Partners look to release NFV requirements, an assessment framework and best practices by the end of 2017.
Huawei, China Mobile and the GSMA have agreed to work together on a joint project to build an assessment framework for achieving carrier-grade network functions virtualization reliability for the telecommunication industry. The agreement was announced during Mobile World Congress 2017, which took place last week in Barcelona, Spain.
The organizations explained the project is designed to combine industry efforts to construct a scalable and comprehensive framework to support proactive, flexible and analytical network maintenance for telecommunication operators. The framework is also said to eliminate potential network risks and help build a network with higher reliability, increased stability and better connectivity for the delivery of digital services.
Because of the difficulties locating network faults when using network technologies such as NFV, operators are looking to move towards a proactive network maintenance model to eliminate potential issues before user services are affected, the partners explained.
“There will be numerous business opportunities and challenges in the 5G era. However, ‘5-9s’ reliability is required for virtualized networks,” said Michele Zarri, technical director at GSMA. “The GSMA will work to define network requirements and formalize the assessment framework including metrics and measurements for achieving carrier-grade NFV reliability.
Kong Lily, NFV project manager at China Mobile, explained network quality and reliability are core defining principles for the mobile operator. “The evolution of network virtualization has introduced new challenges for carriers in building ultra-reliable network. There is a need to get the industry to team up and jointly develop an assessment system to create higher efficiency and more intelligent network maintenance,” the executive noted.
The involved parties said they will release requirements, an assessment framework and best practices for achieving carrier-grade NFV reliability for the telecommunication industry by year-end.
