SON Innovation: Elisa offers network automation solution for operators

Elisa offers a cloud-ready mobile network automation solution for telecommunication operators. Elisa SON, self-organising networks, will be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with Red Hat.

Elisa SON solution is designed to enable telecom operators to get the full potential of their network. The solution is based on closed loop automation and tailored algorithms that can double the user data throughput on the existing network. This generates increased network efficiency, as well as improved service quality and customer experience.

"Our automated network optimization solution offers operators both operating and capital expenditure savings. For example, in Elisa’s own network in Finland, the software actively monitors and tests the network, making more than two million tests and 2,000 changes on daily basis. Less resource-intensive manual work is required and the existing investments can be fully utilized," says Technology Director Kalle Lehtinen from Elisa.

With Elisa’s deep knowledge of telecom operations and software development, Elisa SON is built for telecom operators with their unique challenges in mind. According to Lehtinen, the main objective is to ensure and improve the network quality.

"Our software and algorithms are field-proven in Elisa’s own network. Therefore, Elisa SON’s automation use cases focus on issues that are the most relevant for operators. In addition, operators can create and develop their own optimization algorithms," Lehtinen says.

Elisa’s collaboration with Red Hat, a provider of open source software solutions, has helped the company to be more agile in developing, managing and launching Elisa SON.

"With Elisa’s approach offering unlimited data plans to subscribers, its networks carry a high volume of mobile data, meaning it has focused on optimising network performance and getting maximum value out of its existing equipment. Thanks to this drive, it has developed innovative SON capabilities. We are proud to collaborate closely with Elisa to deliver SON on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. Elisa’s deployment demonstrates the ability of Red Hat’s container technologies to support demanding network environments, helping enable customers to be more agile, more scalable and more innovative," said Santiago Madruga, head of Telco and ICT EMEA, Red Hat.

Elisa SON will be showcased at Red Hat’s demo pod in Hall 2, Stand 2G40, during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 26 February – 1 March 2018.