Ericsson backs Telstra with full stack telecom cloud solution

BENGALURU: NASDAQ-listed telecommunication giant Ericsson has been chosen by Australian telecommunications operator Telstra to deploy a full stack telecom cloud solution, focusing initially on transforming the wireless network and providing a 5G-ready core for the operator.

Telstra says that with the installation of Ericsson’s cloud stack its customers will receive benefits such as reduced latency, tailored vertical network solutions and optimized distribution of key network capabilities. By committing to network virtualization and the deployment of Ericsson’s virtual network functions (VNFs) and cloud execution environment, Telstra will gain a flexible, agile and programmable network that can improve customer experience and support the development of compelling new customer services.

The solution will also enable networking slicing, which can be used to tailor solutions efficiently for enterprises. Enterprises in mining, public safety, agriculture, manufacturing, utilities and other industries can cost-effectively have their own network slice adapted to their business needs, which will assist in driving growth and productivity in their businesses.

The deployment of the Ericsson solution will provide Telstra’s network with a 5G-ready core and will help the network scale as Internet of Things (IoT) adoption increases. As 4G and 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) speeds increase to many gigabits per second and latency decreases, the core network needs to evolve from today’s relatively static, centralized architecture to an architecture that can elastically centralize some functions and distributes others to deliver flexibility, efficiency and low latency.

This 5G-ready core network architecture will be delivered on Ericsson’s solution for telecom cloud, based on the OPNFV reference architecture. The solution includes the following products: Ericsson VNFs such as virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) and virtual IP Multimedia System (vIMS); Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System 8000 based on Intel® Rack Scale Architecture; OpenStack-based virtualization layer (Ericsson Cloud Execution Environment); Hybrid network management system (Ericsson Network Manager); NFV orchestrator (Ericsson Cloud Manager); Ericsson Cloud SDN; and Ericsson Services SDN.

This new technology will assist Telstra’s operations teams in managing, orchestrating and automating network changes, as well as simplifying delivery, scaling and assurance of new services.

Ericsson and Telstra have also co-signed a telecom cloud collaboration agreement. The agreement confirms the joint commitment of the two companies to ongoing development of telecom cloud technology, and to defining and developing lead use cases for network virtualization, which demonstrates the business value of this solution both for Telstra and its customers.

Commenting on the partnership, Mike Wright, Managing Director, Networks, Telstra Group, said, “Our customers increasingly demand new network capabilities to help them grow their businesses and improve their productivity. Ericsson’s Telecom Cloud provides a 5G-ready core with a virtualized network which can better support new services such as 5G, network slicing and IoT that will be particularly important to our enterprise customers.”

Anders Lindblad, Head of Business Unit Cloud & IP, Ericsson, said, “We are very pleased that Telstra has chosen Ericsson’s 5G-ready core solution, which will position Telstra to be a leader in telecommunications network virtualization. Ericsson is committed to collaborating with Telstra as our lead customer for the full stack telecom cloud, and we trust their thought-leadership will help make our product better – to the benefit of all our customers.”