AT&T, Orange team up to create open SDN, NFV standards

AT&T (NYSE: T) and Orange are joining hands in a new agreement to collaborate on new open source activities related to SDN and NFV, aiming at developing new standards carriers can follow as they implement virtualization in their networks.  

Set on achieving three goals -- simplify technological integration, increase operational efficiency and reduce costs – the two service providers said that they will identify forums for industry standardization discussions to drive standardization efforts forward.

While AT&T, Orange and other large global service providers are moving along a virtualization path, these companies are faced with overcoming a set of proprietary standards, closed architectures and multiple equipment vendors that have different platforms and specifications.

Similar to other industry efforts related to establishing common interconnection processes for Ethernet, introducing a common set of common standards and interfaces will result in shorter deployment cycles and a faster pace of innovation for service providers implementing NFV and SDN into their networks.

Leveraging a network-centric approach, AT&T and Orange aim to make the SDN and NFV vision and benefits more accessible for both businesses by focusing on three main areas: creating common CPE that work in various service provider environments and interoperate with other software providers; streamlining the onboarding process for virtual network functions (VNFs) by introducing common guidelines and templates; and developing standardized APIs that will enable SDN architectures from different NSPs to interoperate with each other.

Driving the industry toward a standardized approach will reduce the cost and complexity created by proprietary implementation of equipment in the network and on the customer premise," said Roman Pacewicz, SVP of offer management and service integration for AT&T Business Solutions, in a release. 

While service providers are still working out their plans, AT&T, Orange and others are moving fast on the NFV and SDN trail. According to a new IHS report, the NFV market will scale from $2.7 billion today to $15.5 billion by 2020.

For more:
- see the release

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