Telefónica and AWS Demonstrate 5G SA Core Deployment Over AWS Outposts in ViVo
This demonstration probes the optionality to deploy cloud native 5G platforms over a wide range of private and public infrastructure options
Sao Paulo, 28 May 2021 – Today Telefónica announced that it has validated AWS Outposts as an effective infrastructure option for Vivo Brazil to deploy the 5G Core technology required to offer standalone 5G services in its operations.
As part of its 5G and operational transformation programs, Telefónica is driving the introduction of 5G standalone (SA) cloud-native platforms across its major operating businesses in order to improve automation and drive new revenues. This milestone provides Telefônica Vivo with a potential path for rapidly building out its 5G network in the country and introduces new operational processes, such as Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and Continuous Testing (CI/CD/CT), improving software life cycle management through automation. It also sets in motion new use cases based on 5G access, such as drone control or remote maintenance management, among others.
Using cloud-native 5G Core software to build Telefónica’s 5G network would deliver agility, elasticity, and the ability to rapidly scale. It would also improve time to market.
Vivo took a multi-vendor approach collaborating with Mavenir, Nokia and Oracle, who provided the network functions of the 5G SA Core. The selection of network functions has been done to cover both control plane and user plane, testing afterwards both type of workloads. The cloud native capabilities of the 5G SA core have eased the onboarding and instantiation of virtual network functions over AWS infrastructure. The execution of these capabilities has demonstrated its correct functionality both in the AWS South America (São Paulo) Region and in Telefonica’s data centers (on-premises) via AWS Outposts. AWS Outposts is a fully managed service that offers the same AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools to virtually any on-premises facility.
The e2e system has been validated using key components of Telefónica CI/CD/CT architecture, in particular through the usage of test solutions from Spirent Communications, and support from Spirent regional partner Netmetrix. Running in both the AWS South America (São Paulo) Region and on AWS Outposts, Spirent’s Landslide Core Network Testing solution was able to verify both control plane functionality and high-load testing for user plane performance validation. As a result, Telefónica a has validated that AWS Outposts can be a viable option for 5G Core deployment going forward.
“Thanks to this project, Telefónica has reached a clear milestone in its 5G plans in Brazil and also for its deployment strategy in the group, where cloud native 5G platforms allow a wide range of private and public infrastructure options,” said Telefonica Cayetano Carbajo, Director of Core, Service Platforms and Transport in Telefónica CTIO.
“We are thrilled that Telefônica Vivo has validated AWS Outposts as one of their best options for deploying their 5G Core Network,” said Fabio Cerone, Managing Director, EMEA Telco, Amazon Web Services. “With the option to build their 5G Core on AWS, Telefónica is opening the door to leveraging AWS’s breadth and depth of cloud services across their on-premises locations. With AWS, Telefónica can fully automate their network and dynamically scale and allocate their 5G network capacity to meet the needs of their business and consumer customers.”
