HPE intros Open, as-a-Service 5G portfolio designed for Telcos

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced a new portfolio of as-a-service offerings to help telecommunications companies build and deploy open 5G networks. The portfolio will accelerate telcos’ path to revenue growth with 5G and enable them to rapidly deploy 5G services to deliver dynamic, personalized, and real-time experiences to employees, customers and citizens.

HPE's edge-to-cloud, platform as-a-service strategy is uniquely positioned to help telcos capitalize on the 5G opportunity, by leveraging a cloud-native software stack for 5G core, optimized telco core and edge infrastructure blueprints, and Wi-Fi 6 enabled services. Built on open and interoperable platforms combined with carrier grade infrastructure and modular software components, the portfolio of offerings allows telcos to incorporate more automation, become more agile, and deploy new 5G services faster across the telco core, the telco edge and into the enterprise.

· At the telco core – a new HPE 5G Core Stack. This open, cloud-native, container-based software stack provides telco customers with the core network capabilities required to rapidly deliver new 5G services to subscribers and enterprise customers.

· At the telco edge – HPE continues to innovate with the most dense, ruggedized general purpose platform enabling Virtual Radio Access Networks (vRAN) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC). These purpose built offerings from HPE provide telcos with an IT service environment at the cellular network edge.

· At the enterprise edge – innovative Aruba Central services, including Air Pass Wi‑Fi/5G roaming and Air Slice SLA management. These services help telcos extend the 5G footprint to the enterprise edge – where people, devices and things interact to drive positive business outcomes – by allowing seamless access to Wi-Fi connected users and IoT devices.

· Infrastructure delivered as-a-service with HPE GreenLake - available via a pay-as-you-go, managed services and elastic model, these offerings provide telcos with an attractive, fast ramp for rolling out 5G services by enabling them to reduce upfront capital investments and reduce risk by leveraging specialized and proven telco and enterprise edge hardware and software.

“Openness is essential to the evolutionary nature of 5G and with HPE 5G Core Stack telcos can reduce operational costs, deploy features faster and keep themselves open to multiple networks and technologies while avoiding being locked-in to a single vendor approach,” said Phil Mottram, Vice President and General Manager of the Communications and Media Solutions business unit at HPE. “HPE has one of the broadest 5G portfolios in the market and is uniquely positioned to help telcos build an open multi-vendor 5G core, optimize the edge with vRAN, and deliver connectivity and new compute services to the enterprise using MEC and Wi-Fi 6.”

HPE’s open 5G portfolio offers the solution to the 5G challenges at the core, at the edge, and in the enterprise and promises to unleash the potential of 5G, enabling a host of new applications across a range of industries, including automotive, education, financial services, government, manufacturing and utilities.

These edge-to-cloud 5G-ready technologies are available on a pay-as-you-go or subscription basis via HPE GreenLake to help accelerate the rollout of 5G infrastructure without upfront capital outlays and to help manage the uncertainty of timing and sizing their 5G deployments. With HPE GreenLake, telcos can grow and expand their network as new users come online and pay monthly based on measured utilization. Through HPE GreenLake, the 5G infrastructure can be operated on behalf of the customer to free up resources to focus on innovation at the network and enterprise edge.

Availability

The full HPE 5G Core Stack will be available globally in the second half of 2020 through HPE GreenLake as-a-service.

HPE’s telco optimized edge and core blueprints, and the telco edge optimized platform HPE Edgeline EL8000 are available today, directly or through HPE GreenLake.

Aruba Air Pass and Aruba Air Slice are generally available today.