Ericsson launches NFVi - the verified NFV infrastructure solution

Ericsson has launched its verified Network Functions Virtualization infrastructure (NFVi) solution with multivendor capabilities and a transformation service offering.

Ericsson's NFVi solution offering is based on a well-defined architecture, completely pre-integrated and verified platform consisting of hardware (Ericsson's Hyperscale Datacenter System 8000 (HDS 8000) and Blade Server Platform (BSP8000), Ericsson Cloud Execution Environment, Ericsson Cloud Manager, Ericsson Cloud SDN and consulting, system integration and support services. Modular in it design components can be substituted to accommodate service provider's needs.

Ericsson's portfolio is designed to deliver flexibility during Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) deployments. Coupled with a services offering, the solution supports a host of different deployment scenarios ranging from full decoupling of NFV components from different vendors to a full stack solution.

As the first incremental step in building the infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), NFVi supports a software defined infrastructure that provides increased speed, agility and efficiency when deploying new services.

Richard Schenk, Head of Network and Datacenter Development, Swisscom says "The advantage our customers will experience with Ericsson cloud and NFVi is that we can introduce new products. We will bring services which we do not know today, as in the IoT environment. We will also be able to configure services with network slices so that they fit exactly to the product that we have at this moment"

Susan James, Head of Product Line NFV Infrastructure, Ericsson, says: "Ericsson's NFVi solution is an important step on our journey to building the infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things. By offering a flexible, pre-integrated and verified open system platform, we can provide our customers with several different deployment options ranging all the way from full decoupling of NFV components to full stack solution deployment. This provides a shorter time to market, with increased speed, agility and efficiency for our customers deploying new services."

Ericsson has already announced various NFV contracts with a host of tier 1 operators around the world, including Telstra, Swisscom, Telefonica, Axiata, Digicel and SoftBank, and was the first vendor with live commercial deployments of NFV.