By Dejan Leskaroski

NEW DELHI: The fifth-generation mobile communications system (5G) realizes ultra-high speed, large capacity communication (eMBB: Enhanced Mobile Broadband), ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC), and massive simultaneous connection communication (mMTC: massive Machine Type Communication). 5G is expected to serve as a communication infrastructure not only for mobile communications but also for IoT in a wide range of industries. Today, a new, more flexible architectural foundation is required. A 5G network can interoperate and integrate with multiple vendors using various interfaces and standard communication methods. A Service-Based Architecture (SBA) and cloud-native infrastructure bring the flexibility to allow Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to pick the best vendors. They can choose the best vendor to provide specific network functions (NF) for 5G SA, reduce integration costs, and build a resilient network. Together with multiple vendors, the collaboration stimulates innovation, opens new avenues for revenue generation, and truly accelerates the development of an open 5G ecosystem.
 
This flexibility enables new business opportunities and gives CSPs the freedom to choose any vendor without being locked into a single vendor’s technology. But what does a multi-vendor environment, enabled by an SBA, mean for CSPs? Have a look:

1. Choose the best products and partnerships:

Collaborative vendors can spur innovation. But more partners require working together in a multi-vendor business environment. Gaining the revenue advantage of bringing new choices for customers also means building a more flexible ecosystem. An SBA brings the opportunity to pick the best offering for network functions (NF)s from the best vendors from each separate functional area. For example, the recent Mavenir whitepaper shows the possibility of choosing a packet core from one vendor, subscriber management from another, and policy management from a third. Using an SBA in the 5G network brings new network disaggregation and gives CSPs a greater choice in NF vendor selection and less reason to compromise.

2. Go to market faster:

Common communication standards speed up and streamline NF integrations from different vendors. Without an SBA, an incumbent software vendor can take several months or longer to integrate with a new vendor. Easier integration facilitates applications that enable a faster time to market. Using the common communication standards of SBA speeds up and streamlines NF integrations from different vendors. Vendors who provide a cloud-native solution with broader support for open APIs can integrate faster with third-party cloud applications that pave the way for easy and faster service creation. Being independent also means CSPs can run on non-proprietary hardware to lower costs and increase flexibility.

3. Build a resilient network that reacts quickly to change:

A highly available network is a priority for CSPs. For 5G, availability is even more important since the network will be used for critical services. A multi-vendor 5G core provides the operational capability to adapt and react to changes. Having a single-vendor own the most critical part of the network can actually be a risk.
 
4. Create new 5G SA services:

Using an SBA and the best independent vendors for each service type brings unique expertise and flexibility to create new services. A great example is how one pro golfer may choose to use Callaway clubs, wear Nike shoes, and hit balls by TaylorMade. Gaining the ability to select the best component allows CSPs to quickly deliver new features for NFs instead of relying on a single vendor’s proprietary, sometimes costly roadmap. Together with multiple, best-of-breed vendors, the collaboration stimulates innovation, opens new avenues for revenue generation, and truly accelerates the development of an open 5G ecosystem. Vendors who provide a cloud-native solution with broader support for open APIs can integrate better and faster with third-party cloud applications steering the way for easy service creation.

5. Reduce costs:

CSPs can leverage price competition when choosing the best partner and align to the CSPs’ specific technology and business needs. Additionally, service-based NFs can be directly deployed on bare metal hardware to reduce costs by allowing the use of non-proprietary COTS infrastructure.

The features of a 5G SA network eventually translate into network capabilities that can be exposed by the architecture as key enablers for 5G ecosystems. The partner environment can now use these new capabilities of programmability, reliability, scalability, and cost-effective resource consumption via standardized open APIs to define variable SLAs (using network slicing) for new business scenarios. Besides the flexibility to capture new markets and shorten launch cycles with an SBA, this framework also allows CSPs many unique advantages that translate into shorter go-to-market cycles, more network flexibility, and less dependence on a single vendor. This new ecosystem benefits CSPs by bringing new choices, specific vendor expertise, more competitive NF features, diverse service types, and reduced costs to the mobile network.  SBA brings the opportunity to enable a converged digital future by re-architecting mobile networks to become more open, cloud-native, and shift to a software paradigm that makes it easier to integrate, re-use, and re-configure networks.

(The author is the head of Product Management, Evolved Packet Core, and 5G Core at Mavenir. Views expressed are his own).