Ericsson and Telstra achieve container-based commercial Evolved Packet Core milestone

Ericsson and Australian communications service provider Telstra have deployed the industry’s first live cloud-native container-based Evolved Packet Core for 4G and 5G services. The achievement is a significant milestone in network orchestration and automation.

The cloud-native container-based Evolved Packet Core has been deployed in Telstra’s production Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVi), provided by Ericsson. It is fully integrated into Telstra’s mobile core network and is carrying live 4G and 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) traffic.

Telstra’s cloud-native Evolved Packet Core includes Ericsson Packet Core Controller and Ericsson Packet Core Gateway products. They support 4G and 5G Non-standalone (NSA) control and user plane functions in both a centralized configuration and edge-breakout configurations.

As part of this deployment, Ericsson’s Packet Core Controller is deployed as a cloud-native container-based Mobility Management Entity (MME) in an existing MME pool.

Both the Ericsson Packet Core Controller and Packet Core gateway are designed from the ground up to be fully cloud-native container-based solutions. They run on Ericsson’s Cloud Container Distribution (CCD) that is part of Ericsson’s NFVI solution or on other Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) aligned distributions.

Ericsson CCD provides container management and orchestration for the latest Ericsson cloud native applications. CCD can be run on bare metal or within a Virtual Machine in an OpenStack deployment.

Ericsson and Telstra have a long history of partnering in industry innovation. In May 2019 Telstra launched 5G commercial services using Ericsson solutions.  

This achievement is a key step in Telstra’s goal to build a web-scale core network and deliver the full power of 5G to consumers and enterprise customers. The containerization of core network functions will move communication service providers such as Telstra towards greater orchestration and automation of their networks. This in turn will help them to create and deliver new services such as enhanced mobile broadband, network slicing, mobile edge computing, mission critical vertical industry support and advanced enterprise services.

Containerized technologies are also designed to improve network resilience and software upgrade techniques to increase overall network availability for Telstra’s customers and services.

“Telstra and Ericsson are leading the mobile industry with this first container-based cloud-native Evolved Packet Core in Telstra’s production environment and carrying live traffic. This is an important step towards fundamentally changing the way both companies deploy and operate mobile core networks,” said Emilio Romeo, head of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand. “Core networks will become much more flexible and agile, allowing operators such as Telstra to quickly create and deploy compelling new services for their customers. This in turn helps operators build new revenues.”

“Through the T22 initiative, Telstra’s business is being transformed to improve service delivery and provide customers with enhanced experiences. To achieve this transformation, Telstra’s network needs to become more flexible and efficient, and cloud-native container-based applications such as Ericsson’s containerized Evolved Packet Core are a key element of this,” said Shailin Sehgal, product enablement technology executive, Telstra. “This is key to cost effectively scaling and automating our network and speeding up the delivery of innovative new services that are essential in a 5G world. We are pleased to be working with Ericsson to deliver innovation into our network that will assist Telstra maintain its industry leadership.”

Ericsson Spectrum Sharing milestone links up continents, 5G live networks and 5G devices

The move toward commercial Ericsson Spectrum Sharing continues to gather pace with a 5G smartphone from Chinese manufacturer OPPO now added to its 5G ecosystem and successfully tested with a transglobal 5G data call in live commercial 5G networks. 

Ecosystem industry players Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Inc., Swisscom, and Telstra also played vital roles in the achievement, which underlined the value of dynamic spectrum sharing to the industry.

The November 29 data-call-first connected Bern, Switzerland and Gold Coast, Australia, with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing deployed in Swisscom and Telstra’s commercial 5G networks at the respective sites. The call was achieved using spectrum sharing on a 3GPP Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) band. 

Pre-commercial 5G smartphones from OPPO, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System, were used on both ends of the call. OPPO is the first 5G device manufacturer to implement Ericsson Spectrum Sharing in its smartphones.  

The data call success validates the support for Ericsson Spectrum Sharing across its 5G ecosystem, from chipsets to 5G devices, and communication service providers’ network products and solutions. The strengthening of the ecosystem is also a step towards the commercial introduction of Ericsson Spectrum Sharing.

Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, part of Ericsson Radio System, is a complete dynamic spectrum sharing solution based on the 3GPP standard with additional intelligent scheduler algorithms. This allows the deployment of both 4G and 5G in the same band through a software upgrade, and dynamically allocates spectrum based on user demand. The switch between 4G and 5G carriers happens within milliseconds, minimizing spectrum wastage and enabling best user performance.

This Ericsson innovation will enable service providers to launch 5G services over a wide area and expand 5G coverage in a tailored way by re-using existing network infrastructure and taking advantage of previous spectrum investments. Communication service providers can therefore provide 5G commercial services and move towards standalone (SA) 5G without the need for blanket costly re-investment.

“This industry-first highlights the value that Ericsson Spectrum Sharing has to communication service providers as they roll-out and ramp-up 5G. With this milestone achieved with our 5G ecosystem partners OPPO, Qualcomm Technologies, and customers Swisscom and Telstra, we’ve shown that our unique solution will not only enable service providers to re-use their 4G spectrum assets for 5G but that it will also support all 5G devices,” said Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice president and head of networks, Ericsson. “It is the most economically feasible way to launch 5G on existing bands, enabling nationwide 5G coverage and helping make 5G accessible around the world.” 

“As a leading global tech company, OPPO proactively works to accelerate large-scale commercialization of 5G. Our cooperation with Ericsson, Qualcomm, Swisscom and Telstra to facilitate the commercial use of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology is part of the in-depth collaborations among the five companies in the 5G era,” said Andy Wu, vice president and president of software engineering business unit, OPPO. “The 5G smartphones that support this technology will provide more stable, seamless, and speedy connections, and hence a better user experience in the future.”

“Coverage is the next 5G killer app and this is another significant milestone and steps towards ubiquitous 5G coverage,” said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and vice president, Qualcomm EMEA. “Dynamic spectrum sharing will bring key benefits to operators and consumers globally and our second-generation Snapdragon X55 5G Modem RF System is a comprehensive solution designed to allow OEMs to rapidly develop global 5G multimode devices for a new era of connected experiences.”

“This latest collaboration of industry partners is paving the way for the faster rollout of 5G by using existing spectrum holdings to serve the needs of 4G and 5G customers in the same location at the same time,” said Channa Seneviratne, Network and Engineering Infrastructure Executive, Telstra. “This collective implementation is yet another innovative example of how 5G technology continues to advance in a rapid fashion, and at Telstra we are pleased to bring that latest technology to Australians first.”

Ericsson has achieved multiple 5G landmarks with all the partners involved in the latest achievement.

Swisscom, with Ericsson as its sole 5G vendor, was the first communications service provider in Europe to launch commercial 5G services in April 2019 on the 3.6 GHz band. Swisscom is targeting 90 percent population coverage by the end of this year.

Telstra, with Ericsson as a key network partner, went live with 5G commercial services and four 5G devices in May 2019 on the 3.6 GHz band. Telstra now offers six 5G devices, and has some 5G sites in 25 metro and regional cities around Australia, with another 10 cities to be added by 30 June 2020.