SK Telecom, Cisco, Spirent join open-source SDN, NFV organizations
The move toward a unified approach to telecom network virtualization using software-defined networking and network function virtualization continues to draw interested companies, as a pair of organizations announced expansion of their member lists.
The Open Network Lab said it added heavyweights Cisco Systems and SK Telecom to its open-source SDN Open Network Operating System platform as it looks to accelerate SDN adoption. The two companies join founding members AT&T, NTT Communications, Ciena, Fujitsu, Huawei, Intel and NEC, as well as members that are collaborating and contributing to the ONOS platform, including ONF, Infoblox, SRI, Black Duck, Internet2, GARR, CNIT and Create-Net.
“SDN and network virtualization hold great promise for mobile carriers,” said Alex Jinsung Choi, CTO and EVP at SK Telecom, in a statement. “As mobile subscribers tend to be younger and have always-on access to their devices, we often see the demand for new use cases and services come from mobile markets first, creating vast business opportunities. The promise of open-source SDN to deliver true cloud-like benefits to the network such as scale, automation, programmability, flexibility and service agility will enable us to meet the rapidly evolving demands of this sector.”
SK Telecom also recently joined the Linux Foundation’s recently launched Open Platform for NFV Project, which plans to provide a “carrier-grade, integrated, open source reference platform intended to accelerate the introduction of new products and services” tied to NFV.
The ONOS platform, which launched last December, targets service providers and is designed to provide a scalable software-defined networking control plan “featuring northbound and southbound open APIs and paradigms for a diversity of management, control and service applications across mission critical networks.”
The consortium explained that the ONOS platform is designed to allow telecom providers to “gradually migrate their existing networks to SDN without requiring instant forklift upgrades by supporting a diversity of southbound devices and interfaces in addition to OpenFlow.”
ON.Lab noted that the ONOS platform has witnessed more than 1,000 downloads since its launch.
OpenDaylight welcomes 4 new members
The Linux Foundation’s OpenDaylight Project announced the addition of CA Technologies, IIX, Megaport and Spirent to its open-source platform project. The expansion pushes the organization’s total to more than 300 developers.
OpenDaylight noted the new members bring management, security and testing capabilities to the organization.
“With more and more end users looking to use ODL in their real-world networks, we’re seeing a broader range of technologies and players getting involved,” explained Neela Jacques, executive director at OpenDaylight.
The organization earlier this month announced the availability of 14 internships as part of its 2015 Internship Program. The offer is said to provide “real-world development experience” targeting the software-defined networking and network function virtualization fields, which OpenDaylight noted had more than 100 job openings at companies including AT&T and Verizon Communications.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter i>
