Telenor said that it has established a 5G standalone core environment using a vendor-neutral platform, with network functions from Oracle, Casa Systems, Enea and Kaloom, all running on Red Hat Openshift. It has deployed Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud Compute protection and a 5G New Radio (NR) system from Huawei. Telenor said its 5G standalone (SA) trial using commercially available components proves that a multi-vendor environment is possible.
The Palo Alto Networks Next Generation Firewall is being used to securing internet connectivity for mobile devices, said Telenor. Red Hat’s Ansible Platform is being used as a scalable automation system, and Emblasoft is providing automated network testing capabilities. The Norwegian Armed Forces have tested Security as a Service enabled by the multi-vendor set-up, it added.
Patrick Waldemar, vice president and head of technology at Telenor Research, said most 5G core deployments still use a single vendor, with strong dependencies on that vendor’s underlying proprietary architecture, which can be a “killer” for innovation. It restricts open collaboration by the broader 5G range of companies developing new technology, applications and services that the market expects, he added.
