Subscribe
Home Blog Page 13

MWC: Broadcom’s VeloSky designed to drive network convergence

Annie Turner
-
0
MWC: Broadcom’s VeloSky designed to drive network convergence

Vodafone Business says it is “aligned with our plans for converged connectivity; it has potential to allow us to deliver secure, high-performance and resilient [NaaS]…”

Broadcom introduced VeloSky, a converged networking solution that enables service providers to integrate fibre, cellular and satellite connectivity through a single appliance. The idea is to give them access to new revenue streams and business models.

The VeloSky solution is based on VeloRAIN (for Robust AI Networking) architecture which, according to Broadcom has “unprecedented visibility, prioritization, and automation for enterprise networks—allowing organizations to operate more efficiently and deliver superior user experiences”.

Sanjay Uppal, VP and GM, VeloCloud Division, Broadcom, says, “By unifying diverse network underlays into a single, AI-optimized platform, service providers can deliver premium, differentiated services to enterprise customers while simplifying operations and accelerating time-to-revenue.”

Integrating wired and wireless networks by:

  • prioritising critical traffic whether using one wired and one wireless connection, both wireless or wireless only, with dynamic multipath optimization (DMPO) directing traffic based on real-time performance metrics.
  • managing bandwidth using Dynamic Application-Based Slicing (DABS) to allocate bandwidth dynamically, prioritising essential applications. Broadcom claims that as it uses network slicing based on industry standards, this ensures reliable performance, even when the network is congested.
  • security features from Enhanced Firewall Services (EFS) for centralised, scalable protection with tools like intrusion detection and prevention, to URL filtering, L4-7 application-aware stateful inspection, malicious IP filtering, and traffic segmentation. External, legacy firewalls are no longer needed.
  • simpler operations because VeloSky runs on a unified platform which integrates visibility and control for networking and security, reducing complexity, time and operational costs. 

Multiple, multifarious networks 

Fanan Henriques, Director, Products and International at Vodafone Business commented, “Vodafone Business recognizes the transformative potential of fixed wireless access in enabling enterprises’ adoption of advanced applications, including AI.

“Broadcom’s VeloSky solution is aligned with our plans for converged connectivity; it has potential to allow us to deliver secure, high-performance, and resilient ‘network as a service’ solutions that meet the dynamic demands of businesses today.”

Tilly Gilbert, Consulting Director and Edge Practice Lead at STL Partners, added, “As operators invest in technologies like network slicing and private networks to drive B2B growth, they must not overlook their core enterprise customers, for whom these solutions may not be viable.

“Enterprises prioritize reliability, and seamless converged connectivity not only strengthens this but also creates a more compelling and stickier proposition. By enabling dynamic networking capabilities such as prioritized traffic steering – without significant cost burdens – operators can enhance enterprise core connectivity while driving greater customer loyalty and value.”

MWC: AI and Net5.5G pivotal to achieving next-generation broadband networks

Annie Turner
-
0
MWC: AI and Net5.5G pivotal to achieving next-generation broadband networks

World Broadband Association says AI can improve investment in broadband as well as profits and time-to-market if used correctly in the pre-deployment phases as it launches four white papers

In one of four white papers launched this week, the World Broadband Association (WBBA) outlined the current and potential uses of AI during the pre-deployment phases of broadband networks. The paper also covers how this can help network planning and expansion decisions to ensure infrastructure is rolled out in the right locations, using the right technologies, and with optimised return on investment (ROI) scenarios. 

“The pre-deployment phases in broadband are periods of decision-making and network planning before infrastructure is rolled out or upgraded,” said Director General of the WBBA, Martin Creaner. “It’s an ideal environment for AI to make an impact, and if its models are supported by the right data and algorithms, then it can be used to help operators predict the return on their investments much more accurately.”

The papers were launched at the WBBA Broadband Development Congress (BDC) in Barcelona this week, alongside MWC, and can be found on the WBBA website.

Gigacity Index 2025

The WBBA is the Gigacity Index 2025, which ranks cities from 30 countries across the globe in terms of their broadband sophistication. This first issue of the Index assesses cities like Singapore, Shanghai, New York, Madrid and Zurich, not only ranking their broadband capabilities but highlighting and the policies, investments and advances that led them to become Gigacities.

Metrics used in the Index include a city’s network infrastructure, including FTTH coverage and 10G PON availability, network connectivity and broadband experience.

Net5.5G

Having defined Net5.5G architecture in the Network Evolution for the 5.5G and 6G Era white paper in June 2024, the WBBA has now published use cases from across five continents which demonstrate successful Net5.5G scenarios and functionalities from operators, carriers and other players.

This collection of use cases show how the Net5.5G architecture is being deployed by many operators and stakeholders around the world, and “reflects the sustainable evolution of data communication networks (DCNs) in an era when 5.5G and ubiquitous AI computing will become commonplace,” according to the WBBA.

“Our Network Technology working group (WG4) continues to lead the way where Net5.5G is concerned,” continued Creaner. “Not only is this team sharing vision, roles and requirements for Net5.5G, but [is] also developing an end-to-end blueprint for network evolution for the 5G Advanced and 6G era. We are excited by the potential of Net5.5G to help realise the promise of digital transformation in a fully connected intelligent world.”

5G Voice over W-Fi

The GSMA 5G Voice over Wi-Fi Task Force presented a new report on VoWiFi at BDC. This is more commonly referred to as Wi-Fi Calling and has been deployed by numerous operators worldwide in the last decade.

The Task Force includes the GSMA, WBBA and Wireless Broadband Alliance, among others. The aim is to integrate wireless and wired networks for seamless indoor-outdoor coverage, and provide ubiquitous, high-quality voice services.

The report considers why Wi-Fi Calling is needed various scenarios and services, providing use cases across sectors plus potential business models. The task force also considers the new requirements emerging for Wi-Fi Calling in the 5G era, and the gaps that must be addressed to further its deployment and usage.

Microsoft invests extra €254m in South African cloud infrastructure

Simon Dux
-
0
Microsoft invests extra €254m in South African cloud infrastructure


The investment comes at a time when the market is awash with speculation on just how many billions Microsoft may have wound back on global data centre commitments

Microsoft announced plans to spend ZAR 5.4 billion (about €254 million) by the end of 2027 to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure in South Africa to meet the growing demand for Azure services in the region. This investment builds on the company’s ZAR 20.4 billion (€1.04 billion) investment over the past three years to establish the nation’s first enterprise-grade datacentres in Johannesburg and Cape Town.  

The announcement comes at a time when multiple reports have appeared suggesting Microsoft is actually walking away from some of its huge data centre commitments globally. The latest, in the FT, suggested cloud computing company CoreWeave – where Microsoft reportedly represents the majority of its revenue (62%) and has pledged over $10 billion in spending on its services by 2030.

Microsoft has withdrawn from some of its agreements over delivery issues and missed deadlines. For CoreWeave, such reports are potentially existential given it seeking to raise $4bn in an IPO and expected to value the group at more than $35bn.

The Nvidia-backed company hit back, telling Reuters that “there have been no contract cancellations or walking away from commitments. Any claim to the contrary is false and misleading.” Indeed, the FT did report that Microsoft retained a number of ongoing contracts with CoreWeave and it remained an important partner. CoreWeave’s insistence that there are no cancellations would still be true even if Microsoft varied the size of its commitment.

Is the AI bubble bursting?

The latter point is key. TD Cowen analysts published a note last month saying Microsoft had withdrawn from two data centre leasing agreements, citing inquiries with supply chain providers. In response to the Cowen report, Microsoft said its infrastructure spending plans remained on track. But Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a recent interview that there had been an “overbuild” of AI infrastructure.

Ed Zitron picked up that the TD Cowen report had implied that Microsoft had effectively cancelled over a gigawatt of data centre operations on top of the previously-reported “multiple +100W megawatt deals.” The TD Cowan report puts Microsoft’s move down to “loss of a major demand signal that Microsoft was originally responding to and that we believed the shift in their appetite for capacity is tied to OpenAI.” 

Soon after the report came out, Jefferies hosted Microsoft in Australia and the company strongly refuted any changes to its data centre strategy. It instead emphasised that investments are made on a 10 year demand outlook for cloud and AI and as a result, while it may adjust regional forecasts, its core strategy remains intact. Given the recent swingeing Copilot price hikes and the potential price brackets OpenAI has recently been discussing – PhD-level AI agents for $20,000 per month – AI monetisation, at least on the LLM side, makes 5G monetisation look like a walk in the park.

Long-standing presence

The wider AI demand arguments don’t diminish Microsoft’s commitment to invest in the South African economy. In addition to the infrastructure investment, Microsoft said it will expand its digital skills initiative over the next 12 months by paying for 50,000 people to be “Microsoft Certified” in high-demand skills like AI, data science, cybersecurity analysis and cloud solution architecture.

Microsoft said it offers a variety of certifications under the Microsoft Certified umbrella. In 2024, more than 150,000 people were trained in digital and AI skills, 95,000 certified and 1,800 secured employment opportunities through Microsoft’s Skills for Jobs programme.

Microsoft’s new data centre infrastructure will include a big investment in AI infrastructure, populated with GPUs. However, local company reps told media that further details on what the investment may look like will be released in the “coming weeks”. Microsoft opened its South African cloud region in 2019, says it is in the process of building its second cloud infrastructure region in Centurion, to meet the growing demand from public and private sector organisations for cloud and AI services and solutions in Africa.

Image: South African president Cyril Ramaphosa with Microsoft vice chair and president, Brad Smith.

MWC: Orange LiveNet puts network APIs on “fast track”

Michelle Donegan
-
0
MWC: Orange LiveNet puts network APIs on “fast track”

In this interview, Otilia Anton, Telco API Programme Director at Orange, said the new unit marks a shift to approaching network APIs as products rather than technology projects

Last year, Orange made “two key moves” to accelerate bringing network APIs to market, Otilia Anton (pictured) explained. The first was launching the Aduna joint venture with Ericsson and 16 operators. The second was a decision to take a more “business-driven” approach to APIs, rather than viewing them only as a “technical framework,” which led to the creation of LiveNet, announced earlier this week at MWC.

“The main purpose of the business unit is to fast track the availability of APIs and make sure that we offer simplified, accessible ways of interacting with Orange APIs, both on indirect and direct channels for customers,” she said.

Orange’s participation in Aduna and LiveNet are seen as complementary. While Aduna works to build large-scale, standardized APIs for developer communities, Orange’s own business unit addresses the technical, organizational and cultural changes needed to support new API business models.

The unit sits within Orange Group’s networks organization of the CTIO office and addresses B2B wholesale and B2B2C use cases. The core team includes skills from other parts of the business to ensure “a holistic approach” to use cases and API propositions, she explained.

“As leader of this new business unit, I’m personally focused on showing that this brings value and that as a telco, we can dynamically adapt to market needs,” she said.

API go-to-market options

The APIs are made available through indirect channel partners, such as Aduna, Azure Programmable Connectivity and aggregators, as well as through the operator’s own developer portal where developers can explore APIs in a sandbox or production environment.

Orange currently offers identity and anti-fraud APIs in France and Spain and has trial versions available in Belgium and plans to introduce them in Poland. The next Orange APIs to come onto the market will be related to geolocation and quality-on-demand.

In addition, the operator is also looking to its own enterprise offerings for ways to augment them or create new services through API exposure.

For example, Orange Business offers a location data-based service called Flux Vision for enterprises and urban planners that tracks population movements and traffic density. It has also been working on a population density API through CAMARA that enables developers to access and predict mobility patterns. The API essentially exposes the capabilities of the Flux Vision service.

Developers got to try out this new API during a hackathon event at MWC25.

“We’re taking a value proposal that was there for the enterprise sector, putting it into CAMARA, and [seeing] how we can use this to have a broader reach and a more appealing opportunity for the developers out there,” she explained.

5G SA adds momentum

When asked what it will take for network APIs to take off commercially, Anton said it was important for telcos to focus on solving the “simplification, robustness, scalability and predictability of the solutions” and to work with systems integrators and enterprises on “co-development” of use cases.

Beyond that, she said the rollout of 5G standalone (SA) will also help to drive commercial progress. Orange has deployed 5G SA in several markets and has initial network slicing offers available in France via its 5G+ service.

“With more maturity on 5G SA, and first real B2B offers, this can be augmented by network APIs, because that’s where we tap into having on-demand personalized connectivity that really empowers the application that’s running the service,” said Anton.

In the bigger picture, network APIs are fundamental to Orange’s telco as a platform initiative as its ambition is for all its products to be reachable via APIs.

“This is a transformation on the path from telco to techco that we apply first on the CAMARA APIs, but we have a broader vision on how this impacts offerings for telecom connectivity in the mid- and long-term,” said Anton.

CTO of the Year Award Winners’ Hall of Fame

Marcin Piechowski
-
0
CTO of the Year Award Winners’ Hall of Fame

Past winners of our CTO of the Year Awards include:

Entries for 2025 CTO of the Year Awards are now open
To find out more and enter, CLICK HERE

MWC: Kyivstar expands Ukraine’s network resilience with Starlink D2D

Michelle Donegan
-
0
MWC: Kyivstar expands Ukraine’s network resilience with Starlink D2D

Kyivstar could one of first operators in Europe to offer a satellite direct-to-device service via Starlink later this year – DT to launch D2D service in Europe with Skylo by end of 2025

The Ukrainian operator, part of VEON Group, signed a deal with Starlink in December 2024 to provide D2D services in the country. The first live tests are expected to start in June or July this year and the service is planned for commercial launch in the fourth quarter to support its 4G LTE network.

Initial services will be SMS messaging and will work with all 4G devices. A second phase will see the introduction of voice and data services and the third phase will roll out services for Internet of Things connectivity later in 2026.

The timing for the additional services depends on the capacity of the Starlink low Earth orbit constellation and how many satellites have been launched, explained Illya Polshakov, Chief New Business Streams Officer at Kyivstar, speaking to Mobile Europe at MWC25.

The priority is to enable emergency services for customers in rural areas in the case of blackouts or service disruptions so that they can be always online, he added. Beyond that, the operator will also leverage the satellite service to improve customer experience for voice and data services.

The operator will need to carve out a minimum of 5MHz of its spectrum to support the Starlink D2D services but expects the impact on its 4G services to be “minor”.

Deal with Starlink is commercial

The D2D deal with Starlink is seen as “a natural extension of our network resilience programme,” said Volodymyr Lutchenko, Chief Technology Officer at Kyivstar (pictured above).

The Ukrainian operator already uses Starlink’s satellite-based broadband services to provide emergency connectivity and is its “first choice for fast restoration”, explained Lutchenko.

“In locations where call connectivity is destroyed or we need fast restoration of the service, we bring the ‘cell on wheels’ and use Starlink as the backhaul…The satellite links into our network and we can provide services to the local village or small town,” said Lutchenko.

As there are many players with aspirations LEO satellite services space and it is early days for D2D services, Polshakov noted that Kyivstar is open to exploring partnerships with others as well, “but it’s a matter of commercial conditions”.

He pointed to Amazon’s Kuiper or Eutelsat OneWeb as other potential options. He also confirmed the operator had been in discussions with OneWeb and previously conducted trials with Lynk. “It’s very new for all of us. We should learn a lot. And I believe there will be more versions of releases of these satellites,” said Polshakov.

Geopolitical tensions

In the context of heightened geopolitical tensions between the US and Ukraine, speculation has swirled around the future availability of Starlink services in the country, where it is used by the military, and whether access to the service could become a bargaining chip in negotiations over terms for ending the war.

Polshakov did not comment on the geopolitical situation but stressed the “commercial” nature of Kyivstar’s relationship with Starlink and its ability to execute the rollout.

“We have a commercial agreement and we are on track. I don’t feel any influence on our progress and what we are doing, and we are very well organised on both sides. Since we started negotiations in September, we got the contract in December, and we are already going to launch the technology this year,” he said.

Satellite D2D was on the agenda at MWC25 this week with some notable developments. For example, Vodafone announced plans to create a European wholesale satellite services joint venture with its LEO partner AST SpaceMobile to provide D2D services to mobile operators.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom announced plans to launch a D2D messaging service in Germany and Europe at the end of this year with satellite partner Skylo.

As the RAN market declines, vendors turn focus to AI-RAN

Simon Dux
-
0
As the RAN market declines, vendors turn focus to AI-RAN


Dell’Oro confirms RAN market hit its steepest decline in 20 years but vendors are hoping AI-RAN will revive the market’s fortunes

Analyst house Dell’Oro has confirmed what people in the industry were already feeling – the RAN market just recorded the steepest full-year decline in more than 20 years. With two consecutive years of steep declines, worldwide RAN is now down nearly $9 billion in 2024 relative to the peak in 2021.

The analysts had the sensitivity to hold off their findings until the close of the world’s biggest mobile festival wound down in Barcelona. But on the corridors of the stands at MWC, talk was already about the fast-emerging next generation RAN, infused/boosting/performance-enhanced by AI. But how fast? Téral Research told SDX recently that the global AI-RAN market will grow from $1.7 billion this year to $10.4 billion in 2030, adding that the “current ecosystem is vibrant.”

ABI Research, on the other hand, reckons in 2025, trials and pilot projects will advance the technology, but large-scale deployment will take longer to materialise. “Despite rapid progress, AI technology for the RAN ecosystem (AI-RAN) remains in early development, with commercial deployments not expected before 2026,” they wrote. “SoftBank recently completed a trial and plans deployment by 2026, with broader adoption likely by 2027, given Japan’s history as an early tech adopter.”

Softbank is a pioneer

GSMA found that operators are allocating more resources to in-house and out-of-house AI projects, but only a some are spending more than 15% of their digital budgets on AI. Instead, nearly half of operators are dedicating 5% to 15% of their digital budgets towards AI, covering a range of categories, including data systems, large language models and infrastructure upgrades, according to the survey. 

At MWC, SoftBank announced that in collaboration with NVIDIA and Fujitsu, conducted the three AI-driven experiments to enhance RAN performance without deploying additional base stations. The first experiment, Uplink Channel Interpolation, aimed to improve channel estimation accuracy for signals received at base stations. By applying AI, SoftBank achieved approximately a 20 percent improvement in uplink user throughput on smartphones, particularly in areas with poor network quality. 

The second experiment focused on predicting Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) from devices to enhance beamforming performance in high-mobility scenarios. Utilising a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) algorithm, SoftBank observed around a 13 percent improvement in downlink throughput for devices moving at 80 km/h. The third experiment involved AI-driven Medium Access Control (MAC) scheduling to optimise user pairing in multi-user MIMO scenarios. Implementing AI technology in MAC scheduling led to an approximate 8 percent increase in average user throughput.

What wasn’t discussed as much however was exactly how so many mobile base stations will be able to cope with power-sucking NVIDIA GPU chips. Hosting AI inferencing workloads at the network edge simply drives power shortfalls/issues to a widely distributed edge network. Some of this AI inferencing will actually shift to on-device but the edge power situation does not resolve itself as a result. Thankfully, there are some very clever chip companies attacking these issues globally but the net result for telcos is that AI-RAN will tend to develop more slowly, pretty much like most large network evolutions. 

Back in the RAN market

While we wait, Dell’Oro did find that despite the broader state of the RAN market still being “underwhelming”, preliminary findings reveal that market conditions improved in the quarter, especially outside of China. “Regional coverage imbalances and monetisation challenges are nothing new. What sets this downturn apart is the uncertainty surrounding the capacity upgrade cycle that typically comprises a significant part of the RAN market in the new technology post-peak rollout phase,” said Dell’Oro RAN market research VP Stefan Pongratz.

Dell’Oro found that the revenue rankings did not change in 2024. The top 5 RAN suppliers based on worldwide revenues are Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung. NTT Docomo’s Open RAN joint venture with NEC, Orex Sai, announced some network wins at MWC so it will be interesting if NEC can move the needle on market share. The top 5 RAN suppliers based on revenues outside of China are Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung, and ZTE.

Interestingly, revenue shares changed in 2024 – Huawei and Ericsson improved their revenue shares while Nokia, Samsung, and ZTE’s RAN revenue shares fell. Dell’Oro said the fundamentals that shape the RAN market have not changed, and the long-term trajectory discussed in the most recent 5-year forecast still holds (0 percent CAGR over next five years).

The short-term outlook is mostly unchanged, with total RAN expected to remain stable in 2025 and RAN outside of China growing at a modest pace as conditions in North America and APAC excluding China improve. 

Lawful intelligence includes a critical civil protection mission

Dr Cemal Dikmen & Syed Hussain, SS8 Networks
-
0
Lawful intelligence includes a critical civil protection mission

Partner content: The SS8 platform is designed to enforce and operate within legal guidelines to maximize the availability and value of intelligence while preserving civil protections to privacy

As with the broader missions of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, lawful intelligence must balance investigative rigor with the need to preserve privacy and other civil protections. Legal frameworks to regulate the collection and use of investigative information are well developed all over the world, and they are a critical protection for civil liberties.

SS8 is committed to advancing technological capabilities for lawful intelligence that both maximize visibility of subjects and promote scrupulous adherence to those legal frameworks. SS8 upholds its commitment to legal integrity through stringent transparency, fostering both accountability and auditability. The SS8 platform is designed from the ground up to enforce and operate within legal guidelines to maximize the availability and value of intelligence while preserving civil protections to privacy.

Ethical platform design to promote lawfulness

The SS8 platform is built from the ground up to control access to the sensitive information it contains. Its core workflows enforce legal practices such as applying sophisticated automated warrant management to ensure that data collection is governed by proper lawful authorization such as a warrant or subpoena. Access controls provide every user with only the minimum rights to information that they need to perform their job functions, and the visibility of information can be controlled at a very granular level.

User accounts are associated with individuals rather than generic roles, to enhance accountability for actions taken on the system. That degree of control helps preserve privacy as well as protect the integrity of investigations, including minimizing potential impacts from unauthorized access. In addition, all user actions—including passive views as well as changes to the system—are logged with a timestamp, user ID, and IP address, associating them with the specific person responsible.

Those logs provide an audit trail (not accessible to general users) that lets auditors trace the activities of individual users or the operational details associated with a specific warrant. That level of transparency and accountability is critical to enforcing the legal mandates associated with lawful intelligence. The SS8 platform adheres to 3GPP, ETSI, and other international telecom standards, with the flexibility to adapt to individual implementations as well as the legal requirements of local jurisdictions.

Gathering intelligence to advance legal processes

In addition to controlling access to sensitive and restricted lawful intelligence information, the SS8 platform advances investigations to meet the requirements of those controls. In the case of a terrorist event without a pool of suspects, for example, investigators must cast a wide net to gather information without violating legal and ethical privacy concerns.

Here, it would generally be inappropriate to provision intercept targets, and there would typically be insufficient evidence to gain a warrant to do so. A common approach would be to subpoena location records from mobile network operators in a specified timespan, to identify subjects within the geofenced area where the event occurred. That preliminary information can provide connections and insights, such as showing a group of apparent attackers forming a perimeter and then converging on a victim or area.

Armed with that evidence, investigators can pursue the next level of detail, such as identifying subjects of interest and seeking search warrants to establish their associations, behaviors, and patterns of life. Developing those paths of inquiry expands the pool of subjects of interest and increases the depth of intelligence about individuals without unduly compromising their privacy. That motion is primary to the goal of bringing investigative rigor together with the need to preserve civil protections.

Preserving privacy as a core provision

In addition to judicial controls in the form of authorizations such as warrants and subpoenas, regulatory and legislative oversight are vital. As technology evolves—including with the growing capabilities of AI—the process of maintaining equilibrium between enforcement requirements and civil liberties must adapt. Continual review must gauge the impacts of emerging capabilities, to improve investigative reach while maintaining legal and ethical standards.

SS8 advances this goal with powerful but flexible controls over how information is collected and distributed. The platform employs robust measures to limit the scope of information collected to what is authorized, protecting the admissibility of evidence and preventing unauthorized interception that could derail a prosecution. Particularly in the case of larger, more comprehensive warrants, collected information can be partitioned so that a subset of data is anonymized or obfuscated.

In the example of collection of location data in a geofenced area, individuals might be associated with anonymous identifiers, so their behavior can be observed without revealing their identities. In that scenario, additional court orders could authorize that additional level of detail to be revealed to investigators, but only if standards are met for doing so. The SS8 platform governs that access to ensure adherence to ethical and legal guidelines, giving investigators all the information they need to administer justice while protecting society.

About the authors

Dr. Cemal Dikmen

As SS8’s Chief Technology & Security Officer, Cemal plays an integral role in the company’s strategic direction, development, and future growth. A renowned expert and thought leader in the legal compliance and communications analysis domain, he has been a frequent speaker at various industry conferences over the past 10 years. Cemal holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering. You can learn more about Cemal on his LinkedIn profile by clicking here.

Syed Hussain

Syed has spent more than 20 years working in the telecommunication and cyber security industry in Engineering and Product Management leadership roles. He brings significant technical expertise to his role as VP of Product Management for SS8’s Lawful Intelligence products, covering Service Providers and Law Enforcement market domains. He has led architecture and design of 4G and 5G Lawful Interception solutions in Cloud and non-cloud environments. Syed represents SS8 in both ETSI and 3GPP standards bodies and at technology summits and holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering. You can learn more about Syed on his LinkedIn profile here.

MWC: Telefónica advances cloud for 5G RAN – the ‘final frontier’

Annie Turner
-
0
MWC: Telefónica advances cloud for 5G RAN – the ‘final frontier’

Operator collaborated with Nokia and AWS to validate 5G Cloud RAN’s performance, scalability and operational efficiency – work is ongoing

Telefónica announced the successful completion of Europe’s first 5G Standalone (SA) call via on-premises and public cloud architecture. It was achieved with Nokia’s Cloud RAN solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure. Telefónica is collaborating with Nokia and AWS to bring the benefits of the cloud to 5G RAN.

Telefónica is running Nokia’s RAN Distributed Unit (DU) software in an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance powered by Graviton, an Arm-based CPU from AWS. Telefónica will work with AWS to validate AWS Outposts servers based on Graviton 3 CPU for on-premises deployment at RAN sites.

Due to the portability of the containerised network function software from Nokia, the RAN Centralised Unit (CU) is running on an Amazon EC2 instance in the AWS Spain Region, located in Aragón. This allows the radio network to be deployed across a cloud architecture spanning on-premises as well as public cloud locations covering hundreds of kilometers.

Ongoing explorations

The companies will continue to work on the operational benefits of the cloud-based solution such as Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) combined with Nokia’s 5G network capabilities. The companies will also investigate new cloud technologies to reduce operational complexity and enhance network assurance.

Using AWS and Nokia management and observability solutions, Telefónica will examine how to simplify the network configuration and lifecycle maintenance with common automation and observability across the network stack. 

This hybrid architecture delivers low-latency and high bandwidth for real-time Nokia RAN workloads running on AWS cloud services that offer on-demand elastic cloud infrastructure, along with security, unified APIs, observability, and resiliency enabled on Telefónica premises.

Different locations via APIs

As AWS is delivering the same set of APIs, services, observability, and resilience it gives Telefónica the flexibility to place workloads at different locations based on the latency requirements of the underlying transport infrastructure.

The cloud architecture allows Telefónica to have a common CI/CD pipeline to ease the operational burden, reduce integration costs and maximise “feature velocity across these different locations extending all the way to the edge of the network reaching the RAN sites”. 

RAN: the final frontier

José Luis Esplá, Director of Access & Devices at Telefónica, said, “RAN represents the final frontier for cloudification and the most critical workload for our mobile networks. Exploring the AWS cloud provides an opportunity to evolve 5G networks to achieve more flexibility and programmability by simplifying our network assets. By collaborating with thought leaders like AWS and Nokia in this domain, our goal is to validate the hybrid cloud infrastructure.”

Amir Rao, Director for Telco 5G at AWS, said: “We’re demonstrating how AWS’ cloud infrastructure can support the demanding requirements of 5G RAN workloads. This collaboration showcases how AWS’ comprehensive suite of cloud services, from on-premises edge computing to regional data centers, can support the full spectrum of RAN operations.” 

Aji Ed, Head of Cloud RAN at Nokia, said: “Nokia is helping its customers on their cloudification journey by leading the fusion of AI, RAN, and Cloud which is helping to drive innovation and new business models supporting monetization.”

MWC: Aduna adds 3 operators, Jio Platforms adds AI, global AI Alliance appeals

Annie Turner
-
0
MWC: Aduna adds 3 operators, Jio Platforms adds AI, global AI Alliance appeals

Malaysia’s CelcomDigi, France’s Bouygues and Free join Aduna, India’s Jio Platforms announces AI platform, while global alliance seeks more, diverse members

Malaysia’s CelcomDigi, France’s Free (part of the Iliad Group) and Bouygues Telecom have become operator partners in Aduna, bringing the total (it’s hard to keep up) to 16. The API initiative was announced last September and the joint venture in January. Ericsson holds a 50% stake, the operators the rest.

Aduna’s mission is to combine and sell network APIs globally, “enabling new applications to work anywhere, and on any network, paving the way for developers to innovate much more quickly and easily”.

The third of France’s big three operators, Orange, was a founder member of Aduna. Earlier this week it announced a new API business unit, Orange LiveNet.

French show of force

Chrystel Abadie Truchet, Head of Strategy, Communication and Development at Bouygues Telecom, stated, “French major network operators joining forces with Aduna to launch network APIs is a major step in unlocking new digital innovation opportunities across industries in France and beyond. Bouygues Telecom is proud to be part of this project with other market leaders such as Free and Orange, and we believe this strategic partnership holds immense potential for driving digital transformation in France and abroad.”

Rui Frazao, CTO at Free – iliad Group, adds, “The partnership with Aduna is in line with iliad Group’s strategy to democratize and accelerate the adoption of 5G SA and network APIs by making them accessible to developers and service providers worldwide.”

And Otilia Anton, Director, Orange LiveNet, explains, “Network APIs pave the way to programmable networks for personalized and secure customer experiences leveraging connectivity data. Aduna will play an important role in simplifying global access to CAMARA APIs. We are proud of this first commercial exposure of Orange APIs on Aduna contributing to enforcing network APIs’ reach and value proposition for identity and antifraud solutions.”

Global reach

CelcomDigi’s Deputy CEO, Albern Murty comments, “We are committed to enabling a 5G-AI-powered digital ecosystem that fuels innovation and enhances digital experiences. Our partnership with Aduna amplifies this commitment by providing developers and enterprises with direct access to advanced network capabilities.

“By bridging global connectivity with Malaysia’s digital landscape, we are setting the stage for a new era of services innovation, making it easier for businesses to build, scale, and deploy new digital solutions that benefit customers nationwide.”

Jio Platforms turns to AI

India’s Jio Platforms used MWC as its platform to announce it is joining forces with Cisco, Nokia and AMD to develop an Open Telecom AI Platform. The intention is to “redefine telecom operations with cutting-edge AI integration”. Jio Platforms is

Jio Platforms was founded in 2019, has headquarters in Mumbai and is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, an international conglomerate. Jio Platforms is a holding company for India’s largest mobile network operator, Jio, and other digital businesses belonging to Reliance.

Since April 2020, Reliance Industries has a 67% holding in Jio Platforms and has raised about $17 billion from selling stakes in the Jio Platform. Investors include Meta, Google, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds.

Central intelligence layer

Jio Platforms says that its new partnership “will create a new central intelligence layer for telecom and digital services. This multi-domain intelligence framework will integrate AI and automation into every layer of network operations.”

Further, “The AI platform will be LLM agnostic and utilize open APIs to optimize its functionality and capabilities. By harnessing agentic AI and leveraging both Large Language Models (LLMs), domain-specific Small Language Models (SLMs), and non-GenAI machine learning techniques, the Telecom AI Platform will enable end-to-end intelligence for network management and operations.”

Mathew Oommen, group CEO at Reliance Jio, commented, “By harnessing agentic AI across all telco layers, we are building a multimodal, multidomain orchestrated workflow platform that redefines efficiency, intelligence and security for the telecom industry.

“In collaboration with AMD, Cisco and Nokia, Jio is advancing the Open Telecom AI Platform to transform networks into self-optimising, customer-aware ecosystems. This initiative goes beyond automation – it’s about enabling AI-driven, autonomous networks that adapt in real time, enhance user experiences, and create new service and revenue opportunities across the digital ecosystem.”

Compare and contrast

Meanwhile, founders of the Global Telco AI Alliance, have been meeting in Barcelona. The Alliance was announced at MWC last year to develop a telco-specific LLM. Meat was added to the bones with the announcement of a JV at DTW last June.

Representatives from SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel and Softbank used this year’s MWC to appeal for participation from Big Tech’s AI efforts and policymakers, as well as more operator members, unveiling a new logo and holding a Global Telco AI Roundtable.

1...121314...1,638Page 13 of 1,638
- Advertisement -

Subscribe to Our Daily Newsletter

It takes just one minute to register for the leading daily B2B newsletter for the telecoms industry, and it's free.

SIGN UP

Subscribe to Our Daily Newsletter

It takes just one minute to register for the leading daily B2B newsletter for the telecoms industry, and it's free.

SIGN UP
DOWNLOAD OUR NEW REPORT

5G Advanced

Will 5G’s second wave deliver value?

DOWNLOAD REPORT