At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014, Ericsson and Telefonica announced the launch of a joint R&D program in the areas of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and service provider Software Defined Networking (SDN).
Enrique Blanco, Telefonica Global CTO, says: “Network virtualization brings unique opportunities to address current and upcoming challenges while building a more sustainable network model.”
Announced at the MWC 2014, the Telefonica-Ericsson R&D program includes collaboration in deep-dive technical investigations and testing, addressing areas such as network transformation and migration, virtualization of network functions, network security, SDN technology as well as network virtualization infrastructure, management and orchestration.
The collaboration details the Telefonica network architecture and shapes the Ericsson portfolio of products and solutions.
Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson CTO, said: “A virtualized network will provide an open and distributed execution platform where nodes are capable of hosting distributed network functions. Through network virtualization the network of the future will support innovation and an improved user experience with new, tailored services and more efficient utilization of network resources.”