Red Hat has scored a big win with T-Mobile USA, having been appointed as the provider for the operator’s deployment of a common cloud-native network platform across its core and edge network.
T-Mobile already runs is LTE vRAN on Red Hat’s OpenStack Platform. That presence is now shifting up a level as T-Mobile plans to deploy cloud-native applications (CNFs) from multiple network vendors on a new common cloud platform, built on Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus. OpenShift Platform Plus combines Red Hat’s integration of a container platform, with Kubernetes cluster management and security.
Fran Heeran, vice president, Global Communciations, Red Hat, told TMN, “The transition will be to select core network workloads and deploy them on Red Hat OpenShift for system validation and operationalisation. Once the workloads are deployed on these OpenShift clusters and reliable capacity is available for production, they would move traffic from the current platform deployments.”
Red Hat said that initial workloads that T-Mobile is targeting for the common cloud architecture are “the common network application workloads”. Following that, the operator plans to expand the workloads on the common cloud to include Edge, RAN, IT as well as AI use cases.
So how big a win is this for Red Hat?
Heeran said, “This is definitely an exciting collaboration for Red Hat and we’re looking forward to working with T-Mobile to build the very best cloud solution for their current needs as well as a variety of new workloads in the future. It also represents an important next step in our industry in driving for more consistency, operational efficiency and cost benefits. We cannot share details on the comparative scale of deployments to date around the world.”
A release said that Red Hat would meet T-Mobile’s requirements for a consolidated and standardised cloud infrastrucure that is flexible, automated end-to-end, and cost efficient. This would help T-Mobile deploy a common telco cloud that offers it scalability and flexibility in hybrid multi-cloud environments for enablement of more reliable, carrier-grade services to meet telecommunication service provider’s needs.
Lori Ames, SVP, Cloud, IP & Transport Technology, T-Mobile, was quoted in the announcement press release as saying: “T-Mobile’s multipurpose cloud will bridge us from a traditional telco to a dynamic techco, exposing previously untapped innovation while enhancing operational efficiencies. We’re redefining connectivity for the digital economy by meeting our customers where they need us.”
You can read more about mobile network cloud strategies and requirements in TMN’s Cloud Telco Market Report, which contains insights into cloud-native network requirements from leading operators as well as leading companies active in meeting those requirements, including Red Hat.
