5G

Cisco completes 5G SA proof of concept for KDDI

Cisco on Tuesday touted the benefits of cloud-native software as part of its successful proof of concept for a 5G standalone (SA) network with Japan’s KDDI.  

Many have emphasized enterprise-focused advantages that come along with 5G SA, when the 5G core no longer relies on LTE, including enhanced features like network slicing. 

Cisco said its Ultra Packet Core platform works alongside technologies like network slicing, NFV and automation through Cisco’s Network Services Orchestrator, enabling KDDI to offer services specifically suited to the needs of enterprise and consumer customers.

“Service creation is critical, and the mobile core is the service creation platform,” said Jonathan Davidson, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Service Provider Business, in a a statement. “One of the most important decisions to get right in 5G is the cloud-native core. KDDI is seeing the true benefits of this uniquely designed 4G to 5G evolution strategy that emphasizes agile, business-critical, service creation first.”

RELATED: Nokia, Ericsson vie for KDDI’s 5G business

With 5G SA, KDDI will be able to offer 5G services with high capacity and low latency, including enterprise applications like IoT, as well as consumer services, according to Cisco.  

Cisco is the latest vendor working on standalone 5G for KDDI. Last week Nokia boasted a successful 5G SA network trial with the mobile operator. And Ericsson said it demonstrated a cloud-native Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline delivery for KDDI’s standalone 5G core network.

Cisco on Tuesday also announced that it was chosen by Japan’s NTT Docomo to help the mobile operator optimize its 5G mobile backhaul. NTT Docomo will use Cisco’s converged SDN transport technology to achieve its future 5G base station facility plan, which includes 400 Gigabit Ethernet deployments.

“Together, Docomo and Cisco mapped out the right path for its 5G transformation with a new intelligent, software-defined network,” said Cisco's Davidson in a statement. “Converging services over a common, trustworthy architecture will reduce costs, deliver new services that span multiple domains, and prepare them for a profitable 5G future.”