At the Broadband Nation Expo, we caught up with experts from Avion Networks, who shared insights into how they’re helping shape the future of broadband deployment in America.
Kanchana Raman, who founded Avion Networks 28 years ago expressed excitement about the company’s involvement in the historic BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) program.
The Atlanta-based global network engineering services company is leveraging its extensive experience with OEM equipment deployment to address the unique challenges of rural broadband implementation. “This is not business as usual,” Raman notes, emphasizing how the final mile deployment will utilize cutting-edge technology, particularly in 5G networks that represent a convergence of hardware, software and technology.
Meanwhile, Ananth Manivannan highlighted Avion’s focus on practical AI applications in network operations. Its workflow automation tool aims to enhance network reliability by streamlining NOC (Network Operations Centre) processes. “The key is to actually apply AI in more concrete verticalized use cases,” Manivannan explains, pointing to the importance of specific, focused AI implementations over generalized solutions.
Avion Networks is positioning itself at the intersection of AI innovation and broadband deployment, contributing to the national effort to bridge the digital divide through the BEAD program’s implementation.
Watch the interview to learn more.
Kanchana Raman:
I am Kanchana Raman, president and founder of Avion Networks. This is our 28th year in business. So we are in network engineering services and we are a global company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. So we are excited about the BEAT funding itself, where it is for a great cause where we are going to be helping the unserved and underserved communities, which we didn’t know the numbers before the BEAT funding. So I think there’s more awareness now and more enthusiasm to make sure that we bridge the digital divide. And we are also part of this very historic epic movement in the world. So really excited to be part of it.
Ananth Manivannan:
We’re focused on the AI side of things. We have a workflow automation tool that’s really focused on network reliability. So there’s a lot of talk about how can we help the NOC be more efficient. There’s all sorts of telemetry and observability that comes into the NOC, and we’re really focused on how can we take automated actions to help those centers be more reliable, get customer reliability up, and help people solve these issues much, much faster. Because the better we can help customers get their services back up and running, the more kind of coverage we can continue to add and benefit from. So that’s sort of our focus is how can we use AI to help the NOC become much more efficient and faster and help those operators focus on some of the other key complexities that they deal with. I think the biggest question about AI today, is it actually being used in production?
What are the use cases that where can we actually apply AI that it’s effective? I think the key is to actually apply AI in more concrete verticalized use cases. When you take it too horizontal, I think that’s when AI gets a little too generalized and confused. But when you focus on something like a NOC center operations or broadband operations, that’s when AI can be very, very effective. As you kind of dial in the use case and bring in your own unique data sources to that workflow, that’s when AI gets much, much better and more reliable. And so that’s where we’ve seen people implementing it in production very successfully. And that’s where I think the advantages will be had. The companies who understand if we dial in AI and use it in a much more specific manner, then they’re much more ahead of their competitors and competition.
Kanchana Raman:
So, these are customers we work with every day. So we work with most of the OEMs and we deploy those OEM equipment in the network. So to understand more about working on the BEAT program and what is the OEM equipment that most fits the bill when you look at the rural deployments. So that is something that it’s not business as usual right? This is going to be a new way of doing things. And also we are going to be bringing in sort of technology-driven networks. 5G itself is a convergence of hardware and software and technology. So I think the final mile deployment of the BEAT is going to be very exciting and probably we’ll be using the most cutting-edge technology to do that. So I think being with the OEM community here and all the keynotes, it’s a learning experience. It’s educational. So I’m really enjoying my time here.
For additional information on Avion’s BEAD offerings, please visit:
https://avionnetworks.com/proteus-360-adaptive-planning-broadband-investments/
