M1, Huawei partner to roll out Singapore’s first cloud-based virtual core network

Singapore's M1 Limited will be launching Singapore’s first cloud-based virtual Enhanced Packet Core (vEPC) network solution with Huawei, a global leading information and communications technology solutions provider.

This solution further enhances M1’s core network robustness and resiliency. It also enables dynamic and more efficient use of network resources to support wide-ranging Smart Nation use cases, and shortens the time to market in the deployment of new Internet-of-Things (IoT) services.

By harnessing the latest cloud-computing and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies, M1’s fully distributed and agile packet core network will be able to dynamically deploy core resources wherever they are needed, and provide flexibility to swiftly scale up and down resources based on customer demands. This will significantly improve network performance and enhance customer experience.

Furthermore, with software functions separated from the underlying hardware platforms, the cloud-based virtualised core network allows faster “in-service” software upgrades, as well as significantly reducing downtime for maintenance and testing of new services. Through this, M1 expects to improve its operational efficiency and strengthen network resiliency.

“M1 continues to be at the forefront of technology. The deployment of our agile cloud-based virtualised core network will strengthen our network resiliency and enable us to deploy our resources more efficiently. The highly scalable nature of the network will also enable us to meet the dynamic resources demands of new products, shorten the time-to-market innovative products, and enable us to reduce implementation and maintenance costs,” said Denis Seek, Chief Technical Officer, M1.

“Huawei is pleased to work with M1 to enable them to provide high-quality services in Singapore. Huawei is leading the cloud transformation strategy for operators´ business success. The launch of cloud core network is an important milestone in M1’s cloud strategy and a significant step in digital transformation. Huawei appreciates that M1 has entrusted us as a partner to build such a significant cloud core network for M1,” said Lei Hui, CEO, Huawei International.