In late Q1 2023, VMWare, Inc. announced product improvements and new partnerships to meet the needs of their Communications Service Providers (CSPs) clients. The shift will help organizations like DISH Wireless, SoftBank, and Vodaphone Qatar produce more opportunities from 5G networks—such as increasing flexibility and speed while reducing latency. VMWare’s four areas of focus were:
- Improving efficiency through the use of its Telco cloud platform,
- Moving toward a virtualized radio access network (RAN) with principles of open RAN in mind,
- Assisting CSPs in building smarter networks through VMWare’s RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) program, and
- Exploring opportunities at the edge.
VMWare’s new programs simplify operations for engineers who already work in the cloud, or are considering migrating their work to the cloud. The programs also allow companies more flexibility and agility to optimize their networks to their needs.
VMWare sees 2023 as a time for CSPs to modernize networks and monetize services. For instance Sanjay Uppal, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Service Provider and Edge Business Unit for Vmware said, “Enterprises are seeking more secure, reliable and better delivery of apps, data and services to the edge for branch offices, factory floors, clinics and retail stores... We’re announcing innovations to help our customers with their transformation efforts by delivering multi-cloud solutions for service providers and enhanced networking and security capabilities to support the needs at the edge.”
With better access to the 5G network, CSPs gain the ability to capture more data at the edge through digitization. This gives them the potential to make more intelligent decisions and to automate those processes.
Collaborations Include New Devices and Accelerated Networking for VNFs
VMWare’s offerings help CSPs modernize their networks in a few ways, including:
- Deploying the VMware Telco cloud platform. The Telco cloud is a combination of network and computing resources distributed across sites and clouds. The infrastructure utilizes automation and AI.
- Accelerating networking and security performance for Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) and Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs). This makes networks faster and guards against cyberattacks. The improvement in performance includes enhanced network observability and increases in the host resources available to applications.
- Offering Data Processing Unit (DPU)-based acceleration of lateral security features like distributed firewalls and
- Improving energy efficiency use cases for 4G/5G core load balancing needs.
VMWare also shared how its Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework is structured. The SMO framework allows a CSP to deploy a tailor-made multi-vendor, multi-cloud 5G RAN with end-to-end automation, assurance and optimization. The SMO framework follows the approach of the O-RAN alliance, a group of mobile operators and vendors as well as academic and research institutions which want to reshape RANs. The O-RAN alliance seeks to make RANs more open, intelligent, virtualized and interoperable.
In addition, VMWare recently shared changes that enhance edge connectivity and increase intelligent wireless capabilities for software-defined network in a wide area network (SD-WAN) and secure access service edge (SASE) customers. These included:
- An invitation to select customers and partners, including Nature Fresh Farms and Presidio, to evaluate the VMware SD-WAN Client across remote user and edge device use cases. The software provides a cloud-hosted, software-only solution to extend VMWare’s SD-WAN as a remote access service. That helps connect any user on any device to any application in a simple, scalable and secure way.
- An introduction to VMware’s certified professional education program and certificate for VMware SD-WAN and SASE. The offerings allow partners and customers to identify and train professionals to utilize VMware SD-WAN solutions. The career certifications will have two levels, VMWare Certified Professional (VCP) and VMWare Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP).
As an example of how a customer could use the SD-WAN Client to improve communication, VMWare provided a case study from Nature Fresh Farms, a Canadian greenhouse produce grower. The VMWare SD-WAN Client gave Nature Fresh Farms employees the ability to connect to the SD-WAN from multiple locations and different devices. This would allow the team, separated by time and distance, to work together in real time, securely and with minimal latency.
Customer Reactions and Changes to the Partner Programs
Engineers considering moving to the cloud can review how VMWare’s customers are currently using their services. For instance, SoftBank, a Japanese holding company, used VMWare’s Telco cloud platform to create a horizontal, common infrastructure. SoftBank used this infrastructure to deliver customized telecommunications hardware and software to its customers. SoftBank’s most recent project involved creating a private 5G service for customers. This service could be managed and monitored in the same way as a public 5G core network.
Vodafone Qatar provides telecommunications services like voice and messaging for consumers and businesses in Qatar. It is using VMWare’s Telco cloud platform to bring new 5G services to the market. At the same time, Vodafone Qatar seeks to decrease complexity and expense in its IT and networks. Uppal says Vodafone Qatar’s use of the platform allows the company to build a more reliable, agile and scalable network.
At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023, VMWare stated DISH Wireless continues to make progress in using the VMWare Telco cloud platform as a base for the U.S.’s first 5G cloud-native Open Radio Access Network.
VMWare’s news from MWC 2023 also included additions to the partner ecosystem. VMWare’s Ready for Telco Cloud program allows VNF and CNF vendors to verify that third-party VNFs and CNFs are interoperable and have operational readiness. An increased library of functions also gives customers more functions that meet their needs. In February 2023, the program surpassed 300+ CNFs. Recent certifications include Accedian Networks and 6WIND VSR. By sharing this certification process, VMWare has reduced network function onboarding time with VMWare Telco Cloud Automation.
Concerns Regarding Competition Stall Acquisition
With all of this news going forward, VMWare still expects to be acquired by semiconductor chipmaker Broadcom. Should the transaction finalize, Broadcom will rebrand and operate as VMWare.
However, the deal remains under scrutiny in the U.S., U.K. and the E.U. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking to determine whether Broadcom’s chips could block hardware competitors from interoperating with VMWare’s software. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the U.K.’s antitrust regulator, made the decision to refer to a Phase 2 investigation. In mid-March 2023, E.U. antitrust regulators extended their deadline to make a decision on the acquisition until June 21.