Evolved Packet Core (EPC) market revenue – driven by Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) demand — increased 142 percent in Q1 2018, according to Dell’Oro Group.
Ericsson is the number one telecom equipment vendor in the NFV EPC market in the first quarter of 2018.
Huawei is the second largest NFV EPC vendor.
Nokia is the third largest NFV EPC vendor.
Cisco is the fourth largest NFV EPC vendor.
ZTE is the fifth largest NFV EPC vendor.
Cloud-native NFV for EPC, which represented 19 percent of the revenues, is expected to accelerate to 37 percent in Q1 2019, representing 150 percent year on year growth.
U.S. service providers are spending on NFV fuelling the initial growth. China, Korea, Japan, Scandinavia, and the Middle East service providers will escalate deployments in the near-term future.
| Top Five NFV EPC Manufacturers in Q1 2018 | |
| Rank | Manufacturers |
| 1 | Ericsson |
| 2 | Huawei |
| 3 | Nokia |
| 4 | Cisco |
| 5 | ZTE |
“5G is the impetus to get the NFV market moving for wireless service providers,” said David Bolan, senior analyst at Dell’Oro Group.
The telecom research report said 5G networks need the NFV Cloud-Native architecture for the core to deliver micro-services and mobile edge computing for low-latency services aiming both retail customers and enterprises.
“Leading edge service providers are preparing their EPCs for 5G, especially since the 5G non-standalone networks will rely on them,” David Bolan said.
