm Tata Communications.

By 2015, over 33,650 PB of video content is set to be consumed globally per month and consumption from mobile devices will grow by 90 per cent.

There's going to be 35 billion invested in UK infrastructure over the next 10 years.

In the UK, Ofcom has noted that twice as much data is already being consumed over the UK's mobile networks than it was a year ago. The regulator predicts that, by 2030, mobile data usage could surge to 80 times the amount being used today.

Claude Sassoulas, MD of Europe and Americas at Tata Communications told IT Pro that the UK is on track to deal with the challenges ahead.

"The investments which have been made in the UK so far are competitive. My understanding is that there's going to be a further 35 billion invested in the next 10 years," he said.

"We're continuously upgrading of our fibre systems and our datacentres, but it's not just about the UK. Content gets produced and consumed in different places, so it's all important that networks around the globe are updated so bandwidth can be deployed efficiently."

Despite the introduction of high-speed 4G services, Sassoulas unsurprisingly claimed that fixed line communication will remain critical to the UK communications infrastructure.

"There's a lot of fibre on the ground in western Europe and consumers and enterprises will continue to use this, for the highest speeds and security. But as people work from home and travel more there is a need for these high-speed wireless networks," he added.

"Now as you look at some emerging markets, such as South Africa, they are using wireless technology and deploying LTE. In emerging markets wireless plays a more important roll as it's very difficult to deploy fibre in some areas."