Samsung and VMware, a global provider of software and services, announced a partnership aimed at the 5G infrastructure market. With the agreement, VMware's containerization and function virtualization solutions will be incorporated into Samsung's access network, core and edge portfolio.
The two companies have already worked together in the South Korean giant's laboratory to “optimize and accelerate” product integration. With the partnership, companies plan to offer "an automated network that prioritizes the cloud, designed to simplify management and operations, while reducing operating costs".
According to a statement, the agreement also targets the OpenRAN architecture and open networks that have been gaining momentum in the industry, including from virtualized access networks (vRAN). "With innovative and open 5G networks starting to transform the market, Samsung sees value in providing operator-level solutions with VMware," said VP and head of strategy for Samsung Electronics' network unit, Wonil Roh.
"The infrastructure that supports 5G will depend on virtualized and containerized network functions delivered from software-defined edge and telco cloud platforms," said Shekar Ayyar, executive vice president and general manager, Telco and Edge Cloud Business Unit, VMware. "We are excited to work with Samsung to provide solutions that take advantage of the VMware Telco Cloud portfolio to help CSPs take advantage of this 5G momentum and become innovators from leading technologies," he added.
The partnership is part of the movement around OpenRAN, in which interfaces are opened and systems are disaggregated in the mobile network infrastructure. The promise is that the use of open standards will open the market to more competitors, since the infrastructure equipment no longer runs with proprietary software alone. For operators, there is a promise of cost savings and greater speed in the implementation of new services.
