Nokia, A1, Microsoft to pioneer inaugural 5G edge cloud network slicing solution
Nokia and A1 Austria (A1) have announced the completion of the first-ever 5G edge cloud network slicing trial in collaboration with Microsoft. This trial took place in Vienna, Austria, utilizing Nokia’s 5G edge slicing solution combined with Microsoft Azure managed edge compute on A1’s live commercial network. The aim was to deliver enterprise cloud applications to mobile users through a secure, high-capacity, and low-latency network.
During the trial, A1 showcased real-time HD video streaming by transmitting live camera feeds from various mobile devices using Multicasting.io’s streaming mobile platform on the Azure edge infrastructure. This innovative solution opens up opportunities for enterprises across industries like retail, media, utilities, healthcare, and transportation, allowing them to leverage mobile operators’ networks for their specific needs.
Nokia’s 5G edge slicing solution empowers operators to harness the benefits of both network slicing and edge cloud capabilities, offering tailored support for different customers’ use cases and applications based on specific network requirements such as performance, quality, latency, and security.
Speaking about the 5G edge cloud network slicing trial, Marcus Grausam, CEO of A1: says: “We are excited to lead the industry with the deployment of edge cloud network slicing with Nokia and Microsoft Azure.
“This innovative solution enables A1 to deliver secure, reliable and high-performance enterprise VPN services integrated with edge cloud applications over our 4G/LTE and 5G networks. This collaboration opens up new business opportunities and demonstrates our commitment to delivering innovative services for our enterprise customers, as well as realizing the full potential of 5G technology.”
In the trial, A1 was able to segregate its public internet and enterprise traffic while ensuring that critical business data remained local, thanks to Nokia’s solution. According to the company, this was achieved through 4G/5G core breakout for enterprise edge cloud applications, implementing network slices across Devices-RAN-Transport-Core-Edge cloud applications. The result was an enhanced enterprise user experience characterized by low latency, high bandwidth, network performance, quality, security, and manageability.
“This deployment with our partners, A1 and Microsoft is further demonstrating Nokia’s leadership in network slicing as well as our mission to help our customers unlock further 5G monetization opportunities,” adds Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia.
“Edge cloud network slicing gives customers the best of both worlds with network slicing and edge cloud applications that enhance the enterprise customer experience.”
Moreover, Nokia’s solution includes the provision of a sliced mobile broadband VPN in targeted business areas like campuses or city environments. This scalable approach supports multiple enterprise VPN deployments on the same 4G/5G network, compatible with all 4G/5G devices including multi-slice smartphones equipped with URSP (UE Route Selection Policy) for diverse applications.
Silvia Candiani, vice president, telecommunications and media at Microsoft, concludes: “Our collaboration with A1 and Nokia, and the deployment of network slicing using Microsoft Azure, is a testament to our commitment to innovation.
“As we redefine connectivity, we’re also providing opportunities to industry leaders like A1 and Nokia to tap into the large Microsoft ecosystem of enterprise developers and solution providers to help drive new monetization efforts.”
The trial’s execution with Azure demonstrates the support for enterprise private and public applications at both operator and enterprise edges. Azure managed edge compute was deployed at A1’s Vienna data center, in a bid to ensure connectivity to the Azure region in Austria.
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