VMware, Inc. announced its 5G Telco Cloud Platform, a consistent cloud first solution powered by a field proven, carrier-grade, and high-performance cloud native infrastructure with intelligent automation. This new platform includes Tanzu Kubernetes Grid - an embedded Kubernetes distribution - that will allow Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to reliably build, manage and run containerized workloads across private, telco, edge and public clouds.

To meet the increasing demand for innovative 5G services, CSPs require a network powered by a modernized cloud that delivers web-scale speed and agility while maintaining carrier-grade performance, resiliency, and quality. VMware's innovative multi-cloud platform simplifies and accelerates the rollout of 5G networks, transforms operational models through multi-layer automation while seamlessly integrating with today's networks. By embracing cloud native principles with VMware's Telco Cloud Platform, CSPs will be enabled to deploy innovative applications and services to market faster in the highly competitive 5G communications landscape.

The VMware Telco Cloud Platform provides a cloud-first network architecture to accelerate 5G and edge innovation while delivering service agility, operational consistency and integrated lifecycle management automation from infrastructure up to network services. The VMware Telco Cloud Platform combines VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure - an evolution of the vCloud NFV solution - and VMware Telco Cloud Automation - the recently launched multi-domain orchestration and automation capability. The 5G ready Telco Cloud Platform is tailored for CSPs to easily embrace cloud native technology and deliver applications and services across multi-cloud infrastructure.

As CSPs evolve from NFV networks to cloud native and containerized networks, VMware is evolving its VMware vCloud NFV solution to Telco Cloud Infrastructure, providing CSPs a consistent and unified platform delivering consistent operations for both Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) and Cloud Native Network Functions (CNFs) across telco networks. Telco Cloud Infrastructure is designed to optimize the delivery of network services with telco centric enhancements, supporting distributed cloud deployments, and providing scalability and performance for millions of consumer and enterprise users. These telco centric enhancements enable CSPs to gain web-scale speed and agility while maintaining carrier-grade performance, resiliency, and quality.

Tightly integrated with Telco Cloud Infrastructure, VMware's Telco Cloud Automation intelligently automates the end-to-end lifecycle management of network functions and services to simplify operations and accelerate service delivery while optimizing resource utilization. Telco Cloud Automation also now supports infrastructure and Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS) management automation to streamline workload placement and deliver optimal infrastructure resource allocation. It also significantly simplifies the 5G and telco edge network expansions through zero-touch-provisioning (ZTP) whenever capacity is required.

"VMware continues to accelerate the delivery of a comprehensive telco and edge cloud portfolio that addresses our customers' challenges of today and enables them to harness the opportunities of tomorrow," said Shekar Ayyar, executive vice president and general manager, Telco and Edge Cloud Business Unit, VMware. "With support for cloud native technologies in the Telco Cloud Platform, CSPs can now boost their innovation speed to deliver new applications and services, reduce operational complexities, and realize substantial total cost of ownership savings, further accelerating the rollout of their 5G networks."

DISH and VMware recently announced they have tested and onboarded dozens of cloud native 5G network functions from multiple software vendors on top of the VMware Telco Cloud over the last six months. "As DISH builds the first Open RAN based 5G network in the U.S., the VMware Telco Cloud Platform will help us provide our customers with solutions that are more secure, agile and cost-effective," said Marc Rouanne, executive vice president and chief network officer, DISH. "The cloud native, software-defined nature of the VMware Telco Cloud will also support the DISH ecosystem of partners to accelerate 5G leadership in the U.S."

"5G is providing a catalyst for CSPs to transform their business. The need for CSPs to increase service agility and transform OpEx economics will require them to make network automation a key part of their digital transformation strategy," said Anil Rao, principal analyst, Analysys Mason. "CSPs will require a true agile network infrastructure and operations enabling them to achieve zero-touch provisioning, automate expansion of network services and ongoing lifecycle operations of the network and services to deliver significant opex savings and enable greater innovation."

To speed up the deployment of network functions and services by CSPs, VMware recently expanded the Ready for Telco Cloud program to add support for VMware Telco Cloud Automation. With the release of VMware Telco Cloud Platform, VMware is further expanding the program to accelerate network functions readiness for deployment. The program scope extends to container-based network functions and these workloads conformance with VMware's Cloud Native stack as well as the automation offered by the stack. CSPs can expect that Network Functions which passed certification will be quicker to onboard and deploy on the VMware Telco Cloud Platform while accelerating CSPs time to revenue. To date, more than 35 partners have received more than 180 certifications as part of the program.

VMware is also announcing Telco Cloud Operations, a real-time automated assurance solution designed to bridge the gap between virtual and physical networks. The solution provides holistic monitoring and performance management across multiple layers of the network, including SD-WAN, for rapid insights, lower costs and improved customer experience. It integrates machine-learning based performance analytics and vivid reporting dashboards for proactive assurance.  Complemented by the Uhana solution from VMware that provides intelligent automation for Radio Access Networks (RANs), CSPs can have comprehensive operations visibility across their entire network.

"In a 5G world, complexity from dynamic network functions and configurable services requires automated collection, analysis, and control of operations data to establish customer insight and service management boundaries," said Karl Whitelock, VP Communications Service Provider Operations and Monetization, at IDC Research. "Advanced assurance solutions such as VMware Telco Cloud Operations are essential for providing automated analysis of network and performance data that can simplify operations, provide end-to-end visibility and improve the customer experience."