FEATURE: SDN
Virtualising the
telecom business
Rapid advances in the virtualisation of networks is
driving agility in telecom service providers, paving
the way for new use cases. By Arun Shankar.
S
oftware defined networking,
network function
virtualisation and virtual
network functions, represent a
revolutionary way of configuring,
deploying, and maintaining
networks. It also greatly
reduces the complexity and
time-to-market associated with
introducing new services.
Planet, that provides a software
suite helping network operators
with integrated network
intelligence within an open and
programmable architecture to
help simplify operations of
virtualised networks.
Collectively they present service
providers with an opportunity
to implement a more
programmable and customer-
centric infrastructure, where
the network easily adapts to
dynamic customer needs and
requirements. "Our solutions effectively break
down the silos once and for all
enabling an open, software-
defined, multi-vendor network.
This effectively reduces vendor
lock-in and simplifies the end-to-
end creation, automation, and
orchestration of services across
an organisation’s networks,"
explains Ravi Mali, Regional
Director Middle East at Ciena.
One example is global
networking vendor Ciena’s Blue In the Middle East region, most
telecom service providers that
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are planning to virtualise and
automate their networks have
built specific verticals to launch
new services such as, enterprise
and SME services, residential
services and wholesale services.
Each of these verticals may
use the same physical network
resources, however the virtual
services use a different mix of
virtual network functions to
target specific functionality and
price points.
Mali stresses that one of the
concerns that often arises is
that such virtualised network
service delivery models are
more complex than traditional
hardware-based networks. While
part of the overall complexity
is tied to the number of new
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