Cellwize’s CHIME improves network parameter auditing
Network automation experts Cellwize announced Wednesday that Filipino telco Globe Telecom selected CHIME platform as the basis for Globe’s cloud-based framework for Radio Access Network (RAN) automation. Cellwize and Amdocs have partnered together to develop the solution.
“Cellwize’s CHIME AI-based platform provides an open, centralized layer that enables an orchestrated ecosystem of automation, and delivers end-to-end configuration management, optimization and assurance of mobile networks,” said the company.
CHIME will help improve Globe’s network parameter audit process through intelligent automation, said Cellwize. Cellwize said it expects Globe to be able to improve customer experience, reduce capital and operational costs using CHIME.
It’s an example of Globe Telecom’s “full steam ahead” approach to 5G. The company launched 5G services in 2020, though it had been testing small cell 5G deployments since 2018. Last year, Nokia secured a three-year contract to upgrade Globe’s network. For Globe Telecom president and CEO Ernest Cu, the end goal is about giving “consumers easy access to all the digital use cases they desire,” ranging from social media to entertainment and business.
“We have chosen to work with Cellwize and Amdocs as part of our commitment to continually improve customer experience through network infrastructure optimization. We are confident in the abilities of our partners to assist us in this initiative,” Cu said of this latest announcement.
“When taking on such a large and groundbreaking project, it is important to have partners you can trust. We are excited to use the cloud capabilities while we implement our technology alongside Amdocs, allowing us to best enhance the Globe network,” said Cellwize CEO Ofir Zemer.
”The move to ORAN is not binary”
At MWC Barcelona last month, Cellwize introduced CHIME-Hybrid, a service management orchestration (SMO) solution aimed at mobile network operators looking for hybrid Open RAN capabilities. Cellwize explained at the new solution acknowledges Open RAN migration is a gradual process.
“The move to ORAN is not binary; it is a step-by-step process that will include increased virtualized RAN (vRAN) capabilities, while gradually introducing ORAN elements,” said Cellwize.
Cellwize is part of a widespread industry partnership with Orange, which inaugurated its Open RAN Integration Center in France last fall. The facility is located at Orange Gardens in Châtillon, near Paris, and is accessible to Open RAN stakeholders: Equipment suppliers, start-ups and system integrators building Open RAN solutions. Cellwize is testing RAN-SMO and Non RT RIC Platform products in the new center.
In an interview with RCR Wireless in early February, Zemer said that the message around RAN disaggregation efforts is complicated. For some carriers, it’s about increasing network agility and flexibility. For others, it’s to meet regulatory obligations.
“What it delivers is, to a large extent, in the eye of the beholder,” Zemer told RCR Wireless News.
