VMware is extending its Telco Cloud Platform from the core to now virtualize radio access network (RAN) functions based on an open RAN architecture.
VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN lets network operators deploy and run virtualized network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs) with support for Intel FlexRAN software reference architecture.
The platform consists of:
- VMware vSphere ESXi. Optimized for the deployment and management of virtualized and containerized RAN functions.
- VMware Tanzu for Telco. Takes VMware’s standards-compliant distribution of Kubernetes for container orchestration and enhances it with telco features. This delivers the scalability, performance, and availability that CSPs need in service.
- VMware Telco Cloud Automation. A cloud-first, vendor neutral way to orchestrate infrastructure, containers as a service (CaaS), and telco network functions and services. It also automates their management across any network and any cloud.
“5G is fueling rapid transition to virtualization and cloud-native technologies, and communications service providers are seeking network infrastructure solutions to help them quickly and efficiently get to market as well as capture the enormous opportunities in front of them,” said Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager, Network Platforms Group, Intel. “Our collaboration with VMware in this area began more than a year ago and bringing it to fruition with the VMware Telco Cloud Platform RAN will help our mutual customers achieve greater agility as they evolve their RAN to deliver new 5G and edge services.”
“A modern, open, and disaggregated RAN offers CSPs the single best opportunity to rapidly monetize 5G services,” said Sanjay Uppal, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider and Edge, VMware. “New 5G services rely on CSPs to be able to host apps at the edge, close to end customers. A virtualized and open RAN allows CSPs to deliver these new edge services to customers directly from RAN sites. With Telco Cloud Platform RAN, we accelerate the disaggregation of the proprietary RAN and enable CSPs to modernize their RAN so they can monetize the 5G services they deliver across their network.”
“Our entire 5G network will be cloud-native, and we will leverage the VMware Telco Cloud Platform to adopt an O-RAN architecture for all RAN sites,” said Marc Rouanne, executive vice president and chief network officer, DISH. “We are working with the best hardware and software providers and VMware is helping us achieve this vision. We believe this path will enable us to deliver amazing experiences and services to our customers faster and more efficiently.”
Additional partners cited by VMware include Altiostar, Mavenir, WWT, and Dell Technologies.
