Huawei, VIVA Bahrain Debut World’s First Hybrid Cloud Core Network

VIVA Bahrain, a fully owned subsidiary of the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC), has tested & deployed the world's first ATCA-NFV Hybrid Cloud Core Network with Huawei, as a further step in its vision towards advanced mobile network services technologies.

As early as 2016, Bahrain VIVA, a region's telecom leader, worked with Huawei to deploy a unified cloud platform which lays a solid foundation for the future of network development.

On one hand, with the rapid development of 4G network in these years, bearing 4G voice service over the IMS has become a consensus. On the other, VIVA’s traditional IMS and EPC network must keep up with the explosion in mobile data demand.

After meticulous evaluation to understand the unified cloud platform advantages, VIVA created the "One Cloud" core network construction plan, which overlays the existing Huawei's open and unified cloud platform with a cloud IMS and cloud EPC network without affecting live network services. Since service networks are hosted on a unified cloud infrastructure, resource utilization and O&M efficiency are improved and TTM is shortened. In addition, the addition of cloud IMS, cloud EPC worked in a hybrid pool with traditional ATCA platform to provide services simultaneously which meet the needs of the network growth and the investment continuity at the same time.

Bahrain VIVA has completed the launch of unified CloudIMS, CloudDRA, and CloudEPC and successfully pool with traditional network delivering superior user experience through smooth network deployment and service migration.

Commenting on the One Cloud project, Ulaiyan Al Wetaid, CEO of VIVA Bahrain said: “VIVA Bahrain has consistently been at the forefront of pushing latest technologies beyond just mere enhancements to approaching capabilities closer to 5G. Through this NFV Cloud achievement, we are laying the foundation for further milestones in preparation for the network slicing technology to serve the next generation network in 2020, along with our partner Huawei Technologies, where the achievement has been complemented by introducing a new business model that allows VIVA to accommodate the massive demand of data from its end users with smooth investment every year. VIVA Bahrain is committed to contributing to the Kingdom’s future vision by introducing the latest technologies and new immersive experiences to Bahrain’s community. We will continue to deliver new technologies, which is an essential basis for the premium mobile experience.”

“Network Function Virtualization offers efficient use of the core network infrastructure compared to other platforms, creating more space to provide agile network and services, and delivering a better network experience overall,” said Paul Fengnan, CEO of Huawei Bahrain, “The rapid and successful delivery of the world's first hybrid cloud core network is the best proof.”