- Comcast teamed with DriveNets to disaggregate its hardware and software nationwide
- The goal is to increase efficient use of its hardware and enable new services via a self-healing and consumable network
- The move is straight out of the cloud playbook - but Comcast isn't the only one making such a change
Telecom operators have been eyeballing the cloud model for a while now. Now it seems they’ve finally worked up the nerve to go for it. And they’re just in time.
“You will not be able to implement AI tools in the existing network of today,” which is hardware-centric with monolithic routers and disparate data modeling, DriveNets Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Hillel Kobrinsky told Fierce. “We are transforming it into a [software-based] cloud architecture…it’s the baseline to be ready to absorb all those coming tools.”
DriveNets' role in disaggregating networks
Comcast became the latest to go all in on cloud mimicry, teaming with DriveNets to fully disaggregate its core network by decoupling its hardware from the software running on it. Comcast Cable Chief Network Officer Elad Nafshi told Fierce the move is an expansion of its earlier decision to deploy its virtual cable modem termination system (vCMTS) as software running on edge cloud locations throughout its network.
The idea, of course, is that by decoupling its hardware from the software layer, Comcast can use the underlying hardware resources more efficiently, run routing virtually and automate the network, ultimately cutting costs. Nafshi said it also adds more capacity, scale and AI capabilities to its operation.
“What I’m excited about is being able to drive end-to-end automation as we’re rolling this out,” Nafshi said. “When you think about the ability to self-heal on a national level, service optimize on a national level, optimize the service down to consumer’s level, down to the home on a national level – that is what gives me goosebumps.”
It also means the network – much like the cloud – can become a consumable resource that users like consumers and mid-sized companies can self-provision. Think spinning up a cloud instance, only it’s network connectivity. Appealing, right?
“This will allow them to grow their topline,” Kobrinsky said.
Indeed, Nafshi cryptically hinted that we will be hearing a “lot more” from Comcast about edge cloud applications this year.
Comcast’s shift to cloud-based networking
Comcast’s shift toward cloud-like operation (complete with a CI/CD approach) has been in the works for a while now. Nafshi told Fierce in February 2024 that it was looking to extend its disaggregation and virtualization efforts beyond the vCMTS. Late last year, Comcast formally announced its Janus initiative, a program to virtualize and disaggregate its core network, and shift critical functions like routing switching and transport to the edge cloud.
Janus kicked off with a trial in Atlanta, conducted alongside DriveNets. Now, that initiative has been expanded nationwide.
But Comcast isn’t the only one making this shift. DriveNets has also teamed with AT&T, Orange and KDDI. At MWC, AT&T Network CTO Yigal Elbaz noted 840 petabytes of traffic a day runs on AT&T’s disaggregated network which runs DriveNets software. KDDI has deployed DriveNets’ tech in its peering network and is eyeing core deployments while Orange just completed testing.
“It’s about changing the cost structure. They have no choice, they need to do it,” Kobrinsky explained, noting operators face stiff competition on prices and have to continuously pour tons of money into network investment to accommodate rising traffic. The journey, he added, can take anywhere from two to four years.
But once complete, Kobrinsky said, operators can not only fully leverage AI but also use new self-provisioning capabilities to tackle new markets (like small and medium businesses) that are currently too big a lift with too little margin.
“Three years ago, four years ago, there were very few early adopters,” he concluded. “But now we’re seeing they’re not questioning ‘is it the right direction,’ but asking us how to start this journey.”