Microsoft, under the leadership of the affable Satya Nadella, is quietly working towards strengthening its position in 5G. The technology powerhouse announced the acquisition of Affirmed Networks known for its virtualized, cloud-native mobile network solutions for Telecom operators.
In a statement on Microsoft blog, VP of Azure Networking Mr Yousef Khalidi said: “This acquisition will allow us to evolve our work with the telecom 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”
Software Defined Networks
5G is upon us and expected to enable a range of new opportunities for enterprises and benefits for consumers. Telstra CEO Andy Penn talked about “significant opportunities” with 5G.
Although 5G has great promise with disruptive potential – the benefits of greater network speeds, faster downloads and lower latency are dependent on advancements in the back-end technology.
There is naturally a lot happening behind the scenes – in the arena of infrastructure and software powering the technology.
The industry has been gravitating towards an open, software-defined networks (SDN) world for the last few years. 5G accelerates this further and creates opportunities for new players in the new world with disruptive potential.
“Previous generations of wireless networks have been based on purpose-built hardware.”
“We believe that with innovation in software and by making use of cloud computing platforms like Azure, operators can deploy and maintain 5G networks and services more efficiently, more cost-effectively, more rapidly and more securely,” said Mr Khalidi.
Another leading cloud player Google announced Anthos for Telecom and Global Mobile Edge Cloud. With the ever-growing importance of 5G and edge computing, Anthos for Telecom is a reminder of the potential of this space.
Viewed in this context, Affirmed Networks, with its focus on 5G and edge, would add an attractive proposition to any cloud provider. By acquiring Affirmed Networks Microsoft has positioned itself as a major player expanding its Azure 5G strategy.
The acquisition could help the telecom industry speed up and ease the tasks of running cloud-based edge computing apps on 5G networks. Telecom players could gain the additional advantage of support and confidence that comes with a tech powerhouse in Microsoft.
The Affirmed Networks acquisition is yet another affirmation of the action the 5G SDN infrastructure could see in the future.
