NGMN Alliance tackles cloud-native architecture

The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance is launching new activities to support telcos in the adoption of cloud-native infrastructure.

The initiative will address hybrid cloud architecture challenges. The project has been highlighted by the group’s members as a crucial development area towards the successful deployment of 5G beyond 2020.

The NGMN Alliance says it aims to lead a “paradigm change in the network vision of the industry”.

“NGMN is proud to be leading the efforts to address and define the target architecture for the most relevant use cases for end-to-end automation and orchestration, made possible by this initiative,” said Dr Peter Meissner, CEO of the NGMN Alliance. “The qualitative effects of cloud-native will support telco service providers with value creation and sustainability.”

Alignment

The work will address requirements from operators relating to areas such as cloud-native infrastructure, hardware disaggregation, open interfaces, open platforms, edge computing and automation.



Andrea Calvi, TIM senior manager, project sponsor and member of the NGMN Alliance Board, said, “We’re delighted to be leading the way with 5G projects that will address and define the high-level target architecture for telco networks based on cloud-native infrastructure, open interfaces and open source adoption. This will open vendor ecosystems, reduce TCO [total cost of ownership] and gain flexibility.”



A statement noted that the NGMN Alliance recognises that several industry organisations are already working on various aspects relating to the cloud-native shift.

“This initiative aims to facilitate a close alignment, leading to the integration of results to form a common architectural view,” it said.