SDNInsights

TELECOM ASIA SUPPLEMENT | OCTOBER 2016

SDN is all about

the DevOps
With DevOps culture trending, telcos want SDN to
help them make money, not just save it

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 SDN INSIGHTS

EDITORS LETTER 3
SDN is now all 3 Editors letter

about the DevOps

4 Newswire

8 Cover: Why SDN is now a

I
ts probaby too soon to declare 2016 as the year SDN finally took DevOps play
off in the telecoms sector, but it could conceivably be the year that
telcos were offered a compelling reason to deploy it.
12 Q&A: Nokia Networks
Which is telling, because in theory SDN already had an at-
14 Analyst View: 5G is really a
tractive sales pitch enabling telcos to architect super-flexible
cloud-based networks that deliver increased efficiencies and cost sav-
virtualized FMC play
ings. Telco executives were duly impressed, but what they or their
16 Research Note: Wholesalers
shareholders really wanted to know was how SDN was going to make
money, not just save it. see limited use for SDN
Now that leading-edge operators are launching SDN-based ser-
18 Products
vices, other telcos are paying close attention. And as our cover story
explains, some SDN equipment vendors are now focusing their pitch
on the role of SDN in service innovation and creation and specifically
within the context of developing a DevOps operating framework for
service innovation that enables service providers to develop, test and
release software (which is to say, services) faster and more frequently
ideally in seconds, rather than days or weeks.
However, as Sasa Nijemcevic, VP and GM for the Network and Ser- Published by Questex Asia Ltd.
vice Management Business Unit at Nokia Networks, explains in our ex- For additional information SDN Insights, please visit our website
www.telecomasia.net or contact:
clusive Q&A, the ability of SDN to enable fast service innovation is only
Managing Director Douglas Mulcock douglas@questexasia.com
as good as its ability to meet SLAs. Consequently, integrated service
assurance is crucial to enable new SDN services to run at peak effi- Associate Publisher Jessie Cheung jcheung@questexasia.com
Regional Sales Manager Charlotte Petit charlottepetit@questexasia.com
ciency. Sales & Marketing Executive Sunny Lo sunnylo@questexasia.com

Also in this issue, we examine SDNs role in specific network sce-
narios. For example, its well understood that SDN and NFV will play a
key role in 5G networks, but Rupert Wood of Analysys Mason argues
that when we talk about 5G, were also talking about fixed-mobile con-
vergence, with SDN and NFV the common denominator.
Meanwhile, Ovums Catherine Haslam observes that while SDN
might seem like a no-brainer for international wholesale carriers, con-
cerns remain about skillsets, reliability and interoperability. As such,
international wholesalers are only deploying SDN for a limited number
of use cases.
Read on to find out what they are, and much more. n
Editor-In-Chief John C. Tanner jtanner@questexasia.com
Group Editor Lachlan Colquhoun lachlanc@questexasia.com
Online Editor Fiona Chau fchau@questexasia.com
Art Director Pauline Wong pwong@questexasia.com
Editorial and publishing office
Questex Asia Ltd
13/F, 88 Hing Fat Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2559 2772 Fax: +852 2559 7002
Website: www.telecomasia.net
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E-mail: customer_service@telecomasia.net
SDN Insights is published by Questex Asia Ltd,
13/F, 88 Hing Fat Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
Printed in Hong Kong. 2016 Questex Asia Ltd., a division of Questex LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,

John C. Tanner or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
Editor-in-chief, Telecom Asia
 SDN INSIGHTS

44 Newswire

Carriers invest in NFV, RCOM launches

SDN and 5G to remain global SD-WAN
competitive long-term solution

O R
perators aim to drive revenue growth and improve long-term
profitability by investing in NFV, SDN and 5G, according to
Technology Business Researchs (TBR) Enterprise Operator
Benchmark for the first quarter of 2016.
Investing in these technologies will create new revenue streams
that will help enterprise operators offset revenue declines from legacy
services.
Most of the carriers covered in the benchmark are in the process
of transitioning their networks to software-mediated networks to re-
duce network costs and to offer new enterprise services that can be
easily scaled, such as SD-WAN and Network on Demand, said TBR
senior analyst Chris Antlitz.
NFV and SDN promise not only cost savings from a capex and
opex perspective, but also revenue generation, said Antlitz. TBR be-
lieves early adopters of these technologies will gain a competitive ad-
vantage in service pricing and feature differentiation.
The bulk of IoT use cases can be supported by 2G and 3G net-
works. However, more advanced, mission-critical IoT use cases such
as autonomous driving and smart city infrastructure monitoring will
spur enterprise operators to invest in 5G to support these capabilities.
TBR has identified healthcare, smart cities and telematics as pre-
dominant verticals that will take advantage of the IoT capabilities of-
fered by 5G.
TBRs Enterprise Operator Benchmark provides quarterly analysis
of how key operators enterprise services businesses are performing
relative to each other and includes coverage of AT&T, BT, CenturyLink,
Level 3, NTT, Orange, Telefonica, T-Systems, Verizon and Vodafone. n
eliance Communications (RCOM) and its subsidi-
ary Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) have launched the
latest addition to its Cloud X portfolio.
Cloud X WAN is the first Made in India Cloud-
centric network platform designed to help overcome many
of the challenges facing todays global enterprise networks.
In todays market, it is evident that SD-WAN is rapidly
gaining momentum as it offers an innovative way to adapt
traditional WANs to cloud services, said Bill Barney, CEO of
RCOM (Enterprise) and GCX. Cloud X WAN, was developed
to address the market, offering an affordable solution which
embraces flexibility, scalability and enhanced security.
RCOM/GCXs Cloud X WAN will provide cloud-based
managed services globally across the companys propri-
etary Cloud X platform, a leading edge cloud ecosystem and
multi-service orchestration platform implemented in key
hubs along GCXs global subsea network infrastructure.
Through Cloud X WAN, enterprises will be able to sub-
scribe to network services on a pay as you go basis mean-
ing their network infrastructure can be as agile as the cloud
services it connects into.
Cloud X WANs centralized SD-WAN architecture pro-
vides managed MPLS and SD-WAN services as well as virtu-
alized network functions such as Virtual CPE & VPN, Virtual
Firewall & Security, Virtual WAN Optimization and Storage-
as-a-Service across the GCX network. n

Verizon rolls out Virtual Network Services

V
erizon Enterprise Solutions has
launched Virtual Network Servic-
es, which promise to enable en-
terprises to transition to a virtual
infrastructure model, providing greater
agility and on-demand resources.
The new services will be delivered as-
a-service, fundamentally transforming the
network into software-based solutions
running on open platforms a significant
departure from how network services are
provisioned and consumed today.
Driving this change is digitization of
business, IP communications, Internet
video, and mobile to cloud.
Verizons Virtual Network Services will
enable clients to essentially operate a liv-
ing network that can be changed quickly
to address the number of company loca-
tions and users, bandwidth required by ap-
plication, and application use by employee
to enable a secure, high performance and
efficient network.
The new services will provide a range
of business and technical benefits to en-
terprises including agility, reduction in
total cost of ownership, end-to-end man-
agement, flexible service tiers, flexibility,
dynamic scaling, rich technology partner
ecosystem with world-class vendors, rap-
id and easy service deployment.
The way in which network services
are delivered is going through an unprec-
edented shift the biggest weve seen
since the broad adoption of MPLS, said
Shawn Hakl, VP of networking and innova-
tion at Verizon.
Today the network is transitioning to a
virtualized model using similar technology
that drove the disruption in the data center
market, said Hakl. With our new solution
set, enterprises will be able to balance agil-
ity, performance, cost and security neces-
sitated by the growth of mobile-to-cloud
applications and the Internet of Things. n

Most service providers will deploy NFV by 2017
S
ervice providers around the globe are moving toward
NFV, according to the latest NFV strategies study by IHS
Markit.
These carriers believe that NFV and its software-de-
fined networking (SDN) companion are a fundamental change in
telecoms network architecture that will deliver benefits in auto-
mation, new, more agile services and revenue, operational effi-
AT&T, Orange join forces on open-source, SDN
A
T&T and Orange have signed an agreement to collabo-
rate on open-source and standardization initiatives that
will accelerate the standardization of software-defined
networking (SDN) and network function virtualization
(NFV) technologies.
The two companies said they are aligning on a strategic vision
to move intelligence from customer hardware to the network, re-
ducing cost and complexity.
This effort will help the industry and business customers move
faster towards a more agile, flexible and on-demand networking
future.
AT&T and Orange said they will identify appropriate forums for
industry standardization discussions to drive standardization ef-
forts forward.
By introducing common standards and interfaces, the indus-
try would simplify technological integration, increase operational
efficiency and reduce costs, resulting in shorter deployment cy-
cles and a faster pace of innovation.
Through a network-centric approach, AT&T and Orange are
committed to making the SDN and NFV vision and benefits more
accessible for both businesses and the industry.
AT&T meanwhile also reported that Amdocs will serve as in-
SDN INSIGHTS
Newswire 5
ciency and capex savings.
Many carriers in 2016 are moving from their NFV proof-
of-concept (PoC) tests and lab investigations and evaluations
to working with vendors that are developing and productiz-
ing the software, which is being deployed commercially.
IHS Markit sees the carrier mind-set toward NFV is
changing quickly. In 2014, there was one standout barrier
operations and business support systems (OSS/BSS). In
2015 and 2016, the top barriers integrating NFV into ex-
isting networks and non-carrier-grade products show that
carriers are very serious about deploying NFV.
The vast majority of early NFV deployments in the next
year, and overall, will be for business virtualized enterprise
customer premises equipment (vE-CPE), also known as
vBranch or enterprise vCPE. Growing in importance over the
last several years, business vE-CPE can assist with revenue
generation because it allows operators to replace physical
CPEs with software so they can quickly innovate and launch
new services.
The industry is still in the early stages of a long-term
transition to SDN and NFV architected networks. n
tegrator for companies adopting AT&Ts open source ECOMP
platform to enable software-centric network capabilities.
The company said Amdocs will help companies deploy
that open-source software into their own networks. ECOMP
is a vital tool for service providers struggling to meet todays
network demands while preparing for an even greater load in
the next few years from applications like virtual reality and
augmented reality, 4K video and the Internet of Things. n
 SDN INSIGHTS

66 Newswire

Broadband Forum defines NFV residential gateway

B
roadband Forum has completed
work on the technical specifica-
tions for the first virtualized resi-
dential gateway as part of efforts
to bring NFV to the home.
The Network Enhanced Residential
Gateway specifications provide require-
ments for virtual customer premise
equipment.
NFV-based residential gateways will
allow operators to provision new services
centrally from cloud infrastructures, elimi-
nating the requirement to provision and at-
tach new services directly to the gateways.
This will allow operators to deploy new
services faster and personalize service
packages for end-users, while ensuring
quality of service on a per-device, per-
user or per-service basis, the Broadband
Forum said.
This work is extremely significant
because many broadband operators are
already working on the delivery of some
flavors of cloud-based virtual residential
gateway services, said David Minodier,
network architect at Orange, which led
the development of the standard.
NFV and SDN technologies allow the
delivery of such innovative services from a
PoP or data center to be envisaged, which
was not possible before, said Minodier.
He added that the standard provides
CPE manufacturers with a first set of
specifications to ensure interoperability
between the bridged residential gateway
at the customer premises and the virtual
gateway hosted in the service providers
cloud infrastructure.
The new specification forms part of
the Forums Broadband 20/20 initiative,
which focuses on the development of new
broadband home and business opportu-
nities taking advantage of emerging tech-
nologies including SDN, NFV, the IoT and
ultrafast access technologies. n

Cisco/Tail-f, Nokia, OPNFV creates end

Ciena top picks for SDN user advisory group

G T
lobal carriers cite Cisco/Tail-f, Nokia and Ciena in-
cluding Cyan as the top SDN vendors, according
to a survey released by IHS Markit.
The IHS Markit survey interviewed global ser-
vice providers that have deployed software-defined network-
ing (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) or will
do so in the future.
In our survey of global carriers, Cisco/Tail-f, Nokia and
Ciena led all vendors in unaided brand awareness for SDN or-
chestration software, said Michael Howard, senior research
director at IHS Markit. And Cisco/Tail-f and Nokia were also
tops in SDN hardware and software under evaluation.
The survey explores SDN and NFV deployment timing,
supplier types, perceived top vendors and operator ratings of
SDN and NFV manufacturers on nine criteria.
Howard said over 75% of respondents will use telecom
equipment manufacturers, among other supplier types, to
supply SDN hardware and software for their networks.
Carriers envision a world of multi-supplier SDN and
NFV, with centralized orchestration of network services and
equipment, and new control mechanisms and network archi-
tectures, he said. Theyll use a variety of suppliers to avoid
vendor lock-in.
More than 40% of survey respondents will buy from each
of the following supplier types specialized SDN vendors,
open source distribution vendors, SDN application software
specialists, data center virtualization/orchestration software
vendors and virtualized network functions (VNF) software
specialists. n
he OPNFV Project has formed an End User Advisory
Group (EUAG) consisting of end-user organizations from
both OPNFV members and nonmembers to provide
technical guidance to the OPNFV developer community.
Created to provide a forum for end users to assist and sup-
port the projects objectives by providing technical and strategic
guidance to the OPNFV governing bodies, the EUAG is comprised
of members experienced in running some of the worlds most
cutting-edge networks.
The formation of the OPNFV EUAG will harness the knowl-
edge and expertise of those responsible for actually running real-
world networks as they deploy and scale, said Heather Kirksey,
director of OPNFV.
Feedback from the ecosystem using and deploying NFV is
crucial to the future direction of OPNFV, said Kirksey. Engaging
these pioneers will help us address the most pressing pain points
for the industry and build a platform with broad applicability.
The EUAG meets monthly to discuss key challenges, stand-
ards, network architecture, and emerging use cases related to
NFV. The group is chaired by AT&Ts Steven Wright, who will
serve a two-year term while delegates may serve for as long as
they like.
EUAG member eligibility includes individuals at network
operators (service providers cloud or network, telco or cable
operators, enterprises, government or educational institutions)
who have current or prior experience in management of a pro-
duction deployed network, architecting of a production deployed
network, or serving as network software or hardware decision
maker. n
 9th Telecom Asia
Readers Choice & Innovation Awards
30 November 2016 Singapore

And the winner is

Telecom Asia organizes the Readers Choice & Innovation Awards each year
to recognize the innovations and accomplishments of Asia Pacifics top telecom
equipment suppliers.

Winners of this years awards will be announced at a gala dinner in Singapore,

30 November 2016. Find out how you can participate in the awards, please contact
us at telecomasia@questexasia.com

For more information, please contact us at: telecomasia@questexasia.com

SDN INSIGHTS

8 COVERSTORY

Why SDN is now

a DevOps play
Thanks to growing interest in DevOps culture, the new selling
point of SDN is not its ability to help telcos save money but to
help them make money

John C. Tanner

F
rom a pure telecoms
perspective, it seems as
though software-defined
networking (SDN) is one
of those strange technolo-
gy segments that Asia-Pacific telco
executives get really excited about,
but not to the point of actually de-
ploying it in their networks. In the
past few years in APAC, weve seen
plenty of SDN trials but very few
commercial deployments outside
of the data center environments in
which SDN originated.
Thats now starting to change to
an extent. A handful of carriers such
as Telstra, NTT Communications,
Verizon Enterprise Solutions and
MyRepublic have launched leading-
edge SDN-based services. And the
going theory among various indus-
try analysts is that such launches
will serve as the catalyst for other
operators to finally take the plunge
with SDN once they see real-world
examples of SDN success and by
success they mean revenue gen-
eration.
Thats a significant detail. For all
the hoopla over SDN enabling telcos
to architect super-flexible cloud-
based networks that deliver in-
creased efficiencies and cost savings
all of which is essentially true it
turns out that what telcos really want
to know is how SDN will earn its keep
in terms of new revenue streams.
Put another way, telcos want to earn
money, not simply save it.
By no coincidence, some equip-
ment vendors have been altering (or
emphasizing) their marketing pitch
by focusing on the role of SDN in
service innovation and creation
and specifically within the context
of developing a DevOps operating
framework that enables service pro-
viders to develop, test and release
software (which is to say, services)
faster and more frequently ide-
ally in seconds, rather than days or
weeks.
Put simply, the selling point of
SDN is not agility and efficiency for
its own sake, but the ability to mon-
etize it. And that dovetails nicely
with the trend of more and more or-
ganizations adopting a DevOps ap-
proach to service innovation.
DevOps focus
DevOps has been a growing
trend in the cloud/IT tech space
for some time. At its core, DevOps
(shorthand for development and
operations) involves better collab-
oration and cooperation between
the organizational departments
responsible for creating and im-
plementing software and services.
The DevOps concept is strikingly vices to market, explains Francois
relevant in the telecoms world as
operators not only head deeper
into the cloud paradigm where just
about everything is software-based
and hosted in data centers, but also
look for ways to unsilo their organi-
zational processes in the name of
agility and faster time-to-market.
In fact they dont have much
choice, because that overall para-
digm shift is changing the world in
which telcos must operate, says
Abel Tong, senior director for the
Blue Planet Division at Ciena.
Mobile, cloud and the Internet
of Things (IoT) are bringing new ap-
plications and expectations requir-
SDN INSIGHTS
COVERSTORY 9
ing new network services, he says.
Network operators must respond
quickly and roll out new and ad-
vanced services to meet market de-
mands. That requires incorporating
new technologies and capabilities,
but without jeopardizing or inter-
rupting current and existing servic-
es. Flexibility and speed are para-
mount. At the same time, network
operators must hit this continually
moving target while holding the line
on costs.
Consequently, Tong says, SDN,
NFV and DevOps are seen as the
means by which network operators
can achieve innovation and taking
control of their networks.
The SDN/DevOps connection
stems from the basic concept that
DevOps is fundamentally about
bringing development and opera-
tions silos closer together through
close collaboration and commu-
nication, and taking the pain out
of bringing new software and ser-
Lemarchand, SDN strategic product
director at Ericsson.
A cornerstone for enabling
DevOps is to tighten the loop be-
tween development and opera-
tions by frequent and incremental
updates, fast feedback, and quick
turnaround of issues, Lemarchand
says.
Thats hard to do on traditional
telecoms networks where the net-
work topology is hard-wired and
network functions are built on cus-
tom hardware with long release cy-
cles. The end result is that develop-
ment and operations are effectively
separated from each other, which
 SDN INSIGHTS
010 COVERSTORY
means much longer planning and
testing periods.
With SDN/NFV, network ele-
ments are virtualized and the net-
work topology is software defined,
effectively taking hardware and
physical network manipulation
out of the picture, allowing much
more frequent updates and clos-
ing the loop between development
and operations much faster, says
Lemarchand.
Tong of Ciena says the shift in
focus on SDN from flexibility and ef-
ficiencies to service creation isnt so
much a change in direction as a nat-
ural progression. The original vision
of SDN was around the agility and
programmability of network flows.
The vision today builds on the previ-
ous, but is more holistic leveraging
the programmability to achieve sim-
plified and automated service deliv-
ery, to streamline operators and to
shorten innovation cycles.
A match made in heaven
Pairing a DevOps strategy with
SDN deployment doesnt necessar-
ily alter the way the latter technol-
ogy is deployed, but the synergies
between the two can yield definitive
benefits, says Andrew Dolganow,
head of Regional Product Manage-
ment, Strategy and Consulting En-
gineering for IP/Optical Networks,
Asia Pacific, at Nokia.
With adoption of the DevOps
mindset and tools, powered by an
operational shift to SDN/NFV, ser-
vice providers are bridging the gap
between IT demands and network
services with network and service
automation that allows new appli-
cations and business models to be
quickly deployed, market-tested
and fine-tuned, he says. SDN and
NFV create a real elastic network
environment with centralized pro-
grammability and rapid new deploy-
ment of functionality that is critical
for DevOps.
Dolganow adds that the com-
bination of SDN/NFV and DevOps
helps them achieve transformation
in areas such as minimizing time to
market and costs.
With DevOps automation tools,
SDN/NFV simplifies operations for
rapid service instantiation, he says.
Service providers can create net-
work services in less than half the
time and provision them in seconds.
By integrating resources, moving
compute/edge functions from PNF
[physical network functions] to VNF
and choosing open source software
platforms, service providers gain
significant cost and time to market
advantages.
However, says Tong of Ciena,
telcos should remember that the
key to getting the maximum benefit
of fast service creation with SDN is
orchestration.
First, network operators need
an implementation that provides
end-to-end orchestration in other
words, the ability to simplify and
automate the delivery of services
from enterprise-to-enterprise or
enterprise-to-cloud, across mul-
tiple domains such as WAN, NFV
and cloud, Tong explains. Second,
network operators need an imple-
mentation they can use to create
reusable building blocks that can be
quickly assembled into new servic-
es. Third, network operators need
an implementation that allows them
to reallocate and apply resources
where needed to drive changes into
their networks and to their services
quickly and with minimal regres-
sion testing. And finally, network
operators need an implementation
that is open, enabling collaboration
between internal, vendor and third
party partners.
That way, he adds, operators
can not only achieve network agil-
ity through streamlined operations
and automated service delivery, but
also innovate rapidly while having
more control over their service crea-
tion, and drive changes into their
networks, operations and services
more easily, while simultaneously
accommodating growth and scale.
Cultural challenges
The good news for operators is
that coupling SDN within the con-
text of a DevOps framework doesnt
necessarily make deployment of
SDN harder from a technical stand-
point. Which is to say, many of the
technical issues of deploying SDN
are the same regardless of whether
telcos are adopting a DevOps strat-
egy or not.
That said, the main challenge
for both deploying SDN and adopt-
ing a DevOps framework have more
to do with organizational culture
than technology, says Ericssons
Lemarchand.
To move away from a tradition-
al organization with a large group
of people planning and verifying
network upgrades before roll-out,
using big labs for acceptance test-

ing, etc into a DevOps organiza-
tion with daily incremental changes
in a live network requires both new
structures and a different mindset,
Lemarchand says.
Dolganow of Nokia agrees.
DevOps brings a culture change
to service providers. Two or even
more organizations need to work to-
gether. For instance, under DevOps,
network engineers and application
engineers need to work together to
manage the increasingly important
relationship between the network
and the specific applications it sup-
ports.
One challenge, he observes, is
isolation of DevOps from network/
cloud infrastructure. In some cas-
es, DevOps takes place indepen-
dently of a network/cloud. Then it is
added dynamically into that ecosys-
tem with none or minimal involve-
ment from the network.
Other challenges include inte-
grating skillsets and coping with
budget changes, Dolganow adds.
The structure of budgets is chang-
ing, and some service providers
have not figured out how to align
that with the shift in types of tech-
nology.
Cienas Abel Tong advises that
there are also certain technological
challenges to be aware of namely
in terms of what a given technol-
ogy solution can or cannot deliver in
terms of SDN, NFV and DevOps.
Many of the solutions offered
by vendors are point solutions, not
general purpose orchestration
vendors with NFV products or spe-
cific networking solutions provide
solutions for their specific offering,
but not necessarily general end-to-
end service orchestration across
WAN, virtualization and cloud,
Tong says. Other solutions require
a high degree of customization and
professional services engagement
this is common from legacy OSS
and other vendors trying to repur-
pose their existing software solu-
tions. And, some solutions end up
leading to vendor lock-in certain
networking vendors are not open
and using software as a thinly veiled
mechanism for ensuring incum-
bency.
Its all about revenue
On an encouraging note, the
pairing of SDN and DevOps isnt
confined to white papers and lab
experiments. A number of opera-
tors are already deploying SDN
with a DevOps strategy to speed up
service innovation. Ciena points to
CenturyLink and Orange leverag-
ing its Blue Planet platform to that
end. In China, China Mobile has
been designing and building a new
DevOps private cloud architecture
by combining open source software
with Nokias Nuage Virtualized Ser-
vices Platform, while MyRepublic
recently launched an SD-WAN ser-
vice that enables enterprise cus-
tomers to create their own VPNs to
remote locations in days instead of
months.
At the end of the day, its all
about the ability of SDN to help ser-
vice providers and their customers
create and deliver new apps and ser-
vices really, really fast. That is whats
going to spur adoption of SDN for
telcos, says Andrew Bond-Webster,
SDN INSIGHTS
COVERSTORY 11
VP of Asia-Pacific for Infinera.
This is the real value proposi-
tion for SDN for service providers
now, he says. Were moving away
from the value proposition of bet-
ter network efficiencies telcos are
looking for what they can take to
market, because they face so much
competition now, so they need solu-
tions to help them win.
Bond-Webster adds that Infin-
era is seeing a lot more interest in
SDN technologies in Asia-Pacific
especially in emerging markets that
have previously been reticent about
SDN, seeing no immediate need for
it because the path to monetizing
it is more clear.
The RFPs were seeing have
more SDN components than before
they want to know how to inte-
grate SDN into their environment,
he says. In Vietnam, for example,
service providers are now saying,
Tell me what you have for SDN, be-
cause Im going to want to deploy it
in 2017 or 2018, so I need to under-
stand your hardware roadmap and
platforms for long-haul, DCI and
metro and where SDN fits as part
of your overall solution. So were
seeing more clear plans to move to
implement SDN in the next 18 to 36
months.
Bond-Webster emphasizes that
its the revenue angle that is driving
momentum and convincing CFOs to
invest in SDN rather than network
efficiencies and opex savings. The
two things theyre really looking for
is not the elegant efficiencies you
get with SDN, but how to defend ex-
isting revenues and grow new busi-
ness. Thats what they want. n
 SDN INSIGHTS
212 Q&A
Service assurance is
crucial for SDN success
Sasa Nijemcevic, vice president and general manager for the
Network and Service Management Business Unit at Nokia
Networks, explains how integrated assurance can help new
SDN services run at peak efficiency and meet SLAs
SDN Insights: Automation and optimization have been key
selling points for carrier SDN why is that not enough for
delivering SDN services?
Sasa Nijemcevic: As SDN projects move from limited live
trials to broad deployment and commercialization, providers
are discovering that carrier SDN platforms must also support
integrated assurance capabilities. Assurance has always been a
key part of service fulfillment, but in a world where the dynamic
network consumption patterns of cloud applications makes
network demand and traffic patterns less and less predictable,
the ability to ensure your network and services are doing exactly
what they are supposed to becomes more important than ever.
How can integrated assurance capabilities help?
By integrating assurance with carrier SDN, providers can en-
sure their new SDN services are operational, requested services
SLAs are always met, and the underlying network infrastructure
is always running at peak efficiency. For instance, service fulfill-
ment can be validated with integrated OAM tests at the end of
the SDN service provisioning process. Insightful analytics such
as KPIs and correlations can be used to quickly identify possible
service impacts from changing network conditions, and allow
operators to make whatever changes are necessary to ensure
SLAs are maintained. Assurance data also provides much of the
visibility and intelligence required to make smart services place-
ment decisions in an unpredictable environment where network
resources are consumed and released on demand. Whats not
as obvious is that while assurance can help carrier SDN advance
to the next level, the converse also holds true. When mated with
SDN automation, assurance processes can become just as dy-
namic and efficient as the SDN networks they support.
What has to happen to make assurance processes just as
dynamic as the SDN networks they support?
This is where taking a holistic approach to carrier SDN is a
clear advantage. The analytics/KPIs/correlations that drive as-
surance GUIs and visualizations today must be integrated with
the SDN controller so that they can drive dynamic changes to the
network. This is often referred
to as closed-loop, or dynamic
Sasa Nijemcevic
assurance. Assurance policies
can be used to trigger actions at the services layer to ensure criti-
cal SLAs are met, and at the network layer to ensure serious net-
work congestion is avoided and optimal use is made of network
assets. A comprehensive approach is required to provide optimal
flexibility so that flows can be redirected, new IP/optical paths es-
tablished, and existing IP/optical paths can be resized dynamically
all driven by KPIs/analysis/correlations from both IP and optical
layers, and from both physical and virtual domains.
How should operators be thinking about implementing this?
Its really about figuring out your pain points and zeroing in
on these rather than trying to boil the ocean. This has been the
strategy at our most successful customers. For instance, one is
focusing on delivering dynamic VPN services and is leveraging
dynamic service assurance to check bandwidth utilization and
resize paths as necessary at the IP/optical layer (i.e., by adding
and Ethernet link to a LAG) as part of their SLA offer. Another
use case is leveraging dynamic network assurance by checking
congestion on multiple links/paths to and from datacenters and
dynamically remapping flows to ensure that link efficiency and
customer satisfaction remains high - all without having to make
constant changes to their routing tables.
What are the key challenges in getting this right?
From an implementation perspective, getting dynamic as-
surance right sometimes requires tying into a broader assurance
model, and slowly building trust in the policies that drive auto-
mated assurance processes. From a broader model perspective,
it means being able to abstract the KPIs/analytics/correlations
that come from the multiple domains the carrier SDN platform
controls, and feeding that up to the IT/OSS layer which combines
this data with analytics outside the carrier SDN controllers do-
main. The IT/OSS layer can then decide when to trigger abstract-
ed assurance polices at the SDN layer, based on its analysis of
the broader set of data. n
 SDN INSIGHTS
414 ANALYST VIEW
5G is really a
virtualized FMC play
Fiber access and 5G are critically interdependent, with SDN and
NFV the common denominator between them
Rupert Wood / Analysys Mason
M
ost people who are following 5G develop-
ments will be familiar with the three use
cases that are often used as the commer-
cial justification for 5G: enhanced mobile
broadband, massive connections (that is,
IoT) and ultra-reliable networks.
However, the fixedwireless case shows that there are
really four use cases. Fixedwireless is likely to be the first to
appear, and could be of greater commercial value than the
other three combined for several years to come.
Whether or not this actually happens and there are
sound reasons to be cautious 5G promises to be about
significantly more than mobility. It promises to cut across
fixed and mobile services, supplanting the last 200 meters
of fixed access, possibly swallowing Wi-Fi and even perhaps
competing against LPWA etc., thereby becoming a sort of
universal access network.
This also means that were seeing the emergence of
competing (albeit similar) visions of multi-functional fixed
mobile converged (FMC) networks, with software-defined
networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV)
the common denominator between them.
5G vs NG-PON2
5G has a corollary in, and is, in some but not all respects,
compatible with the NG-PON2 vision of the future of fiber ac-
cess (see Figure 1).
The NG-PON2 vision is that fixed access networks are
about more than consumer and small business broadband.
Orthogonal requirements are met on a single optical infra-
structure by separating functions and service providers onto
discrete optical wavelengths.
The 5G vision is conceptually similar: it allows slice-
able networks that fulfill orthogonal requirements. 5G will
have a single universal air interface, but 5G systems will al-
low different waveforms and frame structures to meet dif-
fering service requirements. In both visions, SDN, NFV and
network orchestration allow for the creation of logical sliced
networks.
It may be that none of the use cases individually justifies
the investment hump (or does so quickly enough to satisfy
investors), but together they do. However, Verizon reckons
that fixed-wireless alone justifies investment in 5G.
Both visions show that fixed technology and 5G are criti-
cally interdependent. NG-PON2 depends on the value of 5G
mobile (plus other small cells, C-RAN); 5G depends on fiber,
and may also depend critically on non-mobile use cases.
The inherent logic of fixed-mobile convergence is net-
work sharing across fixed and mobile. New fiber and mobile
networks will each be sliceable for end-to-end delivery of an
orthogonal range of services, but to unlock the full potential
of 5G and of dense fiber networks more coordinated think-
ing has to happen. Work on coordinating standards across
what have been siloed standards bodies has barely begun
hence a timely plea for more collaboration from Deutsche
Telekoms 5G program manager in July 2016.
In fact, it is possible to draw a similar schematic diagram
for the physical infrastructure layer. Investment in renewal,
or build-out, of utility infrastructure (ducts, poles etc.) works
better if it is treated as a multi-purpose investment. For ex-
ample, ESBs investment in renewing power transmission
infrastructure in Ireland has an improved ROI because it also
enables lower-cost FTTP deployment in otherwise economi-
cally challenging areas for entrant fixed operators.
Holistic investment strategy required
The high costs and mixed revenue potential of 5G will re-
quire operators to take a holistic approach to investment. 5G
is going to cost a lot, and the mainstream use case, that of
enhanced mobile broadband, looks rather weak. 5G requires
overcoming an infrastructure capex hump that is of a differ-
ent order of magnitude from that of LTE, which essentially
optimized the legacy macrocell architecture.
Most of the overall cost will not be for radio equipment:
it will be for infrastructure, planning, gaining access to sites
and labor. This spread of costs is very familiar to fixed tel-
ecoms operators. The investment required (or reuse of exist-
ing sunk-cost assets), and the timescales involved in rollout,

are closer to that of FTTx than what is typical for mobile de-
ployments.
5G will also incur the cost of a virtualized core centralizing
some processing functions and enabling faster software-de-
fined configuration of networks for specific use cases. Virtual-
ization is likely to intensify the need for fiber behind the radio
heads, because unprocessed or semi-processed radio signal
requires fatter pipes than traditional backhaul. In addition, fu-
ture 5G services, especially those that fall into the ultra-relia-
ble use-case category, will require investment in mobile edge
computing (MEC), which pushes in exactly the opposite direc-
tion from the centripetal pull of the virtualized C-RAN.
The revenue outlook, while not bleak, makes it difficult
to justify investment in 5G unless a more holistic approach is
taken:
5G fixedwireless promises some revenue uplift as a po-
tential entrant strategy to fixed broadband and video. For
others, it will be a lower-cost means of delivering fiber-like
services. Fixed broadband services have some revenue
growth potential revenue is currently growing at mid-
single-digit percentage rates worldwide.
5G-enhanced mobile broadband may be useful as a mar-
keting tool for operators that are keen to maintain their
reputation as service leaders. However, gigabit speeds on
smartphones and tablets are probably of little real value
to end-users. The gradual introduction of 4.5G speeds
Two multi-functional visions: 5G vs NG-PON2
SDN INSIGHTS
ANALYST VIEW 15
and capacity into the mobile market does little to boost
revenue and even its impact on traffic volumes seems
short-lived. The European mobile market appears to have
bottomed out, but the revenue outlook is negative in most
other regions.
5G IoT faces challenges from LPWA, and caution is re-
quired about the potential revenue for operators. IoT rev-
enue is about 1% of mobile revenue, and will grow at about
20% per annum worldwide during the next five years.
The ultra-reliable high-performance use case looks fur-
thest out and is hardest to predict, but this is perhaps the
only use case that exploits the unique capabilities in the
5G performance targets.
In a commercial environment where overall revenue
shows at best modest growth, and where the promise of new
revenue streams still looks somewhat remote, fixed and mo-
bile network businesses and even utilities need to share
resources more effectively and pro-actively. Fiber will be the
key enabler of 5G, and 5G might even become the last mile
(or in reality, the last couple of hundred meters) technology of
choice for fixed operators. Unless operators find a commer-
cially successful way to share resources, 5G will become an
impossible capex burden on most, and will be controlled by
too small a number of players for dynamism to flourish. n
Rupert Wood is lead analyst for Fixed Networks and
Wireless Networks at Analysys Mason
Figure 1
Source: Analysys Mason,
August 2016
 SDN INSIGHTS
616 RESEARCH NOTE
Wholesalers see
limited use for SDN
Concerned about reliability and interoperability, international wholesale
carriers are only deploying SDN for a handful of use cases
Catherine Haslam / Ovum
S
oftware-defined networking (SDN) is one of
the hottest topics in telecoms right now and
a concept that appears to fit perfectly with the
demands of international wholesalers for more
efficient, more flexible network infrastructure
and services. However, a lack of interoperable equipment,
limited skillsets, and an inability to extend SDN capabilities
beyond the reach of their own networks mean that inter-
national wholesalers are only deploying SDN for a limited
number of use cases. The international wholesalers that
are most advanced in their rollout of SDN are the disrup-
tive challengers, not the established market leaders.
SDN promises to deliver two major benefits to the net-
work owners that deploy it:
The ability to launch new services more quickly, provi-
sion services more quickly, and support new offerings
and business models including on-demand services
Lower costs due to less expensive equipment and
more efficient use of network resources.
SDN therefore appears to be a natural fit for interna-
tional wholesalers.
However, while the price-sensitive nature and tight
margins associated with the majority of international
wholesale services suggests that the primary drivers of
SDN deployment are efficiency gains and cost savings, this
is not proving to be the case.
Use case 1: Enhanced transport efficiency
The transport efficiency use case for SDN is at best
ahead of its time. The international wholesalers we spoke
to believe that the gains that can be made are at present
unproven and the risks too great. For example, Interoute
outlined its overriding network requirements as scale, sta-
bility, and low cost per bit. Although enhanced transport
efficiency promises lower cost per bit, the risk to network
stability is considered too high.
There is also a widespread belief in the international
wholesale market that existing infrastructures, particularly
G-MPLS, are adaptable enough. Optical vendors already of-
fer software control of their dedicated optical equipment
and this infrastructure is supporting well-provisioned net-
works. Furthermore, for many of the large-scale wholesale
customer segments, over-provisioning remains a credible
and affordable approach to ensuring capacity growth re-
quirements are met.
Use case 2: Bandwidth-on-demand data center
Connectivity into and between data centers is where
the majority of international SDN developments are taking
place, although most are enterprise-focused rather than
wholesale at this stage.
SDN was born in the data center, and international car-
riers are keen to build on the growth of connectivity de-
mands into and out of the data center. Telstra Global, Tata
Communications, Colt, and Telefonica have all targeted this
as the initial point where SDN will be used to enhance ser-
vice portfolios. There are generally two approaches being
taken by international players:
1. On-demand capacity between data centers. This
is a necessary and logical extension of the on-demand phi-
losophy that underpins the cloud. It is also a fast-growing
market. Ovums Data Center Interconnect Forecast: 2015
20 projects that the global market for optical equipment
associated with data center interconnection will grow at a
CAGR of 10% between 2015 and 2020. Long-haul connec-
tivity is a little less at 6%, but it is still an attractive growth
market. Both are indicative of the rate of growth of demand
for data center interconnection services and therefore ap-
peal to wholesalers.
However, there are issues. Firstly, the majority of inter-
national wholesalers do not own a significant number of
their own data centers. According to Ovums Global Data
Center Analyzer 3Q15, 51% of all data centers were carrier-
neutral, and 33% were operated by communications ser-
vice providers (although not necessarily by the same ser-
vice provider). Secondly, the largest webscale companies

driving data center growth on the back of cloud services,
such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, are
building or buying fiber and operating their own services.
Therefore wholesalers can at best only provide one link in
the chain.
With interoperability limited, it becomes even more dif-
ficult to connect data centers with each other via pure-play
on-demand bandwidth. As a result, international carriers
are instead looking at bundling on-demand connectivity
with the cloud.
2. On-demand connectivity bundled with the cloud.
International carriers that also offer enterprise cloud port-
folios are focusing on using SDN to extend the flexibility
of the cloud to the connectivity into and between clouds.
These wholesalers, exemplified by Telstra Global and Tata
Communications, are using SDN in the network to bundle
dynamic connectivity and load balancing in the network
with the compute flexibility of cloud so end-user enterprises
can easily utilize cloud capabilities across multiple clouds.
Extending cloud-like on-demand, pay-as-you-grow, and
pay-for-what-you use models into other high-capacity ser-
vice environments is a natural next step.
Use case 3: Bandwidth-on-demand capacity
As outlined above, Telstra Global has been a leading pro-
ponent of SDN for data center solutions. It is now looking to
develop a connectivity portfolio using SDN. Telstra Global
recently completed a proof-of-concept trial of SDN at the
optical layer that extends the PEN capabilities to its 10, 40,
and 100G high-capacity wholesale services. It is working on
the relevant use cases for wholesale. However, Telstra Glob-
al, like many other international wholesalers, believes these
are limited by the need for SDN interconnection. Further-
more, some international wholesalers are concerned about
the potential for revenue cannibalization.
Although data center-on-demand is a new revenue op-
portunity, extending the same approach to other services
takes it into direct competition with traditional services and
models. Developing on-demand pricing models that mini-
mize cannibalization and still appeal to customers is not a
simple process. It is different from the basic pricing usually
associated with wholesale services and will take time. It is
also very likely that development of on-demand wholesale
services will be led by challenger carriers and not estab-
SDN INSIGHTS
RESEARCH NOTE 17
lished market leaders.
That leaves a single use case for international whole-
sale-specific SDN deployment in the short term: fault re-
covery.
Use case 4: Fault recovery
Undersea cable cuts and terrestrial copper and fiber
faults are commonplace and perennial issues for providers
of long-haul connectivity and their customers. Traditionally,
the risk of outage has been mitigated by providers diver-
sifying their routes and customers purchasing alternative
routes. This is expensive for providers and customers, and
customers are often only willing to pay to diversify when
outages significantly affect their businesses.
SDN provides a far more flexible and low-cost alterna-
tive. With the control plane separated, provisioning can be
done in minutes rather than days or weeks. Furthermore,
with SDN, orchestrators can assess all the network re-
sources available to them and then re-provision to the best
alternative routes. Traffic can be re-routed accordingly in
near-real time.
BICS is doing exactly this with its SatFlex product. SDN
controllers and orchestrators, developed in-house by BICS,
enable it to include satellite in the assessment and re-pro-
visioning of network assets. BICS developed SatFlex based
on customer demands in Africa, where terrestrial outages
are commonplace but customers do not want to use expen-
sive satellite services as a permanent alternative. The SDN
solution enables customers to experience the reliability of
satellite while benefiting from cheaper terrestrial alterna-
tives where available. Also, customers are less concerned
about the reliability and stability of software-based net-
working when the alternative is an outage.
The benefits of such flexible network provisioning
to wholesalers are significant in terms of cost, revenue,
and customer service. However, to date, few international
wholesalers have built a business case around the fault re-
covery use case. Instead it is seen as a positive side effect
of SDN deployments for other, usually enterprise service
developments. This is primarily because despite the mar-
keting hype, SDN in a carrier environment is still very much
in its infancy. n
Catherine Haslam is senior analyst of Wholesale
Telecoms for Ovum
 SDN INSIGHTS
818 PRODUCTS
Ciena Expands
Blue Orbit Ecosystem
C E
iena has added 30 new organizations as members to its
Blue Orbit Ecosystem focused on delivering applications
and infrastructure platforms for real-world, multi-ven-
dor software-defined networking (SDN) and network
functions virtualization (NFV) deployments.
Blue Orbit now includes a total of 64 members, who are
committed to supporting network operators ongoing transfor-
mation to open, programmable and virtualized networks.
Additionally, Ciena has expanded Blue Orbit to reflect a
greater focus on collaboration between customers and eco-
system members by creating four distinct categories: Blue Or-
bit Community Member, DevOps Partner, Service Partner, and
Technology Partner.
Some notable additions to Blue Orbit include Akamai Tech-
nologies, Ammeon, Check Point Software Technologies, EMC,
Netrounds, Open Networking Lab, and Sytel Reply.
Cienas Blue Planet Division enables true end-to-end ser-
vice orchestration and provides a leading network virtualization,
orchestration, and management software suite. n
Level 3 to deliver
NaaS solution
L F
evel 3 Communications is delivering an on-demand net-
work-as-a-service solution on the market using Ciscos
Network Services Orchestrator (NSO), enabled by Tail-f.
The firm said its Adaptive Network Control Solutions
suite leverages the benefits of network automation and SDN to
deliver technology solutions to customers in a rapid, self-service
manner, empowering them to be more agile and competitive.
With the click of a button, Ciscos NSO innovative capabilities
are helping to enable Level 3s customers to roll out new services
in a matter of minutes or days rather than weeks or months.
With the support of NSO, Level 3 developed a programma-
ble wide area net-
work (WAN). The
service provider
can automate the
full range of data
services and multi-
vendor devices in
its markets around
the world. n
Earthlink, VeloCloud
team on SD-WAN
arthlink has formed a partnership with SD-WAN (soft-
ware-defined wide area network) technology provider
VeloCloud, as part of the formers strategy to help cli-
ents transform their business by deploying solutions
that deliver more personalized customer experiences, reduce
cost, and increase sales.
Under the partnership, VeloCloud Cloud-Delivered SD-
WAN will be offered as part of EarthLinks complete suite of
solutions that includes network access, hosted voice, secu-
rity services, optimized application performance, bandwidth
prioritization controls and always-on customer service to
satisfy the needs of a wide range of enterprises.
EarthLink will launch its full-service SD-WAN offering in
fall 2016.
Joe Eazor, CEO and president of Earthlink, said this tech-
nology enables customers to realize the full potential of the
cloud by supporting application growth, network agility and
simplified branch implementations while delivering opti-
mized access to cloud services, private data centers and en-
terprise applications. n
FusionLayer Infinity gets
Nuage Networks seal
usionLayer has secured certification of its Software-
Defined IP Address Management (SD-IPAM) solution,
FusionLayer Infinity, on the Nuage Networks from
Nokia Virtualized Services Platform (VSP).
This certification allows data centers and service provid-
ers to manage both traditional and VSP-enabled software-
defined networks using FusionLayer Infinity as the unified
management solution.
To simplify the network management process, Fusion-
Layer Infinity retrieves the network configurations managed
by VSP automatically and displays the data as contextual in-
formation for real-time visibility and provisioning purposes.
The solution also allows network administrators to select free
networks from existing network blocks and automatically
push them into the VSP for immediate service activation.
FusionLayers unified Software-Defined IP Address Man-
agement (SD-IPAM) solution simplifies this process by pro-
viding multiple orchestrators with an access to shared net-
work data. n
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