BT Makes Progress Building New UK Cloud Core Network

ISP BT has picked Canonical’s Charmed OpenStack on Ubuntu – the latter of which is an open source Linux based Operating System (OS) – as a key component of its next generation 5G Core network. Canonical will provide the open source Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) as part of BT’s Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) program.

The operator said that this open source cloud-based approach “will ensure that BT can quickly deploy new services, and increase capacity to stay ahead of customer demand,” which is increasingly going to be driven by future 5G mobile and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband services.

BT said the Openstack cloud software will enable the separation of network hardware and software, turning Core network components into software applications, meaning they can be updated faster with continuous integration and development. This separation allows different network applications to share the same hardware across data centres, making the network more resilient and scalable when additional capacity is needed.

“The speed at which software can be updated compared to replacing core network equipment will lead to a new way of working for the development of 5G services where BT can build new services in weeks and deploy in days,” said the announcement.

Neil J. McRae, BT’s Chief Network Architect, said:

“Canonical is providing us with the ‘cloud-native’ foundation that enables us to create a smart and fully converged network. Utilising open source and best-of-breed technologies will ensure we can deliver on our convergence vision, and enable a world-leading 5G and FTTP experience for our customers.”

Under the current roadmap BT (EE) aims to introduce their new cloud-based full 5G Core from 2022, which supports their vision for a converged all-IP network to be implemented within the same time-frame (here). Future developments will also introduce Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Network Slicing and multi-Gigabit speeds to 5G.

Most of the major operators are going down the cloud core route and Three UK is another recent example (here), although BT obviously has a much bigger job on its hands due to their mixed fixed line and mobile networks; as well as the need to support legacy services.