Thursday, March 26, 2020

Microsoft to acquire Affirmed Networks for telco cloud vEPC

Microsoft agreed to acquire Affirmed Networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Affirmed Networks, which is based in Acton, Massachusetts, supplies virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) solutions for mobile operators. Affirmed’s virtualized evolved packet solution capabilities include CUPS, 5G NSA, network slicing, integrated virtual probe, virtualized DPI, GiLAN, analytics and security services, virtualized Wi-Fi, and service automation platform. The company claims 76 deployments, including announced projects with AT&T, Etisalat, and Vodafone.

Microsoft said the acquisition will boost its efforts "to work with the telecommunications industry, building on our secure and trusted cloud platform for operators. With Affirmed Networks, we will be able to offer new and innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs of operators, including managing their network workloads in the cloud."

https://www.affirmednetworks.com/





Affirmed Networks unveils cloud-native UnityCloud

Affirmed Networks introduced a cloud-native 5G solution that allows mobile operators to seamlessly converge multiple networks, including 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and wireline core, on to one unified core.

The Affirmed UnityCloud, which is an evolution of Affirmed’s Mobile Content Cloud (MCC), is built on four key pillars:

  • Innovation platform that enables operators to easily create and deploy new services with fine-grained network slicing for customized enterprise services
  • Automatic networks that instantiate, orchestrate and scale the network up or down with no human involvement, including closed-loop automation
  • Self-assured networks with observability to ensure minimal latency and maximum performance so Service Level Agreements are met
  • Non-stop networks that provide 6-nines of availability with no service interruptions, even when adding new features or performing software upgrades

Affirmed said its UnityCloud embraces open source technologies including Kubernetes, Istio, Envoy, Jaeger and others. The company has several trials underway with tier one operators globally that are building 5G Standalone (SA) networks.

Affirmed UnityCloud significantly improves network economics by converging ‘Any G’,   This eliminates the need for operators to maintain parallel legacy networks dedicated to just one service.

“A telecom transformation is underway. A new generation of networks is being built to connect 50+ billion devices, creating a multi-trillion dollar market opportunity,” said Hassan Ahmed, Chairman, and CEO, Affirmed Networks.

https://www.affirmednetworks.com/products-solutions/5g-core-unitycloud/