A conversation with Diego Lopez, Head of Technology Exploration, Network Innovation and Virtualization Directorate, Telefonica
Telefonica is an early mover and adopter when it comes to virtualization. It has worked with the ecosystem through ETSI’s standardization efforts, and in the open source community. But it also has short-term plans for commercial NFV deployments. I talked to Diego Lopez, Head of Technology Exploration at the Network Innovation and Virtualization Directorate at Telefonica, and the Chair of the Technical Steering Committee at the NFV ISG at ETSI.
“NFV and network virtualization in general promise to bring a complete change in the way we think about the networks, in the way in which we develop them, in the way in which we operate them, and in the way in which we can see the service that we can provide. We will be able to have much more flexible deployments and much more efficient operation, and be able to personalize the user experience,” Diego said.
There is still much work to do and much to learn, tough. As Diego points out, talking about Telefonica’s plan to launch NFV commercial services in Brazil later this year, “the technology may not be called 100% compliant with the formal NFV requirements, but it is in a status in which it’s useful, even for commercial service,”
“We have to change our mindset from the top level in which people conceive the network, down to the people who are, hands on, manipulating the network and operating it,” Diego added. Read or watch the interview to find out how Telefonica is working to meet its goal of virtualizing 30% of its network by 2016.
This conversation will be included in the Senza Fili report “The emergence of the NFV ecosystem: Laying the foundation for a new way to run mobile networks” that will be published on October 6, 2014. If you would like to receive a complimentary copy of the report, please click here and you will be the first to receive the report when it is finalized.
