Virtualised VoLTE and the mobile operator opportunity

Technology News | May 12, 2015

By eeNews Europe

In today’s digital age, technology innovation is commonplace for internet companies and OTT service providers. Not a month goes by without some new-fangled service or application – Periscope and Meerkat the latest examples – being introduced to the public.

But it’s a different story in the telecoms world. The innovation cycle is much slower, due in part to the difficulty operators have in getting their ideas implemented quickly and inexpensively by equipment vendors; and in part due the emphasis on the physical deployment, integration and commission of new hardware into the network. This process, which happens first for the test network and then for the live one, can prove to be costly and time-intensive, and ultimately impacts how quickly operators can modify and improve their networks. The result is often a telecoms industry that is left lagging behind in an otherwise fast-changing technology market, as operators struggle to react, innovate and ultimately compete.

VoLTE as the vehicle for innovation

Operators therefore need to find the missing cog in the wheel that will help the cycle of innovation move that little bit faster. While VoLTE has been purported to be the vehicle for much-needed service innovation, vendor and operator views on the technology point to it simply being an exercise in recreating today’s voice-calling experience on an IP-network, rather than anything too ground breaking. Many telecoms experts still perceive VoLTE as little more than layering an old service onto a new technology – albeit with some network efficiency gains – so it’s no surprise that operators aren’t rushing in to it. According to Ovum, only 4% of 4G networks operating today have launched VoLTE services.

The barriers to adopting VoLTE

So what’s turning operators off VoLTE? The perceived costs and time constraints associated with implementing the necessary changes to their core networks, for one. Add to that the uncertainty of how quickly they can undergo the migration of their subscriber base, and the availability (or lack thereof) of VoLTE-enabled handsets, and the gap between the theory and the real-world application of VoLTE becomes ever wider in their minds. Many of these assumed barriers are based on the idea that the traditional deployment of telecoms equipment is required, which is no longer the case. Virtualisation can provide a better path to innovation.

Every cloud has a VoLTE lining

Harnessing a cloud-based service-layer can help operators transform their communication networks and support the deployment of new services, such as VoLTE, more competitively. Not only does the use of cloud servers negate the need for the physical deployment of network equipment, but it also allows operators to scale cloud-based solutions up or down, depending on the need for capacity at any given moment, in a matter of minutes. By reducing deployment costs, this ‘grow-on-demand’ scalability acknowledges the uncertainty many operators feel towards VoLTE migration rates.

Virtualisation plays a crucial role as an enabler for operators in deploying innovative services like VoLTE with more speed and urgency. While there are standards for VoLTE (a common set of services and features) that will remain the same for all operator implementations, real differentiation will be borne out of moving beyond the “standard”. Operators are missing opportunities to differentiate by ignoring the potential of virtualisation for improving service innovation.

Harnessing the cloud for service innovation

The cloud can offer so much more to operators when used to improve service innovation. For example, traditional test networks do not provide flexibility in terms of making improvements quickly and easily – new changes need to be scheduled in advance, and wait their turn in the queue. Furthermore, the test network is an expensive, scarce resource: some new ideas get blocked simply because uncertainty in the reward fails to secure a slot for the innovation in the test schedule. But virtualisation opens up a new model – instead, it provides developers with a completely new cloud-based ‘test’ network.

This DevOps mentality (an innovation model where development and operational deployment are closely linked) is a useful tool for those operators looking to win and retain high-value enterprise customers. With cloud-based virtualised network functions, each developer group can have their own miniature test network: they can then develop, deploy and test without hindrance. It’s how it happens in other industries, so why not telecoms? By developing new services in this agile DevOps manner operators can provide their customers with innovation that enriches the communication experience.

Of course, there is a tacit assumption here: that the developers themselves have independent freedom to develop, without reliance on equipment vendors to implement the innovation. That would require products that were open to third party development – another conversation altogether.

The innovative and competitive benefits for the operator are clear – in addition to reducing time and cost usually spent on traditional deployment, virtualisation of the service-layer significantly and positively impacts communication service innovation, as well as competitive differentiation for consumer and enterprise services.

Virtualisation as the path to transformation

As Thomas Edison once said: “If there’s a way to do it better, find it.” To remain competitive, the telecoms industry can no longer follow traditional processes and let the chips fall where they may. Instead, it needs to be proactive in finding more efficient ways to achieve innovation at a faster pace, in order to become more agile and better serve customers in the longer-term. Cloud-based service-layers, underpinned by virtualisation, offer a path to transformation, providing operators with the tools they need to collaborate alongside vendors, developers and end-users to create unique VoLTE services. Some operators are already leading the charge of this new model. The question for the rest of the operators in the industry is whether they will follow, or allow others to vault over them when it comes to making the most of the VoLTE opportunity.

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