AT&T's Rinne dishes on the carrier's plans for a 'User-Defined Network Cloud'

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) during last week's Mobile World Congress trade show announced plans to implement a network architecture it described as a "User-Defined Network Cloud," which the carrier said would be supported by its previously announced Domain 2.0 supplier program. AT&T said the network cloud effort would allow it to use Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networks (SDN) technologies to separate its hardware and software functionality; separate its network control plane and forwarding planes; and improve its management of functionality in the software layer. During MWC, FierceWireless Executive Editor Mike Dano sat down with Kris Rinne, senior vice president of network architecture and planning at AT&T Labs, to get a quick explanation of AT&T's network cloud plans and how it will impact the operator's wireless network. Hot Seat