- Bo Olofsson
heads up new Bell Labs team; researchers co-located with
Alcatel-Lucent IP Video business to concentrate on video-centric
networking innovation
CAMBRIDGE, England,
July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Alcatel-Lucent's (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) Bell Labs has
opened a new 'antenna' office in Cambridge, UK, led by Bo Olofsson. From this base Bo will head global
research into real-time delivery of video to all types of connected
devices, such as smartphones, games consoles, tablets, Smart TVs,
and more across Bell Labs. This is the second Bell Labs antenna
office and follows the opening of the Israel Bell Labs cloud
research facility in May. A third location will be announced later
this year.
Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs maintains a leading role in research
and innovation with a focus on how networks should evolve based on
users' changing behaviors and demands. Research at 'antenna'
locations contributes to this overall objective by centering on one
major industry issue. These smaller, highly-specialized locations
foster a more nimble 'start-up' like environment to allow
researchers to actively engage with Alcatel-Lucent's businesses,
other Bell Labs researchers and external stakeholders such as
enterprises, universities and other research organizations.
Research at the Cambridge
location will center upon the evolution of video and real time
cloud content delivery. Video currently accounts for approximately
75% of a mobile service provider's network traffic. This is
expected to increase as consumer appetite changes and demand for
video over any device grows even further, driving the need for
networks to evolve. In addition, with the rise in user generated
content - from tablets, smartphones, video cameras and machines -
which needs to be uploaded, stored, managed and delivered in real
time, the scale and scope of video-centric networking will increase
even further. This makes it essential to develop innovative
solutions that help design the "video centric" networks of
tomorrow.
The Bell Labs team will be co-located with the headquarters of
Alcatel-Lucent's IP Video business, which has grown significantly
following the acquisition of Cambridge based Velocix in 2009. Focused on
delivering specialist integration services and one of the most
innovative ranges of video solutions in the industry,
Alcatel-Lucent's IP Video business was named leading vendor of CDN
equipment by SNL Kagan MRG. The company's IP Video solutions
include the Emmy® award winning Cloud-DVR, the Velocix CDN and
Transparent Caching.
The Cambridge antenna will be
led by Bo Olofsson, who, in his
previous role as director for the product research group at British
Sky Broadcasting, was responsible for research and experimentation
of emerging media technologies and their potential future
application and implications for Sky. Prior to this Bo was Senior
Vice President of Global Sales at Getty images and has also held
positions at IBM, Apple and Dell. He has a Master of Science
Computer Science degree from Uppsala
University in Sweden.
Marcus Weldon, President of
Bell Labs & CTO Alcatel-Lucent said: "Work at the Bell Labs
location in Cambridge will focus
on one of the big problems that is facing the industry today. The
massive growth in the generation and demand for video-centric
content is creating one of the biggest issues for our customers as
they evolve their networks. Bo
Olofsson's team will work closely with the IP Video team to
solve these issues with solutions that optimize video-centric
delivery and network capabilities that ensure high quality even as
demand explodes."
Bo Olofsson, head of
Bell Labs Global Video Research and the Cambridge Bell Labs antenna
location said: "As consumer and enterprise user
behaviour evolves and appetite to produce and consume video
continues to grow it is placing huge demands on the network and
forcing a need for change – coming from a provider I have first
hand experience of these challenges – and we are going to research
new ways to support that demand. I'm very excited about the
opportunities and challenges ahead, as I lead this research at the
new Bell Labs facility."
Paul Larbey, head of
Alcatel-Lucent's IP Video business said: "The start-up
mentality of the Bell Labs antenna fits very well with the ethos of
our IP Video business. By creating an environment in which a
dedicated team of experienced researchers led by Bo Olofsson can collaborate closely with our IP
Video teams, we will be able to accelerate innovation in this space
to meet the needs of tomorrow's networks."
Bell Labs continues to conduct innovative and game-changing
research around the big issues affecting the ICT industry. Using
its wide-reaching expertise and collaborating with the global
innovation community (both inside and outside of Bell Labs), Bell
Labs is focused on finding solutions that offer a 10x (or more)
improvement for the industry. These solutions will then be used to
create cross-discipline 'Future X' initiatives that will shape the
future communications landscape. To accelerate innovation in this
field, the Bell Labs Prize was launched in June. This prize gives
any researcher, in a participating country around the globe, the
chance to introduce their innovative idea to the world and
collaborate with Bell Labs researchers.
Alcatel-Lucent in the UK
Alcatel-Lucent has a long-standing reputation for delivering
high-quality IP Networking and ultra-broadband access solutions to
some of the leading service providers in the UK as well as
enterprises, including health-care trusts, transport companies and
major utilities. With innovation at its core, Alcatel-Lucent was
the first company in Great Britain
to demonstrate the power and possibilities of ultra-broadband for
rural communities in kick-starting a thriving economy.
About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)
We are at the forefront of global communications, providing
products and innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as
ultra-broadband fixed and wireless access to service providers and
their customers, and to enterprises and institutions throughout the
world. Underpinning us in driving the industrial transformation
from voice telephony to high-speed digital delivery of data, video
and information is Bell Labs, an integral part of the Group and one
of the world's foremost technology research institutes, responsible
for countless breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and
communications industry. Our innovations have resulted in our Group
being recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Top 100 Global Innovator,
as well as being named by MIT Technology Review as amongst 2012's
Top 50 "World's Most Innovative Companies". We have also been
recognized for innovation in sustainability, being named Industry
Group Leader in the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector in
the 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices review, for making global
communications more sustainable, affordable and accessible, all in
pursuit of the Group's mission to realize the potential of a
connected world.
With revenues of Euro 14.4 billion
in 2013, Alcatel-Lucent is listed on the Paris and New
York stock exchanges (Euronext and NYSE: ALU). The company
is incorporated in France and
headquartered in Paris.
For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the
Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow
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