Lead: Ericsson is announcing four new additions to its 5G platform - enhancing user experience, cutting complexity and costs, allowing faster service deployment and automated provisioning.
To leverage the full benefits of 5G and cloud native investments, orchestration and automation are now a critical matter of business for. Ericsson’s 5G platform is now being strengthened with new solutions that enable smarter business.
The latest enhancements include:
• Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G core with built-in software probes and Ericsson Cloud Native Infrastructure, enabling service providers to reduce TCO and complexity while deploying a 5G Core network.
• enhanced capabilities for business communication, the Ericsson Communication Accelerator for fast delivery of advanced mobile business communication services to the market.
David Bjore, Head of R&D and Portfolio, Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “Through our core networks, service providers can get to market faster and can capitalize on new services, through leading consumer and enterprise communication and monetization solutions, enabling them to stay ahead in the race for 5G business, today and tomorrow.”
As we move into 5G, the mobile network will have to support a much broader range of services and data volumes than ever before, with increased levels of intelligence, and automation. The Ericsson 5G platform is the complete portfolio required to provide a smooth network evolution and deployment of 5G end-customer experience.
Securing 5G experience with software probes
The journey to 5G Core makes probing more important than ever but the traditional approach to data collection is not sustainable in 5G Core. It needs to be far more cost efficient and with Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core, built-in software probes enables radical TCO reductions. Also the transparent and secure interfaces in 5G core will keep sensitive data secured. Finally, with Ericsson’s solution, pre-integrated Expert Analytics for 5G allows for superior experience, accelerates 5G adoption and correlated end-to-end insights are extendable to RAN.
Anil Rao, Principal Analyst, Analysys Mason, says: “The traditional appliance-based probes technology and the associated CEM approaches are not fit for purpose to guarantee customer experiences in cloud-based 5G networks. Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core with built-in software probes, pre-integrated with Ericsson Expert Analytics’ intelligence, enables CSPs to deliver superior 5G customer experiences and accelerate 5G roll-out.”
5G Core leveraging new Cloud Native Infrastructure
Ericsson is introducing containers on a bare metal cloud infrastructure solution to better support the deployment of cloud native applications, such as 5G Core. Ericsson Cloud Native Infrastructure radically simplifies the infrastructure for automated deployments across central and edge sites. TCO savings can be as high as 30% or more, compared to using virtual machines. By eliminating the virtualization layer from the cloud infrastructure, complexity is reduced, and service providers benefit from improved hardware efficiency and performance.
Caroline Chappell, Research Director Analysys Mason, says: “Optimizing cloud infrastructure for cloud native applications will be foundational in 5G. A bare metal container infrastructure makes network deployments and operations simpler and automation easier as well as enhancing cloud native function (CNF) performance. The announcement of a bare metal solution is an important contribution to further progress telecom operators’ implementations of cloud native applications.”
Growing top line with Ericsson Communication Accelerator
Ericsson Communication Accelerator speeds up the delivery of advanced mobile business communication services to the market.
Ericsson Communication Accelerator offerings to service providers consists of cloud-based micro services to be combined in different use cases utilizing a service provider’s existing network assets. The solution is delivered as-a-service for scale and reduced time to market, as well as for security and quality of service control.
New service opportunities include:
• Enterprise Voice services: combining traditional business voice services with innovative features to enhance your offerings
• IoT Voice services: providing automated, central management of IoT voice services
• Contextual Communication services: easy integration with advanced communication and collaboration services into any website or application
Diane Myers, Senior Research Director, VoIP, UC and IMS Technology, IHS Markit says: “Cloud communications services for business users have been the playground for pure-play UCaaS and CPaaS providers. It is time for mobile operators to accelerate their business communication offerings to the market. An initial focus on the microbusiness segment is a good steppingstone for expansion and growth in the business segment.”
Together with the recently launched and fully-automated eSIM offering, the Communication Accelerator enhances Ericsson’s 5G platform to drive communication service providers’ topline and an improved consumer experience.
A recent report from Ericsson ConsumerLab shows strong consumer demand for eSIM services, with 94 percent of respondents willing to pay extra to connect more devices to their current subscription plan, and 86 percent hoping for “try and buy” offerings.
