Recently I saw that Telefónica, one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the world, announced that it would keep its existing white box hardware from Edgecore Networks at more than 1,000 locations, but swap in software from a new vendor, Adtran.
According to Telefónica’s Cayetano Carbajo, “I believe this is the first time that router software has been replaced [in this way].” He added, “This is how it should be, changing the vendor without visiting the site.”
That’s just one data point in a movement toward disaggregation of hardware from software that’s been picking up steam across telecom. In a quick search, I saw similar announcements from other companies, including MTN Group, the largest mobile operator in Africa, implementing white box transponders from NEC Corporation that can be programmed to run any vendor’s software—a first for that continent where affordability and flexibility are greatly needed. According to MTN, “This disaggregation leads to cost reductions, accelerates innovation, and enables quicker and easier deployment of new network services.”
Besides routers and transponders, a number of communications industry groups have initiatives underway, especially The Telecom Infra Project (TIP), which has hundreds of participating companies in project groups running the gamut from OpenOptical to OpenLAN to Non-Terrestrial Connectivity.
Because of our stovepiped history, space is a networking domain that can particularly benefit from disaggregation, virtualization and open standards efforts.
Johannes Springer of Deutsche Telekom speaking at the recent ESA Commercialization Days: Transportation conference noted, “Very often— and I can say this after collaboration with the space industry for 20 years— the satellite industry has problems with standards. They are creating encapsulated systems, not taking into account that something is already there.”
“I want to organize a system that creates added value, and to integrate this system into an existing ecosystem that is based on standards,” he added. “In the terrestrial world, we have standards¬: 3GPP, 5G and going to 6G. We need to talk 5G on the satellites.”
Standards and disaggregation aren’t the same thing, of course, but you can’t have the second without the first. And it’s the disaggregation of software and logic from hardware that fully enables companies to optimize beyond proprietary vertical networks to embrace innovation across the entire ecosystem.
