WHY OPTICAL TRANSCEIVERS ARE OFTEN THE WEAKEST LINK IN SECURE NETWORKS. Phillipe Bolle, ESTEL скачать в хорошем качестве

WHY OPTICAL TRANSCEIVERS ARE OFTEN THE WEAKEST LINK IN SECURE NETWORKS. Phillipe Bolle, ESTEL

Meet Philippe Bolle. We went to visit him in Walcourt, in Belgium to understand why it’s so crucial for Europe to manufacture its own optical transceivers. We recorded an interview which quickly developed into an important landmark message for both CTO’s as well as politicians and investors. Today we are releasing part of that conversation. It is too long for Linkedin, so it is hosted on YouTube. As CEO of Optica corporate member ESTEL, Philippe doesn’t mince words: “The weakest link in a cyber secure network is often the pluggable optics module — manufactured in Asia, running unknown proprietary firmware.” That’s why ESTEL makes everything in-house — design, assembly, testing — all under one roof in Europe. From component traceability to firmware control, it’s a vertically integrated approach that’s rare in today’s fragmented supply chain. It gives ESTEL a significant advantage. We talked about: 🔹 Security: Why plug-and-play optics could be the hidden vulnerability in critical infrastructure. 🔹 Technology Roadmaps: ESTEL’s path to 800G and beyond by 2027, with robotic, scalable production lines to meet future demand. 🔹 Strategic Autonomy: How European manufacturing can move from niche to necessity in photonics supply chains. 🔹 Funding: The current state of European support, e.g., ENISA, and what’s still missing to make this sector globally competitive. However, there are also limits in the EU for serious industrialisation funding. Philippe makes a compelling case for why control over hardware matters — not just for speed and scale, but for sovereignty.