RtBrick 2026 Predictions: Why Network Resilience Hinges on Disaggregation

This article was published in VMBlog on January 6, 2026 You can read the original article here

Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026.  Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive. 

By Richard Brandon, VP of Strategy at RtBrick 

2026 is around the corner, and many of our networks aren't prepared to handle the added pressure the new year will likely bring. Customer expectations for broadband speed continue to surge. AI is doubling traffic growth. Edge computing is gaining significant traction as the need for real-time data processing and bandwidth optimization increases. These and other escalating bandwidth demands are putting more weight than ever before on today's networks, and according to our recent survey of senior telecom decision makers, 81% believe their current architecture could soon crumble as a result. 

We're already seeing the effects. IT and networking issues caused more outages, and the digital divide worsened this year. While the Broadband Equity and Deployment (BEAD) program is beginning to resume and promises to help shrink the divide, its delayed rollout and funding cuts slowed broadband projects. 

Fortunately, a shift is occurring in networks that could soon solve these challenges and more. The questions on operators' minds should now be: is it happening fast enough? What do we need to do to propel modernization forward? How do we make sure we don't miss out? 

The disaggregated revolution 

Disaggregation, or the separation of hardware and software, is a new cloud-native approach based on open APIs, RESTCONF and YANG models that is transforming how telcos build and operate their networks. Using open switches founded on high-performance merchant silicon, it is completely disrupting traditional chassis-based monolithic network systems, which tie operators to a single vendor, skyrocketing costs while minimizing efficiency, flexibility, and scalability. 

Most of the industry recognizes that disaggregation is a necessary strategic move. With networks already under strain, 90% of the individuals we surveyed anticipate needing to turn their organization's efforts towards disaggregation deployment sooner than expected to meet growing broadband demands. 

This is because disaggregation unlocks a more open and competitive ecosystem, allowing telcos to have more control and select next-generation solutions from a variety of vendors to achieve multiple benefits, including:

• Faster rollouts
• Minimized upfront and operational costs
• Improved power and space efficiency to reduce environmental impact
• Greater support for network automation
• Strengthened supply chain resilience against disruptions and geopolitical conflict 

Despite the confidence in disaggregation from industry decision makers, they admitted deployment could still take a few years. Only 6% of telcos surveyed have fully or partially deployed it in their networks. While it's exciting to see that both smaller, regional ISPs and larger telcos such as Comcast, AT&T, and Deutsche Telekom currently have live disaggregated systems and are already reaping their benefits, overall industry adoption has been slow. 

The main blockers 

Why are operators hesitating? Our survey revealed several factors at play that are delaying implementation and keeping telcos in the planning and evaluation phase. 

Ultimately, the reason comes down to people. The majority of decision makers admitted their organizations don't have the go-ahead for deployment, with leadership teams remaining loyal to their legacy vendors and being unwilling to explore new disaggregated ones. Many also noted modern IT skills gaps and operational transformation complexity as obstacles. Some participants expressed technological concerns as well, mainly hesitating around the integration of different disaggregated components, despite seeing the computing industry decouple software and hardware in the same way decades ago. 

In summary, most operators are willing to invest in disaggregation and see the transition as inevitable, yet progress is being held back by a lack of education and internal support. 

Building for tomorrow's demands, today 

This year's outages and the widening digital dive need to be a wake-up call for decision makers. Consumer usage and demand, along with the AI boom, won't be slowing any time soon, and our networks will collapse if they aren't rebuilt soon. 

The operators dragging their feet should recognize that the longer they take to deploy disaggregation, the further behind they'll fall from the industry's movers and shakers that have already made it happen. Comcast, AT&T and others are far beyond the experimentation stage. They've proved that disaggregation can happen at scale, and that it can bring about the unprecedented benefits many decision makers have only assumed. 

If disaggregated deployments aren't part of your 2026 plans, they should be. The door's closing, and you won't want to be left outside in the cold. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  

Richard Brandon has more than thirty years of experience in networking. Currently VP of Strategy and Head of Marketing at router software pioneer RtBrick, Richard was previously CMO at Edgeware, VP of Worldwide Marketing at Juniper Networks, CMO at Intune Networks and MLL Telecom, and Head of Service Provider Marketing in EMEA at Cisco Systems. Richard also spent his earlier career in British Telecom. He has spoken at multiple forums including Broadband World Forum, NAB, and IBC, as well as the European Parliament. Richard holds a BSc in Physics from Imperial College, London.