OREANDA-NEWS. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) announced that Swisscom, Switzerland’s leading telecommunications provider, will deploy new virtual network functions using HPE OpenNFV solutions.

In order to adapt more quickly to changing demands and respond to emerging competitors, communications service providers (CSPs) need to be able to rapidly deliver new revenue generating innovations. Network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies enable CSPs to innovate and launch new services faster, easier and at a lower cost through the virtualization of telecommunications core networks and network functions.

Swisscom is one of the first CSPs worldwide to take advantage of NFV to offer virtual customer premise equipment (vCPE) to its business customers. Previously, its network functions were deployed at an end customer’s location, which required dedicated on-site appliances. This led to significant CAPEX as well as expensive “truck rolls” for onsite installation and service calls. Swisscom’s new vCPE model allows it to manage its customers’ network infrastructure from a centralized location, providing networking services on-demand, leading to lower costs, faster service deployments and higher service availability. Additionally, the new vCPE model enables Swisscom to quickly deliver future value-added services to its customers.

“Delivering networking services to our customers in a timely manner is our number one priority in this project – we were looking for lower cost as well as faster and easier ways to deliver services, which was a challenge when running our network functions on-premises,” said John de Keijzer, Head of Development, Swisscom. “By partnering with HPE, we were able to quickly design, develop and integrate a new product based on of full automation, virtualized production and fast time to service.”

Swisscom will utilize a number of HPE technologies, including HPE Virtual Services Router for managing firewall and routing, HPE Service Director for orchestration and HPE Technology Services for consulting and implementation to deploy a low cost vCPE solution.

“We are committed to helping communications service providers get from ‘now to next,’” said Saar Gillai, senior vice president and general manager, Communications Solutions Business, HPE. “Our work on Swisscom’s vCPE implementation is a strong example of how CSPs can leverage current investments, while virtualizing their networks to expand into new markets in a more efficient and agile way.”

The HPE approach to NFV is built around adherence to openness and standards, a key benefit of which is the ability to enable other telco ecosystem vendors to introduce new innovations on top of the HPE OpenNFV platform, including network equipment providers, independent software vendors and systems integrators. This allows CSPs to choose different components from the vendors that best meet their needs, accelerating NFV deployments and providing customers a simplified end-to-end experience from ordering, to deployment, operations, lifecycle management and services.