SK Telecom has announced the commercialization of a new NFV management and orchestration (NFV MANO) platform to accelerate the deployment of virtualized network equipment and software.
The new T-MANO platform provides integrated management of virtualized network components from any network provider.
NFV MANO is an architectural framework for managing and orchestrating virtualized network functions and other software components, as defined by the ETSI industry specification group.
With the new platform SK Telecom will eliminate the need to develop, build and operate separate NFV management platforms for each network equipment provider, and will be able to more efficiently utilize its virtualized network equipment by managing service quality and data traffic in an integrated manner.
The operator first plans to apply T-MANO to its virtualized VoLTE routers, before expanding its application to LTE EPC and additional equipment.
SK Telecom expects virtualized EPC to take up around 80% of all newly developed EPC this year, and from 2019 the company plans to only deploy virtualized EPC.
In addition, SK Telecom plans to open up the APIs for the platform to allow anyone to use it to build virtualized network equipment or software.
“With the commercialization of T-MANO, SK Telecom secures the basis for accelerating the application of NFV technologies to provide better services for customers,” SK Telecom SVP and head of infrastructure strategy office Choi Seung-won said.
“We will continue to develop NFV technologies and accumulate operational knowhow for virtualized networks to thoroughly prepare for the upcoming era of 5G.”