IP and Optical domains?

[Glen Kent <glen.kent () gmail com>]

HI,

I was reading the following article:
http://www.lightreading.com/optical/sedona-boasts-multilayer-network-orchestrator/d/d-id/714616

It says that "The IP layer and optical layer are run like two separate
kingdoms," Wellingstein says. "Two separate kings manage the IP and optical
networks. There is barely any resource alignment between them. The result
of this is that the networks are heavily underutilized," or, from an
alternative perspective, "they are heavily over-provisioned."

Can somebody shed more light on what it means to say that the IP and
optical layers are run as independent kingdoms and why do ISPs need to
over-provision?

Thanks, Glen