AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) may be grabbing a lot of headlines for their network virtualization plans, but European service providers like Orange and Vodafone are being no less aggressive with their NFV and SDN migrations.
Being a large incumbent telco, Orange is taking what they call a "function by function" approach to implementing NFV and SDN into its network by launching services only when they bring benefits. The service provider has been testing an SDN-enabled virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) solution and plans to introduce this gradually to its customers, for example.
Likewise, Vodafone has developed an NFV strategy codenamed Ocean that it says will form the basis for the transformation of all 26 national operators within the Vodafone group. Vodafone's business customers are key focus with SDN- and NFV-based VPN services cited as the first service it will launch.
Check out FierceWirelessEurope's special report here.