According to ABI Research, spending on virtualised mobile networks by telecom operators is expected to reach $6 billion by 2018. An increasing number of service providers will adopt virtualisation, starting with the services plane and following with the control and data planes of modern 3G and 4G networks.
For example, Nokia Solutions and Networks (formerly Nokia Siemens Networks) has taken the lead in virtualising its Liquid Core network with commercial Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture and HP servers, and is aligned with network functions virtualisation.
The research firm notes that infrastructure vendors with proprietary systems are also moving to support virtualisation on their platforms and are expected to deliver similar transformational benefits to their installed base. The telecom industry is looking to leverage the scale economies and service velocity of the IT industry. Operators have started considering commercial IT servers for their core networks for potential capital expenditure (capex) savings. ABI Research believes that capex savings will exceed operational expenditure savings.
Joe Hoffman, practice director, ABI Research, says, ?Software defined networking and network NFV are shaping up to fundamentally change the nature of the telecom industry.?
