Martello completes initial phase of testing its SD-WAN offering on ENCQOR 5G

Martello Technologies announced this week that it has completed the initial phase of testing for its SD-WAN solution as part of a project with ENCQOR 5G, Canada’s initial pre-commercial fifth-generation (5G) wireless network for open innovation. 

Among the first SD-WAN vendors in Canada to initiate a project on the ENCQOR 5G testbed, Martello aims to demonstrate that its SD-WAN solution can deliver stable and predictable handling of unified communications (UC) and other real-time IoT traffic on 5G networks.

Launched in March last year, ENCQOR 5G is funded by the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund, along with the Governments of Quebec and Ontario as well as leading industry players Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, CGI and IBM. ENCQOR 5G is coordinated by Innovation ENCQOR, and delivered in Ontario by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and in Quebec by Innovation ENCQOR, CEFRIO and Prompt.

ENCQOR 5G brings together SMEs, industry, government, researchers and academia in both Quebec and Ontario to collaborate on the commercialization of disruptive products, processes, and services, providing a first-to-market advantage and to improve the ability of SMEs to scale.

According to Gartner, in 2020, worldwide 5G wireless network infrastructure revenue will reach $4.2 billion, an 89% increase from 2019 revenue of $2.2 billion1. The enterprise will increasingly become the focus of 5G services, expanding into new real-time and mobile IoT applications such as autonomous vehicles, remote healthcare, the mobile office, and agriculture and retail sector applications.

The project with ENCQOR 5G underpins current Martello projects and the development of new solutions, while fostering collaboration with companies within the alliance. Following on Martello’s successful mobile SD-WAN for autonomous vehicles proof of concept with BlackBerry QNX in May 2019, the project with ENCQOR 5G leverages the Company’s leadership and unique expertise in network connectivity for real-time and mobile IoT applications.

In the initial phase of the project, Martello has demonstrated compatibility with LTE-A, a precursor to 5G; in later phases, Martello will test UC traffic specifically, over LTE-A and 5G.

Martello’s SD-WAN and link balancing technology provides network connectivity in challenging environments, including in developing regions with a limited telecom infrastructure. With 5G emerging as the next generation network, Martello is future-proofing its SD-WAN solution to ensure that challenging mobile IoT applications on 5G networks, such as autonomous vehicles and the distributed, mobile office, stay seamlessly connected to mobile networks.

“Through our work with the ENCQOR 5G testbed, we have an opportunity to engage with many of the world’s top technology players, from Ericsson to CGI, in accelerating Canadian innovation in 5G,” said John Proctor, president and CEO of Martello. “ENCQOR 5G is central to Martello’s strategy, giving us the ability to integrate solutions at the earliest points in the development cycle and demonstrate Martello’s 5G readiness.”

“Martello is leading SD-WAN innovation on 5G networks with ENCQOR 5G,” said Claudia Krywiak, president and CEO, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), the coordinating member of ENCQOR 5G for Ontario. “Businesses like Martello are paving the way to Canada’s 5G future, with the support of private industry, federal and provincial governments.”

Ryanair chooses Vodafone Business to bring about digital transformation in its connected infrastructure

Ryanair has chosen Vodafone Business as its technology communications partner in Europe in a seven-year agreement that builds on an existing relationship and focuses on the experience of Ryanair’s customers in reaching their destinations on time. 

The outcome-driven agreement provides services that touch every point of the Ryanair passenger journey, driving continuous innovation to deliver digital transformation, business growth and operational efficiencies. 

Under the agreement, Vodafone Business will transform Ryanair’s information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure using every part of Vodafone Business’ solutions - including cloud, unified communications, software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), Internet of Things (IoT) and security services.

SD-WAN allows businesses to connect over Public, Private networks and the Cloud; and intelligently orchestrates that connectivity over the best available transport mechanism in the network, whether through multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), internet, mobile or a combination of all three – enabling the ten-day turnaround for site connection.

Once set up, SD- WAN allows customers to view and control their network traffic so they can adjust resources and route connectivity to different parts of their organisation on demand. It also provides businesses with inbuilt analytics to help the network respond faster to needs and anticipate demand.

Vodafone Business will support 300 Ryanair sites and some 153 million passengers across 40 countries, meaning that up to 95 percent of Ryanair’s telecoms will be managed directly by Vodafone Business. This includes the hosting of its core infrastructure that maintains Ryanair’s core business processes from online booking, passenger boarding and in-flight transactions, to training centres, offices and data centers.

Airlines, like any other business, are under pressure to respond to fast-changing customer demands and putting the right technology in place today allows any organisation to be future ready. Vodafone Business Connected Airport allows Ryanair to connect a new airport or site in just 10 days, giving them the ability to adapt quickly and provide new options for their customers. 

Having the right technology in place also supports the fast turnaround of planes, which is an important factor in an airline’s profitability. Ryanair currently has 20,000 global IoT connections with Vodafone Business used by their aircrew to connect their tablets and handheld devices.

“We’re delighted to build on our existing relationship with Ryanair, continuing as their trusted technology partner in helping them to grow their business,” said Vinod Kumar, CEO, Vodafone Business. “Airline passengers will demand even more in the coming years, and we will work alongside Ryanair to help them prepare for the future using our full portfolio of products and services.”

“Over the last 30 years, Ryanair has revolutionised and democratised air travel for European citizens, growing to become Europe’s largest airline with the widest route network, connecting more than 20 destinations in 40 countries on the lowest fares,” said John Hurley, chief technology officer, Ryanair.