What’s up with... Deutsche Telekom & ONF, Google Cloud, DISH & Spirent

• DT and the ONF unveil SD-RAN Open RAN trial with ‘Open RIC’
• Google Cloud launches its Distributed Cloud
• DISH turns to Spirent for 5G core testing and validation

Two major developments in next-gen wide area network communications networking architectures, one from Deutsche Telekom and the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) and the other from Google Cloud, lead the way in today’s race for the industry news finishing line. 

Deutsche Telekom and the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) have launched the SD-RAN Berlin Trial, “the first field trial implementing fully disaggregated Open RAN solutions using ONF’s RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) software platform as defined by the O-RAN architecture,” the partners announced. The trial, which is for 4G and 5G Standalone deployments, is up and running at DT’s campus in Berlin. The SD-RAN trial hosted by DT highlights the promise and flexibility of open RAN by integrating components from eight companies: AirHop, Edgecore, Facebook, Foxconn, Intel, Radisys, Supermicro and Wiwynn. Additionally, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) is participating by providing hardware and facilities out of the TIP Community Lab in Berlin that is hosted by DT. The on-site field trial integration and testing is being coordinated and supported by Highstreet Technologies. Read more.

Google Cloud has ramped up its proposition for the telecoms sector with the launch of Google Distributed Cloud, a “portfolio of solutions consisting of hardware and software that extend our infrastructure to the edge and into your data centres.” Yes, your data centres... Google Distributed Cloud, which is based on Anthos (the multi-cloud platform already gaining traction with telcos and their enterprise customers), can run at Google’s network edge (140+ locations), the network operator edge, the customer/enterprise edge and customer data centres. To find out more about the two new specific services being launched using this platform – Google Distributed Cloud Edge (for 5G and edge use cases) and Google Distributed Cloud Hosted – and the roll call of partners and customers (Cisco, Dell, Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, NVIDIA, T-Systems and more) already part of this development, see this announcement from Google Cloud. 

DISH Network, which is still building up to the launch of its Open RAN-based 5G network and service launch, has chosen Spirent Communications to “autonomously test its 5G network core and validate its performance.” This, apparently, will “allow DISH to continuously integrate functionality into its 5G network and rapidly deliver leading-edge solutions to both retail and enterprise customers.” Read more.

Following the recent launch of its on-premises private cloud platform MX Industrial Edge, Nokia is boasting 100 Gbit/s throughput on a single server during a trial conducted with Intel. The trial “demonstrated that the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (NDAC) and MX Industrial Edge systems are not only ready for high bandwidth 5G private wireless deployments, but also have the capacity for processing of Industry 4.0 use cases running on the edge at scale,” noted the vendor in this announcement. 

Nokia has also bolstered its MX Industrial Edge proposition by announcing a number of partner applications that run on the platform. 

The Council of State in France has rejected appeals made by two environmental associations and a number of citizens against the award of 5G spectrum in 2020 by regulator ARCEP, which notes in this announcement that the ruling “validates the procedure for allocating frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band and the authorizations issued in this band to the four metropolitan mobile operators. It therefore closes all disputes relating to said procedure.”

- The staff, TelecomTV