INDUSTRY WATCH: TELECOMS
capacity so that operators can optimise
their operations and manage increasing
volume of traffic from mobile broadband.
Osama Said, Vodafone Egypt
Technology Director, said: “We are
happy to be working with Ericsson
to take forward steps towards our
network functions virtualisation. The
virtualisation technology will enhance
the speed and efficiency of services we
provide to our customers. which will in
turn support our main goal to reach
customer satisfaction.”
Rafiah Ibrahim, Head of Region Middle
East and East Africa at Ericsson, said,
“Utilising the virtual SGSN technology
will be the first step in Vodafone Egypt’s
journey towards virtualisation and cloud
transformation. Operators are looking
for ways to increase capacity and
achieve efficiencies; today’s agreement
will enable Vodafone Egypt to achieve
these goals.”
Cloud solutions
Cloud-based approaches enable
operators to ensure rapid service
creation and roll-out by delivering
new levels of flexibility, scalability
and responsiveness. They also satisfy
growing expectations for service
performance and quality of experience,
while handling increasing traffic loads.
Operators can make use of cloud
technology in three ways. Although
these scenarios are all quite different,
they share some common requirements,
and operators can benefit from the
implementation of a common platform
across all three:
1. Telecom cloud: Operators gradually
turn their networks into layered and
distributed clouds
2. Private cloud: Operators
optimise the use of internal IT
resources to deliver an improved
customer experience
3. Commercial cloud: Operators
leverage a platform to resell or
broker value-added cloud services
A cloud system that integrates seamlessly
with a real time, software-defined
programmable network, can provide
value to service providers and subscribers.
Subscribers do not rely on connectivity
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INTELLIGENTCIO
“Virtualisation
reduces the
complexity of the
home gateway by
moving most of
the sophisticated
functions into the
network.”
alone and demand a range of cloud-
hosted services. They require the network
to play a role in offering the right
connectivity for the desired application.
This is where the real value of software-
defined, network-based, programmable
cloud becomes apparent.
One use case is in virtual enterprise
IT infrastructure, where a software-
defined, network-based gateway or
Virtual Enterprise Customer Premises
Equipment (vE-CPE), can be put
into the cloud to eliminate the need
for hardware and software on the
enterprise premises. The solution
features tight coordination between
a feature-rich cloud controller and a
software-defined network controller.
This enables replication and migration
of network and cloud-based services to
the best available location, based on the
tenant’s requirements, overall network
congestion and cloud availability. This
means cloud services are not tied to the
constraints of a physical data centre.
The solution implements flow tracking
and policy enforcement at logical
cloud level. This encompasses multiple
operator data centres, irrespective
of geographic location and network
infrastructure connecting them.
Another similar case is the virtual
home gateway. This is an example of
virtualising some of the functions of a
traditional home gateway and hosting
them in a network-enabled cloud.
Virtualisation reduces the complexity
of the home gateway by moving most
of the sophisticated functions into the
network. As a result, service providers can
prolong the home gateway refreshment
cycle, cut maintenance costs and reduce
time to market for new services.
The most important aspect of this
solution, however, is that it gives
network visibility to all devices that were
traditionally hidden behind the home
gateway. This opens significant revenue
opportunities through the ability to offer
personalised services in a more granular
way. This also presents the opportunity
for dedicated connections to IoT
services, such as smart meters and HD
video cameras for security, which can
be given appropriate connectivity. Scale
in and scale out, and load balancing
of virtualised network functions, are
further examples demonstrating the
value of a programmable network cloud
solution. This gives the ability to extend
network functions into the cloud, with
the software-defined network, network
functions virtualisation and the cloud,
working together.
As the load on a network appliance
increases, the software-defined network
controller can request a peer cloud
manager to instantiate a virtual network
function in the cloud and to start
load balancing between the physical
appliance and the virtual appliance,
treating it as a common entity.
Open Platform for network functions
virtualisation (OPNFV) is a carrier-
grade, integrated open-source platform
designed to accelerate the introduction
of new network functions virtualisation
products and services. As an open-
source project, OPNFV is positioned to
bring together the work of standards
bodies, open-source communities and
commercial suppliers to deliver a de facto
standard, open-source network functions
virtualisation platform for the industry.
Service providers are in a unique
position to offer services that transcend
boundaries of the traditional data centre,
without compromising on quality. New
levels of innovation are possible when
leveraging resources residing in different
clouds or network domains.
A programmable network cloud provides
new capabilities, made possible by
implementing a combination of
distributed cloud, network functions
virtualisation, network programmability
from software-defined networks, and
highly automated network. The result
is improved experience for enterprises,
while at the same time delivering
efficiency, lower costs and higher
margins for service providers. n
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