Deutsche Telekom deploys converged packet core to boost enterprise 5G

Leading German operator Deutsche Telekom has been undertaking a major drive to enhance the quality of its services and, as part of the mobile element of this programme, has worked with Mavenir for the successful delivery and deployment of a cloud-native 5G core to its network in Germany.

The converged packet core supports data, voice and messaging services, and network slicing. The initial network slicing use case is focused on live video broadcasting. The video industry is a key market for operators such as Deutsche Telekom. Customers want choice in how they interact with content and full control over what they watch and when, meaning reliable over-the-top and mobile services with guaranteed quality are a necessity.

The deployment is the first completed in Germany since Mavenir was selected as one of the preferred Converged Packet Core suppliers for Deutsche Telekom Group, supplying software applications to run on the telco’s defined hardware and the existing Kubernetes-based platform of its German business, ensuring an open architecture approach. As part of the deployment process, the Converged Packet Core was integrated with Deutsche Telekom’s existing multi-vendor access network and other system components.

“The deployment of a cloud-native standalone (SA) core marks a key milestone in the evolution of our 5G architecture,” said Deutsche Telekom Group chief technology officer Abdurazak Mudesir. “This sets us on a path towards a fully automated network with the reliability, massive scale and flexibility required to deliver innovative 5G SA services to our consumer and enterprise customers.”

The Mavenir solution is based on automated software delivery and network upgrades, and the converged architecture supports 4G, 5G non-standalone (NSA) and 5G standalone (SA) modes, and enables all access technologies to run on a common cloud-native platform by Deutsche Telekom.

This is said to allow new Converged Packet Core services, with all the required network functions, to be deployed in minutes by using the automation framework of Deutsche Telekom. It is largely self-updating for the lifecycle of each application. The platform can automatically synchronise production environment resources and configuration with changes expressed in code.

This means it is less prone to the human errors that come with manual testing and deployment, according to Mavenir. The deployment has been successfully certified for devices from the major terminal suppliers.

Mavenir’s Converged Packet Core solution is part of its cloud-native MAVcore portfolio, and its open architecture uses Telekom-defined hardware, a Kubernetes-based platform, and the automation framework of Deutsche Telekom. It offers network slicing support with dedicated control and user plane network functions for meeting strict service level agreements.

The cloud-native, fully containerised solution is based on stateless microservices architecture that allows better resiliency and faster recovery in the event of network failures. It also enables the easy onboarding of users on Deutsche Telekom’s containers as a service (CaaS) that can be run on any public, private or hybrid cloud environment. Third-party supplier network function of the core supports integration with multiple third-party suppliers, including 4G and 5G access network and subscriber management functions.

“The Mavenir solution deployed with Deutsche Telekom in Germany creates the foundation for the future introduction of 5G standalone, enabling new applications and services to take advantage of 5G features such as low latency and network slicing,” remarked Pardeep Kohli, Mavenir’s president and CEO.