By now, it has become clear that 5G is a very different kind of network transformation than 4G. Not only does 5G change the network architecture but it also changes the network ecosystem. Where 3G and 4G transformation were driven mostly by the telco industry, 5G will require a much broader and open partner ecosystem that includes third-party software vendors, cloud service providers, IT vendors from the enterprise world, and enterprises themselves.
The question now is: Where will this ecosystem be found? Traditional telco network equipment vendors, many of whom have based their business model on proprietary solutions, lack the incentive to integrate and validate multivendor solutions. As for the telco operators themselves, they are understandably reluctant to take on the work of managing and hosting multiple partners from such diverse universes as bare-metal servers and storage, RAN/vRAN systems, cloud platforms, and cloud-native mobile cores.
Dell’s business approach, on the other hand, has been based on bringing together the world’s leading hardware, software, and cloud vendors to build, integrate, and validate best-of-breed solutions for our customers. So, when it came time to look to 5G and the future, Dell immediately began to think about how we could help bring vendors together to accelerate 5G solutions and services. The result is the Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab (OTEL) Solution Integration Platform. Read the full article here.