If you like the idea of somehow creating a union between CORD and ECOMP then the next obvious question is just where that union has to start. The answer, in my view, isn’t in a place where both architectures contribute something that could be united, but where neither does enough and external unionizing forces are…
Some Specific Recommendations on Boosting the Role of NFV in the Carrier Cloud
In the last several blogs I developed the theme of making NFV relevant and exploring the relationship between the drivers of “carrier cloud”. One point that I raised, but without numerical detail, is the contribution that NFV would actually make to carrier cloud. If you look at the model results, there’s a firm connection with…
The Evolution of the Carrier Cloud
The concept of carrier cloud has taken some hits over the last months. Media coverage for network functions virtualization (NFV) shows a significant negative shift in the attitude of operators over the progress of NFV. Verizon sold off the cloud business it purchased, and is now reported to be selling off its cloud computing business. …
How Can SDN and NFV Prove Their 5G Relevance?
I said in a number of blogs last week that 5G wasn’t an automatic savior for SDN and NFV. It’s not that neither concept could support 5G, or even that 5G wouldn’t be better if SDN and NFV were incorporated. There are instead two critical truths to deal with. First, there isn’t anything currently in…
Could 5G Promote SDN and NFV?
Continuing on my recent theme of 5G assessment, I want to look today at the relationship between 5G, SDN, and NFV. Because 5G evolution is considered a given in the industry, many vendors in the SDN and NFV space have been eager to link their wares to 5G as a means of insuring they’re not…
What Do the Operator CFO Organizations Think About 5G?
We have all heard about 5G at this point, mostly through the heady “you’ll-love-it” pieces that have been done. Not surprisingly, most of these tout features that are either never going to happen (some of the speed claims are for point-to-point millimeter-wave applications only, not for mobile users) or are still in a state of…
Is the Huawei Win at Telefonica Decisive for NFV and Equipment Competitors?
The announcement that Telefonica has turned to Huawei for its virtual EPC is certainly of major significance. Huawei is the only major telecom vendor who’s managed to gain significantly in revenue over the last several years, largely due to its price-leader status. Competitors like Cisco, Ericsson, and Nokia have hoped to wrestle away some market…
Is the Huawei Win at Telefonica Decisive for NFV and Equipment Competitors?
The announcement that Telefonica has turned to Huawei for its virtual EPC is certainly of major significance. Huawei is the only major telecom vendor who’s managed to gain significantly in revenue over the last several years, largely due to its price-leader status. Competitors like Cisco, Ericsson, and Nokia have hoped to wrestle away some market…
Does the Cisco AppDynamics Deal Mean Anything Important?
Cisco announced it was buying AppDynamics, an application performance monitoring (APM) company, snatching (literally) the company from an IPO that was already oversubscribed. The price tag, $3.7 billion, raised a lot of eyebrows in the financial community. Most agree that Cisco (like everyone in the IT space) needs to get more software-centric, but the question…
Interpreting Some New Data on Video Consumption
I did a blog earlier about the impact of smartphones on the mobile opportunity and also the way the devices have changed our culture, particularly for the young. Nielson has released some interesting data on video behavior that relates to smartphone and online video use, and I want to recap what the report shows. There’s…