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DT and Ericsson claim a world first with 5G SA network exposure

Nick Booth
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DT and Ericsson claim a world first with 5G SA network exposure

Video trial gains in flexibility without loss of security or speed

Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Ericsson claim to have solved a problem for 5G’s standalone network (SA) network builders: how do you create the right sort of network exposure? This is essential for the right people to get into network slices, tailor fit them for each type of application and make each service work to its full potential.

The collaborators claim their simulation of a slice-specific service running from end-to-end (E2E) of an enterprise is a world first for 5G. The proof-of-concept of 5G Standalone (SA) end-to-end network slicing took place in DT’s Bonn laboratory. It showed that third party service providers can be allowed to work on network slices without compromising its security or slowing the performance.

Network exposure to the right people 

This demonstration was the first to use ‘5G Network exposure’, which involves granting third-parties access to the networking options, in order to achieve more creative outcomes. Previously it’s been hard to achieve this without disrupting the network’s quality of service (QoS) or creating security exposures.

The integration is achieved by detailed configuration work on both the network and the applications, namely through a painstaking redesign of application programming interfaces (APIs). This involves a lot of dynamic adaptation that hasn’t been achieved before, with extensive changes to the underlying support systems.

Network slices need to be configured 

The DT and Ericsson engineering teams jointly proved that ‘network exposure’ (NE) could be achieved without spoiling a video production. In the simulation the director was able to adapt their slice of the network service at will, according to the needs of different video streams. 

The team went on to achieve fully automated configuration. This involved the automatic provisioning and end-to-end orchestration of the enterprise slicing service. This proves that Ericsson can achieve one of the key architectural features of a commercial grade 5G SA network, according to Erik Ekudden, Group CTO at Ericsson, because 5G network allows you to software-define virtual networks with distinct features.

Standard network exposure APIs must allow third-party apps to monitor and adjust the behaviour of their own new network slices within the boundaries of their subscribed services, said Ekudden. But their access has to be approved.

Laid a new cornerstone in 5G SA 

This breakthrough has brought “the value of network slicing, exposure, and automation to the market,” said Ekudden.

Providing an end-to-end customer journey around slicing is essential for fast and efficient 5G service innovation but a considerable amount of work is done by the Business Support System (BSS) in order to automate the apportioning of bandwidth to user profiles.

Technical notes from Ericsson

In this proof of concept exercise, a catalogue/model driven BSS approach was verified to enable both: 

Automated slice creation and termination with flexible service configuration to support B2B and B2B2X models and 

Exposure of connectivity management and monitoring functions to the customer via portals and APIs

Orange’s new digital centres open in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon

Nick Booth
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0
Orange’s new digital centres open in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon

Strategy to give every African better digital access, more opportunities

The Orange Group has launched two more of its educational Digital Centres in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.

As part of its Engage2025 strategy, it plans have an Orange Digital Centre in each of its African markets by 2025. The objective is to foster development of the digital ecosystem across the continent with emphasis placed on better access for young people and women. 

The programmes are free and open to everyone and the range of education varies from training young people in digital technology, through supporting community project leaders to nurturing creativity in start-up incubators and support with attracting investment.

The two new centres opened in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon were created and supported in a partnership with the German Cooperation and overseen by Orange CEO Stéphane Richard and Alioune Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Africa and Middle East.

The code d’Ivoire

This programme includes a coding school, a digital manufacturing workshop supported by the Orange Foundation, the start-up accelerator Orange Fab and Orange Ventures Africa, the Orange Group’s investment fund. 

Almost all (90 per cent) of the training courses are hands-on and experiential, rather than lecture-based. The goal is to bring out the talents of candidates and encourage leadership skills in both product development, project direction and commercial strategy, according to Orange.

In support Amazon Web Services (AWS) is offering a free 12-week, full-time certified training programme on cloud computing. It aims to help candidates launch cloud technology careers in 18 countries via Orange Digital Centers in Africa and the Middle East.

In Africa connectivity was extended to 413 million new users by the end of 2020 according to GSMA. The continent’s young population, where one in two people are under 20, present’s ‘considerable digitalization challenges’ says Orange, which has been active in 18 countries for 20 years. It claims to have invested one billion euros per year to raise the level of connectivity and funded digital education programmes.

Orange invested €1 billion a year in Africa

So far, eight Orange Digital Centres have already been opened, in Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Morocco and Mali. More centres in other countries are promised by the end of 2021 and during 2022.

Orange is a socially responsible company everywhere it has a presence in Africa, said Orange CEO Richard: “Commitment is a core company value and we aim to deploy an Orange Digital Center in every country where we operate by 2025. This reflects our determination to take action to make digital technology a positive innovation.”  

Ndiaye, CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East, promised a network of 32 Orange Digital Centres deployed in Africa the Middle East and Europe. The main objective is to give access to digital technology for young people, whether qualified or not, in all the countries in which Orange operates. “I am very proud to inaugurate the sixth Orange Digital Centre in Cameroon,” said Ndiaye.

 

 

 

 

Orange Belgium opens 5G SA lab in Antwerp to incubate new start ups

Nick Booth
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0
Orange Belgium opens 5G SA lab in Antwerp to incubate new start ups

Looking for new ways of exploiting private networks

Orange Belgium has opened a 5G Lab in Antwerp for testing and developing new ideas for using 5G Stand Alone (SA) network technology. 

The lab is Orange’s eighth in a pan European network designed to foster invention and encourage collaboration as the telco seeks to enervate its supply chain.

The operator is aiming to entice new talent into conversations with Orange’s partnership managers as it seeks to dramatically expand its roster of talented partners needed for an infrastructure building strategy based on open systems. 

Most mobile operators in Europe need to embark on aggressive expansion and diversification  of their network building supply chain, according to market intelligence from Disruptive Analysis. Supply chain diversification has taken on greater across the world, according to lead analyst Dean Bubley.

Nurturing new talent in labs

The labs will also create a demonstration and testing area for use by customers, says Orange. 

In April 2021, the first three 5G-focused start-ups were recruited through the Orange Fab acceleration programme and given access to Orange’s 5G Lab programme and links to others in the community of developers. In the new Antwerp installation, situated in The Beacon in the port city of Antwerp, the operator will concentrate on the new 5G SA standard and explore ways to solve business problems and make money out of the private networking concept.

The programme of ‘discovery’ is based on explanation, demonstration and animation, according to Orange, which promises to recreate authentic industrial conditions for the creatives to work with. In the event of a new use case being invented in the Lab it should easily be ported and deployed to the customers’ premises and ‘scaled up’.

Create value for Belgium – and beyond

A comprehensive range of equipment available will include certified 5G devices such as routers, smartphones, tablets, smart glasses and cameras already tested and validated by Orange engineers.

“This 5G Lab is an important new step towards unlocking the full potential of 5G SA technology and delivering concrete business value,” said Werner De Laet, chief enterprise, wholesale and innovation officer at Orange Belgium, “we will create value for the whole Belgian economy and even beyond.”

Across Europe 140 businesses have explored 5G in details with Orange, said Karine Dussert-Sarthe, innovation marketing and design EVP for the Orange Group. At least 41 of them have been helped to develop protypes for 5G SA services.

 

Public cloud could be far worse than a temporary outage warns analyst

Nick Booth
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0
Public cloud could be far worse than a temporary outage warns analyst

Telcos told to beware of the model of software as a subterfuge

With CIOs under increasing pressure to hand over their assets to the public cloud, analysts have warned mobile operators not to panic.

Google Cloud has unveiled plans to host 5G core and RAN functions for mobile operators on its 140 data centres. It claims it can cut latency by shortening the journey each data signal must travel to the nearest computer.

Functions can also be co-hosted with enterprise applications, says Google. The business logic is that telcos can focus on applications and business initiatives rather than management of their underlying infrastructure, said Sachin Gupta, Google Cloud’s general manager of infrastructure, told reporters, “they can leave the complexity to us.”

All this heaps pressure on the CIOs of mobile operators to hand over control of their infrastructure to the hyperscalers. According to Light Reading, telcos won’t get the sort of liquidity Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure could offer instantly as they build their own networks with Nokia and Ericsson.

Hell in a hyperscaler?

However, it warned of an even worse downside. Virtualisation will give the hyperscalers a ‘big say’ over the technology strategies of mobile operators. This would be a dangerous strategy when there is an extreme valuation gap between telcos and hyperscale public cloud operators. 

Under the Google Cloud plan, the hyperscaler will effectively manage the hardware and software of a mobile operator even when its facilities are not being used. AT&T, Bell Canada, Telus, Telenet, TIM, Reliance Jio and Orange report they have moved some of their IT workloads onto Google Cloud, with some also running packet core and RAN applications.

Telcos could be subsumed by hyperscalers

A temporary network outage, such as those suffered by Three Ireland and Three on Thursday, would be less of problem than being subsumed by a hyperscaler, some say. Moving from one public cloud to another may be as tricky as quitting a crime syndicate, said Light Reading.

Besides which the problems experienced by the two divisions of Three may not be related to the choice between public and private cloud usage, since each has its own distinct hybrid. 

Moving from one public cloud to another may be as tricky as quitting a crime syndicate, said Light Reading. In 2019, Snapchat developer Snap warned in a regulatory filing that moving systems between public clouds would be “difficult to implement” and demand “significant time and expense.”

 

 

Telefónica Tech, Atrebo to register 200,000 telecom infrastructures on blockchain

Annie Turner
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Telefónica Tech, Atrebo to register 200,000 telecom infrastructures on blockchain

They include towers and other sites that will be managed by Atrebo’s TREE platform

Telefónica Tech and Atrebo are to use the latter’s TrustOS blockchain platform, to register the 200,000 telecoms infrastructures managed by Atrebo’s TREE platform, including towers and other sites.

This will give infrastructure managers information about their status in almost real time and “with full guarantee”, providing traceability and transparency to the tower operations, both at an operational and logistical level.

From an operational point of view, the platform will record incidents, service levels, data on the traffic managed by the infrastructures and all the information relevant to its activity while it remains in service.

From a logistical point of view, all related processes will be made transparent, recording all maintenance operations, assets incorporated or withdrawn (for example, the replacement of radio equipment), equipment, events related to concessions and / or ownership or rental of sites, energy management, etc.

Once a tower has been digitised and created as an asset in TrustOS, the use of blockchain allows to certify and easily audit not only its current status, but also the history of the actions carried out on it.

 Telefónica Tech claims that [translated from the Spanish], “Hand-in-hand with the Tower Automation Alliance, the blockchain digitisation and traceability model used by Telefónica Tech and Atrebo will become the market standard for auditing this type of information and will extraordinarily facilitate future valuation exercises of this type of infrastructure in operations.

“The availability of this individualized traceability information will even make it possible to discriminate between the different towers and estimate higher or lower returns depending on their locations, the equipment incorporated, their state of conservation or the accumulated number of incidents and repairs.

“The application of blockchain will also allow the introduction of innovation in this industry and the development of new business models on infrastructures, such as tokenization via NFTs of towers, the commercialization of rights on a tower based on the issuance of those NFTs or the implementation of crowdfunding models based on their future profitability to finance their operation or future deployments”

“This exciting new agreement will allow Atrebo to continue on the path together with Telefónica towards the complete digital transformation of asset management and telecommunications infrastructures,” commented Jesús del Estad, CEO of Atrebo.

José Luis Núñez, head of the blockchain business at Telefónica Tech, states: “With this operation, we extend the successful blockchain-based asset management model to the infrastructures that we have been developing since 2018 we implemented it to manage our supply chain in Brazil. It is another milestone in the adoption of blockchain with which we demonstrate how it can be applied in real projects and build new business models based on reliable ecosystems ”.

Ipoque software to solve customer experience riddle for mobile operators

Nick Booth
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0
Ipoque software to solve customer experience riddle for mobile operators

OEM control and user plane correlation software helps enlighten CSPs

Mobile operators have been given new powers to improve the user experience.

Test and measurement specialist Rohde & Schwarz claims a new traffic visibility system from subsidiary Ipoque will help them see what their subscribers face when they use their 3G, 4G and 5G NSA networks. Understanding the subscriber’s story is essential in giving them the best customer service, it claims.

A new software module R&S®GSRM promises comms service providers (CSPs) an instant picture of the subscriber- and session-level traffic that affects network performance, quality of service and user experience. The module is to be offered as an easily-integrated OEM for networking, IP traffic management and cybersecurity vendors. 

The software works in the core of mobile networks to resolve the data traffic issues of subscribers by correlating control of each user plane. This detailed subscriber-level traffic view allows vendors of network packet brokers and IP probes to raise their game with session-aware traffic aggregation, filtering and load balancing capabilities. Other new powers will include policy control, cybersecurity and IP traffic management. 

Software module for network kit makers

According to Ipoque, it’s hard for engineers at CSPs to is get complete intelligence on each subscriber’s events but this is essential for meeting customer experience targets imposed on them. Given that they have multiple millions of GPRS tunnelling protocol (GTP) sessions running concurrently across mobile networks, the correlation of all that user plane and data plane traffic is impossible.

Without IP probes, network packet brokers and network management tools they can’t analyse subscriber sessions. If that wasn’t bad enough, they are constrained by bandwidth and throughput limitations, according to Stephan Klokow, VP of engineering at Ipoque.

“Subscriber awareness, swiftly integrated as a lean OEM software module, enables vendors to be one step ahead of the competition,” said Klakow.

After field testing and early adoption by US-based packet broker Niagara Networks the module is being offered to network equipment vendors to embed into new kit.

 

 

OVHcloud’s IPO values Europe’s second largest cloud provider at €3.5bn

Annie Turner
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0
OVHcloud’s IPO values Europe’s second largest cloud provider at €3.5bn

Initial public offering (IPO) at Paris Bourse goes smoothly despite the hour-long outage on Wednesday

French cloud computing services provider OVHcloud’s IPO went ahead on Thursday at an offer price of  €18.5 per share, the lower end of the proposed range according to sources close to IPO, valuing the firm at about €3.5 billion.

The IPO was oversubscribed and the largest in France this year.

OVHcloud is the second-biggest European-based cloud services provider after Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems.

One of the IPO’s bookmakers said the new shares would raise about €350 million, while the sale of existing shares by shareholders including the Klaba family would account for a further €50 million.

Some see OVHcloud as a potential alternative to the American giants Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud.

OVHcloud’s Chair, Octave Klaba, said on Twitter that Wednesday’s outage had followed a “human error” during the reconfiguration of one of its data centres in the US.

The network returned to normal around an hour later at 8:15 GMT. 

It was the second major disruption for OVHcloud this year after a fire at the company’s premises in Strasbury in March disrupted millions of websites, including government agencies’ portals, banks, shops, news websites and taking out a chunk of the .FR web space.

KPN opts for Oracle to optimise operations

Annie Turner
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0
KPN opts for Oracle to optimise operations

Oracle continues to progress in Europe’s telecoms sector

KPN has chosen Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite for finance, supply chain management and human resources to help streamline the company’s business operations. The implementation will be managed by Deloitte and Oracle Consulting.

KPN has more than 6 million mobile and broadband consumer customers in the Netherlands. The operator’s aim is to make the Netherlands the best-connected country in the world and deliver the most environmentally sustainable network and services in the region.

Keeping up the good work

It has been diversifying its business towards digital services over the last few years, which required the company to rethink how it manages its core business processes so that it can  embrace new business models and scale new services.

Oracle’s integrated cloud platform is intended to “significantly” reduce operational costs and energy consumption across its business.

Chris Figee, CFO (note) at KPN, said, “KPN is transforming its business to support our customers in this new world, and this requires us to simplify and consolidate our operations to become more agile, more adaptable, and more flexible in what is a continually shifting environment. We believe Oracle can support us in this transformation”.

Recent done deals

Earlier this month, Oracle teamed up with TIM and its cloud spin off Noovle to offer multi-cloud services for Italy’s enterprises and public sector organisations.

At the end of September, Telefonica España signed up Oracle in a multi-year deal to hasten its in-house cloud adoption and the development of new comms services for consumers and businesses.

Earlier in September, BT-owned UK mobile operator EE picked Oracle Communications to bring its 5G offerings to market faster.

 

Wi-Fi 6 set to lead in enterprise with 8.7mn access points shipped by 2023

Annie Turner
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0
Wi-Fi 6 set to lead in enterprise with 8.7mn access points shipped by 2023

ABI Research predicts enterprise Wi-Fi 6 access point shipments will rise from 4.3 million in 2021 to 13.4 million in 2026

Wi-Fi 6 is improving connectivity within the enterprise by connecting employees, guests, visitors, and customers securely, and increasing productivity and flexibility via a range of different devices.

Enterprise networks differ from home networks as they communicate greater levels of information, connect more devices and require higher levels of security.

Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research expects that Wi-Fi 6 will lead the enterprise Wi-Fi market in 2023 as Wi-Fi 6 enterprise access point shipments rise at a compound annual growth rate of 25% between 2021 and 2026.

Speed, capacity and performance

“The transition to Wi-Fi 6 is helping improve enterprise network speed, capacity, and performance by connecting larger numbers of simultaneous devices, reducing power consumption, and optimizing transition times. Wi-Fi 6 is vital for the enterprise,” says Stephanie Tomsett, Research Analyst at ABI Research.

Chipset vendors such as Broadcom, Celeno, Intel, MediaTek, NXP, On Semiconductor, and Qualcomm have developed enterprise Wi-Fi 6 networking solutions and support for various  verticals, from industrial manufacturing to hospitality, retail, government and healthcare.

It is expected that there will be rapid adoption in both Wi-Fi 6 enabled devices and infrastructure from a range of companies across the enterprise Wi-Fi market, providing improved connectivity via a variety of features.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) provides support for high-density deployments, enabling more efficient allocation of bandwidth to multiple users simultaneously.

This will also help reduce power consumption on these devices, ensuring that they receive high-quality connectivity without regularly searching for the required bandwidth.

Backwardly compatible

“Along with this, Target Wake Time (TWT) allows low-power devices within enterprises to communicate with the [access points] about the optimal wake times for data transmission, even in mesh networks, decreasing the amount of power used.

It is also backwardly compatible, providing support for older devices. WPA3 also helps to improve enterprise security, providing strong data protection, support for multiple users, and enables better mobility,” Tomsett explains.

To stay competitive, major players within the Wi-Fi market are supporting the push toward offering Wi-Fi 6 solutions for enterprise deployments.

Tomsett concludes, “Chipset vendors, networking product designers, and networking OEMs should all consider continually updating their offerings to introduce new protocols and conform to new standards, being aware of future updates, such as Wi-Fi 7, and how they can aid the market.”

These findings are from ABI Research’s Enterprise Wi-Fi Market Update application analysis report.

Bridge Alliance, TM Forum strive to simplify edge for global telecom industry

Annie Turner
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0
Bridge Alliance, TM Forum strive to simplify edge for global telecom industry

Collaboration intended to drive industry standards on Open APIs for multi-access edge computing (MEC)

Bridge Alliance, the mobile alliance covering 34 markets* and TM Forum, the industry association dedicated to digital transformation through collaboration whose members span 180 countries, have entered into a strategic partnership.

Their aim is to simplify the adoption of edge computing for global telecom companies, thereby accelerating digital transformation efforts and allowing them to capitalise on new business opportunities.

What the use of MEC?

MEC processes data closer to the where it is generated instead of sending it to the cloud for applications such as cloud gaming, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications.

Bridge Alliance and its member telecom operators* will adopt TM Forum’s Open APIs to deliver open, transparent and accessible MECs at scale. This plan is this will pave the way for interoperability and standardisation of MEC globally.

The operators could develop MEC to boost capabilities in areas such as location-based services and optimise content storage and distribution closer to their customers for faster response times.

The thinking is they will also be better positioned to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with hyperscalers.

Supporting programmes

Bridge Alliance is driving proofs of concept and live deployments of MEC services through its Federated Edge Hub which connects MEC platforms across its member operators.

This allows them to onboard their respective edge platforms and deliver on-demand edge computing services regionally to support their customers.

TM Forum is exploring the integration, interoperability, and service management challenges associated with MEC through its Open APIs and Catalyst rapid proof-of-concept programme.

TM Forum has more than 850 member companies – including all 10 of the world’s top 10 network and communications providers – that provide services and equipment across 180 countries.
 
* Bridge Alliance is a mobile alliance for premier operators and their customers in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Bridge Alliance’s members and partners include: Airtel (India, Sri Lanka and the Airtel subsidiaries in Africa: Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), AIS (Thailand), China Telecom (China), China Unicom (China), CSL Mobile (Hong Kong), CTM (Macau), Globe Telecom (Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), Metfone (Cambodia), MobiFone (Vietnam), Optus (Australia), Singtel (Singapore), SK Telecom (South Korea), stc (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait), SoftBank Corp. (Japan), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan), and Telkomsel (Indonesia).

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