Affirmed Networks Unveils UnityCloud Bringing Together 5G, Webscale Technology

Affirmed Networks has unveiled the Affirmed UnityCloud™, a webscale, cloud-native 5G solution that allows mobile operators to seamlessly converge multiple networks into one unified network. The UnityCloud solution is currently engaged in several trials with tier one operators globally that are building 5G Standalone (SA) networks.

Affirmed UnityCloud significantly improves network economics by converging ‘Any G’, including 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and wireline core on to one unified core. This eliminates the need for operators to maintain parallel legacy networks dedicated to just one service.

Affirmed UnityCloud is an innovation platform that helps operators quickly create and deploy new consumer, enterprise and IoT services. Operators can deploy new services in weeks vs. months to rapidly respond to market demands and compete with competitors.

UnityCloud’s true microservice architecture enables automated fine-grained slicing so the solution can be tailored to the service. Operators can deploy services directly on enterprise premises when the use case demands, such as oil and gas and industrial automation.

With UnityCloud, operators build once and deploy services anywhere in the network – from the core to edge and on any public, private or hybrid cloud. Services that are latency or bandwidth sensitive can be hosted closer to the customer to minimize latency. Alternatively, services could be delivered from the public cloud for better network economics. This flexibility allows operators to deploy mission-critical services on enterprise premise or in their core.

Affirmed UnityCloud is built on four key pillars:

Innovation platform that enables operators to easily create and deploy new services with fine-grained network slicing for customized enterprise services
Automatic networks that instantiate, orchestrate and scale the network up or down with no human involvement, including closed-loop automation
Self-assured networks with observability to ensure minimal latency and maximum performance so Service Level Agreements are met
Non-stop networks that provide 6-nines of availability with no service interruptions, even when adding new features or performing software upgrades

Affirmed UnityCloud embraces open source technologies including Kubernetes, Istio, Envoy, Jaeger and others. Using open-source technology and best-of-breed solutions allows operators to eliminate vendor lock-in and take back control of their network so they can react quickly to market demands and compete more effectively.

A Focus on Continuous Innovation

Affirmed UnityCloud is an evolution of Affirmed’s Mobile Content Cloud (MCC), the leading virtualized 5G NSA solution that is currently deployed in more than 100 service provider networks worldwide. MCC continues to be a leading 5G NSA solution and offers service providers a diverse set of 5G services including consumer mobile, IoT, Wi-Fi and 5G broadband.

“A telecom transformation is underway. A new generation of networks is being built to connect 50+ billion devices, creating a multi-trillion dollar market opportunity,” said Hassan Ahmed, Chairman, and CEO, Affirmed Networks. “Affirmed is at the forefront of this transformation leading the Telecom industry by delivering on the promise of a new webscale, cloud-native services network. Working with the world’s top operators, we have gained the deployment and technical expertise required to develop solutions that will help their journey to 5G, from any starting point. In delivering Affirmed UnityCloud, we are enabling operators to aggressively capitalize on the opportunity to serve new markets and win the race to revenues.”