Software: CenturyLink to sponsor NFV demo; Alcatel-Lucent expands NFV program

Software is becoming an increasingly important part of telecommunication networks and deployments as both wired and wireless carriers look to add functionality to operations while increasing simplicity and reducing costs. RCR Wireless News is keeping an eye on recent developments through its weekly “Software” wrap up.
–Regional telecommunications operator CenturyLink is set to sponsor a public demonstration of a network function virtualization demonstration supported by four software providers at next week’s Big Telecom Event in Chicago.
The NFV demonstration will include Cyan, RAD, Fortinet and Certes Networks working together on a European Telecommunications Standards Institute NFV ISG-approved multi-vendor proof-of-concept. The demo is based on RAD’s dedicated customer-edge distributed NFV equipment running Fortinet’s Next Generation Firewall and Certes Networks’ virtual encryption/decryption engine as Virtual Network Functions with Cyan’s Blue Planet system orchestrating the entire ecosystem.
CenturyLink said its sponsorship of the demonstration supports its managed services strategy “by providing a platform for developing unique NFV-enhanced network services and bringing desired functionality directly to the customer premises.”
–Kuwaiti mobile operator Zain signed a deal with IBM to use the company’s social software in an attempt to offer a more personalized experience to Zain’s 2.5 million customers.
IBM said the deal will allow Zain customers to interact with the carrier’s services team, “from participating in Zain’s online communities, to locating the right subject matter expert and sharing feedback about products and services.” The software is part of IBM’s Customer Experience Suite.
–United Kingdom-based wireless operator EE said it had selected Hybris’ Commerce Suite and Telco Accelerator products to bolster its commerce services.
The deal calls for EE to use the Telco Accelerator platform that comes with the Commerce Suite to help launch a “fully functional commerce experience for customers,” and digitize its core business in order to expand it into new customer channels and product categories.
—Alcatel-Lucent said it has recently added 19 companies to its CloudBand Ecosystem Program, which it claims is an open community for vendors and service providers developing NFV solutions. The program now includes 36 organizations.
The latest companies added include 6Wind, Cellwize, ConteXtream, EXFO, Fusion io, IPgallery, JDSU, Netrounds, Peer App,Procera, PT Inovacao e Sistema/PT Innovation and Systems, Qosmos, Radcom, Red Hat, Saisei Networks, Sonusnet, Tieto, VArmour and VMware.
Alcatel-Lucent late last year opened up the program to a broader number of partners, including initial members Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Citrix, Intel, Vyatta, Radware, Red Hat, Hewlett-Packard, Gigaspaces, StackIQ, Inktank and Nominum. Alcatel-Lucent’s software-defined networking-focused venture Nuage Networks is also part of the program partner line up.
A number of large equipment vendors have recently begun to target such software programs in an attempt to deepen their reach into the growing market. Ericsson earlier this year announced plans to launch a new lab in support of the OpenDaylight Project community, which is looking to propel the development, testing and verification of software defined networking services.
Make sure to check out the latest in telecom related software news at RCR Wireless News’ dedicated software page. Also, if you have telecom software news to share, please send it along to: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
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