At the Mobile World Congress 2014, Ericsson will bring Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) to an industrial scale with a full suite of virtualized network applications, combined with consulting and systems integration services.
As part of its NFV strategy, Ericsson is launching its virtual Evolved Packet Core. This development opens the way for new operator opportunities in the areas of M2M, enterprise and distributed cloud for rural mobile broadband. All these services use Ericsson Cloud System for efficient operations.
The telecom equipment vendor says virtualization enables fast time to market of new business solutions such as M2M, enterprise and distributed cloud MBB for fast growing markets. Its Evolved Packet Core solution provided in a virtualized mode will benefit operators’ transition to a network-enabled cloud, said Ericsson in a statement.
Recently, Dell’Oro Group said wireless packet core revenues will grow nearly 60 percent by 2018. The report said evolved packet core and network function virtualization systems are prompting telecom operators to make architectural choices. All growth during the period is expected to come from the Evolved Packet Core segment of the market.
Chris DePuy, vice president at Dell’Oro Group, said: “What makes this situation so interesting is that vendors are just beginning to offer Network Function Virtualization (NFV) based systems, and so new service provider deployments in APAC and EMEA are likely to become the most significant users of NFV.”
Over the next five years, the Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions will become the largest buyers of Evolved Packet Core (EPC) systems. Today, North America, APAC and EMEA have approximately the same installed base of EPC capacity.
“Based on open platform Ericsson Cloud System, the real-time networking capabilities of Ericsson Service Provider SDN and our Telecom Cloud Transformation service, we support operators’ next step to enable the networked society and provide innovative services,” said Jan Haglund, head of Product Area IP & Broadband at Ericsson.
