Japanese telecommunications operator NTT Docomo is working separately with vendors Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco and NEC, and has completed proof-of-concept (PoC) trials verifying the feasibility of network functions virtualization (NFV). Using the virtualized Evolved Packet Core (EPC), the core network of LTE systems, Docomo and each of the three vendors verified network control mechanisms, such as scalable user-data processing capability. Following these PoC trials, Docomo now plans to commercially deploy services utilizing a virtualized mobile network by the fiscal year ending in March 2016. The company has been cooperating with the three vendors on this feasibility verification since November 2013.
