Ericsson and Cisco to virtualise Vodafone Hutchison Australia’s core and IP network

• Ericsson will lead the transformation program, having responsibility for not only building the infrastructure but ensuring the delivery of an end-to-end operational system.
• Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) aims to increase network agility, reduce opex and capex, deploy services faster, and improve customer experience.
• The project is the first major collaboration between Ericsson and Cisco on Telecom Cloud infrastructure and supports VHA’s core and IP network evolution towards network slicing.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) will transform and virtualise Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA)’s networks for VHA to better prepare for new emerging services and to evolve its core network to increase the level of agility and programmability from network slicing.

Through simplification of its network and infrastructure, VHA will benefit from having the tools to become more agile, innovative and more pro-active in the way services are brought to market, ultimately resulting in improved customer engagement experience alongside reductions in opex and capex spend.

The deal represents the first major collaboration between Ericsson and Cisco on Telecom Cloud infrastructure.

Kevin Millroy, Chief Technology Officer, VHA, says: “Ericsson and Cisco are our existing providers of core and routing functions making them good partners to move into a virtualized environment. This transformation allows us to introduce new applications to drive innovation and improve customer services and user experience. The new infrastructure opens the door to new business models and markets, such as Internet of Things for Vodafone – we are excited about the future prospects this partnership offers.”

Rima Qureshi, Head of Region North America and responsible for the strategic partnership with Cisco at Ericsson says: “This major transformation deal clearly demonstrates Ericsson’s global end-to-end transformation and operations capabilities as a trusted transformation partner. As the first collaboration between Ericsson and Cisco on Telecom Cloud infrastructure, it also shows how our global partnership is speeding digital transformation for customers across industries.

“As the Prime Integrator, Ericsson is taking responsibility for integration of the Ericsson and Cisco, not only building the infrastructure, but ensuring the delivery of an end-to-end operational system.”

Yvette Kanouff senior vice president, general manager, service provider business, Cisco, says: “Cisco and Ericsson have been working with key strategic accounts around the globe to validate a telecom cloud infrastructure. This broad and significant engagement with VHA demonstrates how our two companies are utilizing our complementary assets to deliver technical and commercial innovation and systems integration leadership to the benefit of our customers.”

The joint architecture solution comprises of Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System and software components such as Ericsson Cloud Execution Environment, Ericsson Cloud Manager, Cloud SDN controller; together with Cisco WAN Automation Engine, Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO), Cisco IP Network VNFs including IOS XR 9000v and Cloud Services Router 1000v, and both virtualized and physical security technologies such as the Adaptive Security Appliance and Cisco Firepower security gateway, along with services and support. This builds on VHA’s selection, in 2014, of Ericsson to replace and upgrade VHA’s complete core network, including virtual EPC and virtual IMS/ Voice over LTE.

Ericsson and Cisco – two industry leaders in the development and delivery of networking, mobility, and cloud – formed a global business and technology partnership in November 2015 to create the networks of the future. The partnership offers customers the best of both companies: routing, data center, networking, cloud, mobility, management and control, and global services capabilities. The next-generation strategic partnership will drive growth, accelerate innovation, and speed digital transformation demanded by customers across industries. To date, over 250 active customer engagements have now started to turn into won deals. More than 60 deals, spread around the world, are in IP (routing and transport) and services. The companies announced deals with 3 Italy, Vodafone Portugal, Aster Dominican Republic and Cable & Wireless in Caribbean in 2016.

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