Release of 20.02.2015
- Telekom Austria Group is first mover in the industry with fully virtualized stack
- Series of NFV showcases as proof of successful execution of Group´s technology strategy
- Telekom Austria Group turns to vendors with innovative concepts
With Mobile World Congress right around the corner, it is no surprise the telecom industry is increasingly turning its attention to the deployment of Network Function Virtualization (NFV).
In a world first, Telekom Austria Group today announced that its Serbian subsidiary, Vip mobile, has successfully demonstrated the first fully virtualized stack in a commercial network. The showcase demonstration included virtualized EPC by Connectem, Metaswitch´s Project Clearwater, an open-source IMS core, and virtualized VoLTE AS by OpenCloud.
After having conducted a series of successful trials 2014 in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia showing vEPC, vIMS and vVOLTE solutions, the Group is now the first operator worldwide to demonstrate a fully virtualized stack in a live network.
Long Term Evolution (LTE) improves the mobile service experience with traditional voice and messaging services transforming into rich media services. Until recently, 4G/LTE networks allowed high speed data transfers while calls were automatically switched to the operators voice 2G or 3G network. With VoLTE, voice transmission is now possible via the operators 4G networks, bringing customers much higher voice and video HD quality, shorter call-setup time and calls while browsing Internet in parallel, including HD and ultra HD video streaming.
In previous trials, Telekom Austria Group looked in detail at virtualized network functions individually, however with this trial it has chosen to virtualize the entire core network production chain of a voice over LTE service.
Instead of being received and processed by dedicated hardware equipment with dedicated software running on it, the data will now terminate in a general purpose IT data center running Intel x86 hardware and virtualization services. On top of the virtualization services, software will be deployed that provides the necessary processing for the delivery of VoLTE in a virtualized environment.
Mobility and data session control are being handled by a virtualized Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution provided by the start-up company, Connectem Inc. This guarantees that a subscriber is being served by a mobile network and keeps its service up and running while being on the move.
A call control for setting up calls, negotiating media formats and terminating calls is handled by a virtualized IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) based on the Clearwater® solution from the company Metaswitch. The desired features of a phone system are provided by the virtualized VoLTE Application Server (AS) from the company OpenCloud. Both together ensure that customers can call one another and exchange information on a variety of media.
This is the first time that the entire core network stack is deployed virtualized, from the virtualized EPC through the virtualized and Open Source based IMS to the virtualized VoLTE Application Server. With its deployment in VIP mobile's commercial network, Telekom Austria Group proves that the technology is ready for prime time, an important puzzle piece for Telekom Austria Group considering that it is at the same time tendering the virtual EPC for deployment in its networks.
Guenther Ottendorfer, CTO Telekom Austria Group comments: "One of the major topics that will be wildly discussed at Mobile World Congress is Network Function Virtualization. Having already contributed a great deal of perspectives and developments regarding this trend, the Telekom Austria Group is amongst the first movers in the industry with our successful trials. NFV is a paradigm shift for the global Telecom industry but also shows that the game the industry is playing is only about to begin, with numerous innovations on the horizon which will further enhance the customer´s experience. NFV has signaled a new optimism within the industry, with the potential of offering huge opportunities to reengineer and optimize network infrastructure and deliver better service for our customers".
Dejan Kastelic, CTO Vip mobile, continues: "We are more than proud that Vip mobile achieved another successful NFV deployment. Being the youngest mobile operator and challenger in the market, we always seek new opportunities to reshape the innovation landscape both in the local and regional markets. In this way we are directly improving our customers' experience and expectation by introducing more efficient, cost-effective and energy saving solutions that enable faster time to market and flexible services delivery. Our dedication is to be the leader in providing new solutions to customers, vendors and local expert in the community by setting more advanced standards that will bring us closer to advanced European and world markets", emphasized Kastelic.
NFV will take a significant part of the spotlight at Mobile World Congress, thus Telekom Austria Group is proud to be a leader in this conversation. NFV allows for more efficient operating processes at lower carrier costs, as well as the ability to bring services to the market faster and thus to the customer. There will be a wide range of discussions and solutions around this trend which is a global paradigm shift of the whole industry.
For the showcase Telekom Austria Group has decided on Silicon Valley startup Connectem, and has also been working with UK based companies Metaswitch and OpenCloud.These players have very interesting concepts.
"Telekom Austria Group has emerged as a leader in telecoms transformation and their commitment to innovation has paved the way for new players such as Connectem," said Connectem CEO Nishi Kant. "We congratulate the Group on achieving a world first in running a complete set of mobile network functions on a sustainable and scalable NFV infrastructure. We are very pleased that our virtualized EPC is once again at the heart of a Telekom Austria Group NFV deployment."
"As a network software provider it´s great to see progressive operators like Telekom Austria Group making NFV a priority and moving towards a cloud-based, software-centric, all-IP network," says Paul Drew, SVP, Clearwater, Metaswitch Networks. "As more operators follow TAG's lead, we think the industry will realize more cost-effective, flexible, programmable, revenue-generating, intelligent and competitive networks."
"Working with trailblazers like Telekom Austria Group is exciting for telecom service-layer innovators like us." said Phillip Stubbs, CTO at OpenCloud, "Virtualised, open service layers provide a platform for sustainable and competitive innovation. Using cloud-based VoLTE gives operators the advantages of reduced cost and agility to deliver new services that are unique to them and valued by their customers".
Agile innovation and VoLTE virtualization using OpenCloud and Metaswitch products will be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress, Hall 5, Stand 5E30 11am and 3:30pm, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.
Notes to the Editors
NFV is an important development for the entire telecommunications industry and in accordance to the Group´s technology strategy, the Telekom Austria Group strives to become a leader in this area with several NFV trials already underway across the Group, emphasising infrastructure leadership as an important key for differentiation.