China Unicom NFV and SDN partnership with ZTE looks to build off template of ‘a decoupled and intensive network architecture’ based on user and data centers
ZTE recently announced a deal with China Unicom to cooperate on the development of software-defined networking and network functions virtualization technologies, with a goal of building on current SDN and NFV trends to bolster the telecom operator’s network.
China Unicom last year released its “New-Generation Network CUBE-Net 2.0” white paper, which included insight into “a decoupled and intensive network architecture” based on user and data centers. Based on those efforts, China Unicom and ZTE said they will cooperate using open source technology, application scenarios, product requirements, service applications and market development of SDN and NFV technologies. The work is expected to result in test verifications, proof-of-concepts and “commercial pilot office deployments, with eventual joint work on proposed draft standards and patent applications.”
“The partnership with ZTE should focus on China Unicom’s marketing and business development needs, and start from service innovation and technological innovation to establish a market-oriented innovation mechanism, and adopt open-source, iterative and other new [research and development] models,” said Chi Yongsheng, deputy director of the China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute.
China Unicom said its voice-over-LTE service project based in virtual evolved packet core and virtual IP multimedia subsystem architecture tied to NFV PoCs was successfully completed last October. That project was said to have verified the SDN and NFV-based end-to-end VoLTE service and used the network-as-a-service concept model touted by the telecom operator.
The company last year signed a $576 million deal with Alcatel-Lucent, which is now owned by Nokia Networks, to support the rollout of NFV, SDN and cloud technology. Rival China Telecom signed a similarly framed $727 million deal, while China Mobile was part of Huawei’s NFV lab launch early last year.
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