5G SA give CSPs the ability to test, deploy and scale new services at hyperscaler velocity, but the cloud-native design presents operational challenges
5G Standalone (SA) is very much a double-edged sword when it comes to network operations. Experts see 5G SA as, in some ways, simplifying from an operational perspective. But the addition of 5G SA to existing network topologies and infrastructures comes with challenges, workforce challenges that require broad culture changes within organizations.
“From a performance perspective, and an operational perspective, you get some simplification in how you can operate your network,” said Dean Brauer, VP of network and field operations for Verizon. “But the complication comes in because as you introduce 5G, we’re not just introducing a new frequency band … and with Standalone, you can start to slice your network.”
This adds up to huge challenges, especially for Tier 1 CSPs like Verizon.
Sinan Akkaya, Director of RAN Engineering at AT&T, cautioned that the days of “hundreds of engineers working behind the curtain” are long gone, and that especially as carriers approach 5G SA, they need to employ network automation tools to help operational functions more than ever.
5G SA give CSPs the ability to test, deploy and scale new services at hyperscaler velocity, but the cloud-native design presents operational challenges. That’s why so much of the discussion about going cloud-native ultimately circles back to the critical importance of the agile process that dominates cloud culture: DevOps.
The portmanteau combines developer and operations. DevOps emphasizes an interconnected and continuous process of software development, deployment, monitoring, testing and improvement. Practitioners refer to the concept of Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment, or CI/CD.
Stakeholders across the 5G SA spectrum see DevOps and the CI/CD process as essential. The telecom industry faces enormous workforce challenges in the race to deploy 5G SA, and they aren’t going away. That tight labor market is under increasing pressure as billions of dollars flood into the telecom marketplace globally to aid public sector digital transformation efforts, rural infrastructure initiatives and more.
Network operators, system integrators and subcontractors are competing heatedly for a limited workforce, while also seeking to keep deployment costs down. More is being asked of site technicians: not just experience with RF testing, but also the ability to test fiber and validate services as well.
Sandeep Sharma, VP and global head of Tech Mahindra’s 5G/RAN/ORAN portfolio, also points out that the workforce challenges extend well beyond site deployment. With the increase in virtualization and cloud as well as the emerging role of edge computing in 5G that changes the set of software skills and familiarity that is needed across the telco industry, Sharma said.
While the move to 5G SA provides some end-to-end simplification for network management, it doesn’t solve everything — Sharma pointed out that if you look at telco network based on their end-users, the type of 5G devices available, which bands they support and 5G device penetration still represent issues.
The continuity that underpins the DevOps process is highly dependent on, and integrated with, network automation. Acentury’s VP International Sales & Distribution David Woodcock provided some context.
“CI/CD bridges the gap between development and operation activities by using automation throughout the building, testing, and deployment processes,” Woodcock said. “CI/CD compiles the incremental changes made by developers, then links and packages them into deliverables. Automated tests verify the functionality, and automated deployment services deliver them to the end user.”
The goal, ultimately, is to increase productivity, hasten app development cycles, and to iron out code issues earlier in the development process, before the app is ever deployed.
Acentury’s “Mirror Lab” concept seeks to re-create live network conditions as realistically as possible, but network automation is the engine that enables everything else to work. The Mirror Lab relies heavily on orchestration and automation pieces, which take the repetition and drudgery out of testing and speed it at along. Network automation isn’t the only key to getting DevOps to help telcos work at scale, however.
“The practice really encompasses the entire app lifecycle,” said Woodcock. And when employed effectively, Woodcock said the payoff for organizations that embrace DevOps and CI/CD is dramatically improved overall productivity, and shorter time to market. Shorter cycle times between releases helps to snag defects in code much faster. But there’s a more practical benefit for the entire team, said Woodcock.
“The real advantage here is the close collaboration between development and operations. When people work together, it’s harder to screw up,” said Woodcock.
