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1. Introduction and Purpose of this white paper
The New Era of Global digital transformation which will be primarily enabled by use of futuristic 5G technology combined with new software architectures like Network Dis-aggregation , Edge , Open RAN networks etc is upon us . As many CSP's around the globe rolled out first phase of 5G networks and gained early experience with both Network/Infrastructure and service requirements we can certainly say that 5G is real Now .However to evolve 5G networks from its state today to future where it will really deliver its promises operators has to think out of box to define a disruptive yet standard delivery models that will support not only cost effective rollout of this technology but also enable to introduce any new future services for both Telco and Enterprise verticals in an efficient manner .
In addition to 5G technology itself there are some other supplementary technologies which are optimally enabled using 5G like Edge computing , Open RAN and 3rd part vertical applications . Principally 5G embrace the New Software architectures (Microservies , SBA , CNF's etc however to fully make use of these architectures and to avoid any sort of Silo and vendor lockin it is very important that we build these networks with an Open mindset that can scale and evolve in a manner similar to cloud providers . It will not only enable future growth but also open roads to define new business models which are primarily data driven and make extensive use of New concepts like Machine Learning (ML) , Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Open data platforms .
As 5G technology specially based on SBA architectures is quite new and only a handful of vendors has right set of tools and capabilities to deliver them , so it is quite natural that CSP's are adopting different deployment models and adoption journey of 5G which can be depicted below and can be divided in two categories
- Proprietary or Vendor Define Reference Architectures
- Open Source based Platforms that can deliver full CI/CD and Data Driven operations over time
The choice for delivery options depends on many factors and strongly driven by where currently the Operator is on its Cloud transformation journey . The main factors as follows
- Select Open software vs Forked disguised in Service/Support wrap
- Reliance on vendor turnkey vs community or SI partner
- Management buying and preference on vendor reliance
- Pace of technology
- Cost efficiency
//Saad (STC) Saad Ullah Sheikh
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