NEC Corporation and NetCracker Technology announced today that Telekom Austria Group, the largest telecommunications group in Austria, has successfully completed its in-depth trial of the NEC/NetCracker end-to-end virtual customer-premises equipment (vCPE) solution. The solution included vCPE, SDN controller, service and network orchestration as well as virtual network functions (VNFs) from multiple vendors.

Telekom Austria Group is among the leading communications service providers (CSPs) in Central and Eastern Europe, supporting roughly 23 million customers across eight different operating countries. Telekom Austria Group provides voice telephony, broadband Internet and multimedia services, as well as data and IT solutions.

Telekom Austria Group validated the NEC/NetCracker vCPE solution’s ability to migrate complex IP functionality from residential gateways to the operator cloud, enabling faster time-to-market for new services and minimizing capital and operating costs.

“The combined expertise of NEC and NetCracker gives us great confidence knowing that the opportunities presented from this sophisticated vCPE trial will translate into real deployment in the future,” said Guenther Ottendorer, CTO at Telekom Austria Group. “We look forward to experiencing the full operational and business benefits associated with following NEC’s and NetCracker’s vision for their virtualized solutions.”

The uniqueness of this solution is its ability to instantiate, orchestrate and control third-party VNFs for on-demand applications such as parental control, firewall and DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), which enables in-home video, music and photo media streaming to compatible devices in the home. By leveraging SDN controller and orchestration, this solution enables real-time, on-demand instantiation and route modification for a range of applications.

By implementing the NEC/NetCracker vCPE solution, Telekom Austria Group can provide its customers with a wide range of new services and capabilities, including account management, parental control enforcement, as well as network configuration and usage control management through a self-care portal. The vCPE solution will also enable next-generation, IPv6-based Internet connectivity without requiring end-users to undergo complex processes on site.

“As virtualization helps network operators create new revenue opportunities and reduce capital and operational costs, we’re excited to demonstrate the proven capabilities of the NEC and NetCracker vCPE solution to Telekom Austria Group,” said Michael Stückmann, Managing Director at NEC Deutschland GmbH. “The success of this trial underscores our commitment to and understanding of the virtualization landscape and showcases the comprehensive capabilities of our solutions in that space.”

“The next phase of the network virtualization opportunity is operationalization—the ability to transition a lab environment into a live deployment of virtualized network functions, such as those addressed in the Telekom Austria Group vCPE trial,” said Sylvain Seignour, Vice President of Global Sales at NetCracker. “As a business partner with deep expertise in networking, BSS/OSS, orchestration and professional services, we are excited to bring the essential resources Telekom Austria Group requires to bring new, virtualized services to market.”

NEC Platforms is a leader in Japan broadband access market. NEC Platforms was established in July 1, 2014 as a core manufacturing company that undertakes the entire process of development and production including computer equipment, communication equipment, terminals and embedded equipment for NEC's "Solutions for Society" project.