What’s up with… VMware, Red Hat, ONF’s Open RAN demo

• VMware unveils cloud RAN platform
• Red Hat boasts its Telco credentials
• ONF claims Open RAN automation first

Virtual and Open RAN developments from VMware and multiple telco cloud-oriented announcements from Red Hat lead today’s news charge. 

VMware has launched Telco Cloud Platform RAN, an extension of the vendor’s existing Telco Cloud Platform designed to help network operators virtualize their radio access network elements and implement an Open RAN architecture. It helps operators virtualize RAN functions on a platform specifically optimized for the radio access network and with support for the Intel FlexRAN software reference architecture, according to VMware. The platform has been developed as a result of VMware’s experience in helping Dish Network to deploy its Open RAN 5G network in the US. “Our entire 5G network will be cloud-native, and we will leverage the VMware Telco Cloud Platform to adopt an O-RAN architecture for all RAN sites,” said Marc Rouanne, Chief Network Officer at Dish. “We are working with the best hardware and software providers and VMware is helping us achieve this vision. We believe this path will enable us to deliver amazing experiences and services to our customers faster and more efficiently.” For further details, see this announcement.

Red Hat has been boasting of multiple telco engagements during the early stages of its Red Hat Summit event, including its involvement in an NFV deployment at Belgian national operator Proximus, a Kubernetes-based digital entertainment platform rollout at Telecom Argentina, and online shopping and digital healthcare platform deployments at HKT. In addition, Turkcell has built its new artificial intelligence (AI) services architecture and application hub on Red Hat OpenShift. And to further support the ongoing needs of telcos, Red Hat has reportedly teamed up with Dell to develop a Reference Architecture for Telecom that Dell has used to develop its MEC (Multi-Access Edge Computing) platform offering. Read more.

Back to Open RAN… The Open Networking Foundation (ONF), AirHop, Facebook and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) have achieved what they say is the “first multi-vendor, radio access network (RAN) automation demonstration, consistent with the O-RAN architecture, to provide operators with supplier flexibility for network optimization.” As part of the ONF’s SD-RAN project, which was launched in August 2020, the joint collaboration “supports a broad range of automation services in the form of software services, called xApps by O-RAN, that run on the RAN intelligent controller (RIC).” Read more.

Edge-as-a-Service (EaaS) specialist Section has raised $12 million in Series B funding. The round was led by network operator Lumen Technologies (formerly CenturyLink), which is now focused on providing edge-based services to enterprise customers. "Section has been a key Lumen technology partner around Edge application delivery on the Lumen Platform," said Paul Savill, Lumen’s senior vice president, enterprise product management and services. "Lumen and Section share a common vision that compute can and should be dynamically available anywhere digital interactions occur. We look forward to continued work together to deliver solutions that drive secure digital experiences at the Edge." Read more.

Livia Rosu, who has 22 years of telecoms standardization and silicon development experience, has been appointed as the new President of the HomeGrid Forum. She will lead global efforts to ensure G.hn devices meet the needs and expectations of various industries and usages and “continue the move for G.hn technology to become a critical component of a widening portfolio of devices and use cases, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Connected Cars, Light Communications (Li-Fi) and Smart Grids.” Read more.

Vehicle leasing giant ALD Automotive, which has a presence in 43 countries and is the leading provider in Europe, has chosen Telefónica Tech and Geotab as its preferred partners to develop its connected car solution. ALD Automotive plans to deploy the solution in Europe and Latin America starting with 12 countries in 2021. Read more.