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• 2degrees and Nokia sign six-year 5G cloud native deal in NZ
  in Business Telecommunications
  By Josh Martinez

  Kiwi telecoms provider 2degrees has inked a six-year Voice Core deal with Nokia, which will see the operator tap Nokia’s containerised Cloud Native Communication Suite (CNCS) to deploy new 5G services and optimise network resources.

  According to Nokia, CNCS makes it easier for operators like 2degrees to deploy multiple vendors’ applications on the same cloud infrastructure, streamline network activities, enhance automation, and minimise manual intervention.

  "2degrees will utilise CNCS to bring together multiple IMS voice 3GPP functionalities into a single cloud-native network function," says Nokia.

  "It will be deployed on the Nokia Cloud Platform, which integrates a full set of Red Hat cloud products, including Red Hat OpenShift."

  Stephen Kurzeja, CTIO at 2degrees said the CNCS provides the operator with a much-simplified core architecture that enables new monetisation and innovation pathways to enhance the subscriber experience and further optimise how 2degrees manages its network with new automation tools.

  “We are happy to expand our relationship with Nokia as we continue to modernise our network,” said Kurzeja.

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  Nokia says integrating with Red Hat OpenShift gives operators the option to scale their 5G network footprint and quickly introduce new services with enhanced capacity, performance, life cycle management, automation, and energy management.

  CNCS improves energy efficiency by about 10% to 20%, relative to a standard IMS Voice Core, according to Nokia data.

  “We are pleased to extend our collaboration with 2degrees with Nokia’s flexible and reliable cloud-native CNCS architecture,” said Wilson Maria, Head of Cloud and Network Services, Oceania at Nokia.

  "This will enable the roll-out of new innovative services more quickly, securely, and without limitations in multi-cloud environments to meet the evolving and more demanding connectivity needs of 2degrees’ customers."

  As part of the agreement, 2degrees will also integrate Nokia’s MantaRay Network Management solution for a consolidated network view.

  "2degrees already leverages a variety of other Nokia 5G Core networking functions like Shared Data Layer, where data is stored, through NCP, which reflects Nokia’s multi-cloud strategy of providing operators with the infrastructure of their choice," says Nokia.
• Nokia expands German scientific communications network with IP core routers
  in Business Telecommunications
  By Josh Martinez

  "Telecoms equipment vendor Nokia has won a deal to renew and expand the German National Research and Education Network's (DFN), IP core router network in Germany.

  The DFN Association operates the national research and education network and develops the communication infrastructure for universities, research institutes and R&D companies across Germany, connecting approximately 850 locations throughout the country.

  According to Nokia, its "green" IP router solution will give DFN access to higher bandwidth, increased network capacity, interface speeds up to 800 Gigabits per second, and reduce power consumption in its network up to 75%.

  "The DFN Association offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to meet the evolving needs of the scientific research community," says Nokia.

  "By providing high-throughput connectivity, DFN ensures that researchers can seamlessly access critical resources, such as supercomputers and large-scale data repositories, enabling faster and more efficient collaboration.

  "This is particularly vital for projects that require extensive data transfers or collaboration with international research institutions."

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  DFN is considered one of the largest and most powerful non-commercial networks in the world with a total length of 10,250 km of optical fibre in the backbone and a multi-terabit core network spanning 65 core network locations.

  Under the agreement with DFN, Nokia will swap out existing equipment from an unnamed vendor and provide its 7750 IP core network routers to ten locations in Germany.

  "This upgrade will increase connectivity from DFN’s current 100G interfaces to 400G, with runway to further upgrade to 800G as demand warrants," Nokia says.

  "All existing DFN applications were successfully migrated into Nokia’s service routers ahead of deployment."

  Dr Stefan Piger, Head of Network and Communication Services at DFN said Nokia’s solution offered the performance and scalability it needed for its IP core network in Germany.

  "With the implemented solution, we are already equipped for 800G and can now further scale and expand our services according to the requirements of our participants in research and higher education in Germany," Dr Piger said.

  "We are very satisfied with the collaboration with Nokia and the results achieved so far.”
• Worldstream chooses Nokia to bolster hosting security with DDoS protection
  in Business Telecommunications
  By Josh Martinez

  Cloud infrastructure provider Worldstream has chosen telecoms equipment vendor Nokia for network security technology to protect its business clients in the Netherlands and globally against large-scale DDoS attacks.

  Worldstream has deployed Nokia Deepfield Defender and 7750 SR routers across its network which it claims will provide an eightfold increase in DDoS mitigation capacity.

  Prior to the deployment, Worldstream says it was limited in its defence against large-scale carpet-bombing attacks – which target multiple IP addresses – that could disrupt entire customer networks.

  Worldstream says the newly deployed Nokia Deepfield Defender and 7750 SR routers now enable it to provide real-time, automated, next-generation DDoS protection that scales with the network.

  The solution offers line-rate protection across all peering interfaces, eliminating restrictions associated with single-server DDoS mitigation.

  Nokia claims its ultra-fast DDoS provides protection for all DDoS types, including complex TCP-based application floods and botnet and proxy-based attack types, defending several customers against large-scale attacks at once.

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  According to Worldstream, its customers can now rely on fast network-based mitigation of even the most complex and high-volume cyberattacks and AI-driven threats.

  “Security has become just as critical as performance in hosting services,” said Ruben van der Zwan, CEO of Worldstream.

  "Businesses expect resilience, and they need to trust that their infrastructure won’t be taken down by a single attack.

  "With Nokia DDoS technology, we’ve made a major leap in protection. Our customers now benefit from ultra-fast mitigation, ensuring that their digital services remain available no matter what’s thrown at them."

  Matthieu Bourguignon, Senior Vice President for Network Infrastructure, Europe at Nokia said cybercrime is evolving, and with the rise of AI in particular, security solutions need to evolve faster.

  "We see that for hosting providers, traditional DDoS mitigation methods are no longer sufficient," Bourguignon said.

  "With the Nokia Deepfield solution, Worldstream is now equipped with high-capacity, network-based protection that reacts instantly, rapidly detecting and eliminating threats before they impact businesses.”
• Worldwide telecom equipment revenue plunged 11% in 2024: Dell’Oro
  in Business Telecommunications
  By Josh Martinez

  2024 turned out to be horror year for telecommunications equipment providers throughout the world, with massively declining revenues, according to a prominent market analyst.

  According to Dell'oro Group, although conditions improved in Q2, 2024 overall was a challenging year for the telecom suppliers

  Worldwide telecom equipment revenues across the six telecom programs tracked at Dell’Oro — Broadband Access, Microwave & Optical Transport, Mobile Core Network (MCN), Radio Access Network (RAN), and SP Router & Switch — declined 11% YoY in 2024.

  Dell'Oro says this was the steepest annual decline in 22 years, when the market plummeted by more than 20% in 2002.

  The numbers are even worse when taken over the past two years, with total equipment revenue falling by 14% for the two year period.

  Dell'Oro says the "remarkable output deceleration" was broad-based across the telecom segments, and attributes the decline to multiple factors, including excess inventory, challenging macro environment, and difficult 5G comparisons.

  "In 4Q24, stabilisation was driven by growth in North America and EMEA, which nearly offset constrained demand in Asia Pacific (including China)," says Dell'Oro.

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  Optical Transport, SP Routers, and RAN were the worst hit segments, collectively shrinking by 14% in 2024, while Microwave Transport and MCN experienced a more moderate combined decline in the low single digits.

  Broadband Access remained the least impacted segment, according to Dell'Oro, with fairly stable revenues in 2024.

  Asia Pacific was the most negatively impacted region, which Dell'Oro says reflected challenging conditions in China and other APAC countries.

  
  
  Huawei was once again way out in front in the supplier market share rankings (31%), with Nokia (14%), Ericsson (13%), and ZTE (11%) still the main players.

  Among the rest, Cisco (4%) had a particularly poor year, losing two percentage points of market share, while Ciena (3%) lost a point, with Samsung (2%) and Juniper (2%) holding steady.

  Dell'Oro says market conditions are expected to stabilise in 2025, but will still be challenging with global telecom equipment revenues across the six programs to stay flat.
• XR, Digital Twins, AI focus of Airtel-Volvo research partnership
  in Business Telecommunications
  By Josh Martinez

  Indian telecoms monolith Bharti Airtel has partnered with transport and industrial manufacturer Volvo, and telecoms equipment vendor Ericsson to explore new high-end technologies for the manufacturing sector.

  The new research partnership intends to explore the potential of Extended Reality (XR), Digital Twin technologies and AI in the manufacturing sector by leveraging the power of 5G and 5G Advanced.

  The research, to be conducted at the Volvo factory and R&D centre in Bangalore, will explore industrial Metaverse applications including human and machine interaction and collaboration.

  The research project will take place on Airtel’s 5G advanced network for industrial XR applications.

  The partners intend to leverage the ultra-low latency and high-speed capabilities of 5G to enable differentiated connectivity for real-time simulations, design prototyping, and immersive training across multiple factory and industrial sites.

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  “Our industry is undergoing a once in a lifetime transformation driven by the emerging trends across automation, connectivity and alternative energy carriers – tools which will be key in our ambitions to be Net Zero and shape a sustainable future for all," said Kamal Bali, President & MD, Volvo Group India.

  "This transformation also includes the way we work and collaborate across our industrial and R&D sites.

  "5G, coupled with Extended Reality applications, will help foster innovation as well as collaboration between our sites and engineers, in real-time, through the power of connectivity & digitalisation backed by advanced AI technologies.”

  Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO – Airtel Business said the telco's low latency 5G network will enable real-time XR applications for enhanced productivity and efficiencies, unlocking new revenue streams and accelerating the adoption of Industry 4.0 applications.

  “We are thrilled to leverage the capabilities of our advanced 5G network for innovative industrial applications in partnership with Ericsson and Volvo Group,” Sinha said

  Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India said 5G will be a game-changer towards enabling intelligent, connected, and immersive industrial experiences.

  "By combining our expertise in network technology with cutting-edge XR applications, we are creating an ecosystem that will help industries to transform manufacturing," Bansal said.

  "The research insights will be instrumental in shaping the future of industrial digitalisation, not just in India but globally."