Samsung Electronics has announced that it has been selected as the sole vendor for SK Telecom’s nationwide Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) deployment. As part of the agreement, Samsung will provide its AdaptiV Core solution for the operator’s dedicated mobile IoT (Internet of Things) network. Samsung’s AdaptiV Core includes a virtualised Evolved Packet Core (vEPC), which runs on a KVM-based hypervisor on a common server hardware platform, and Samsung’s CognitiV Cloud Manager System.
According to Samsung, the IoT network, driven by Samsung’s AdaptiV Core, is scheduled to go live in the first half of 2015, and will see initial applications targeting package delivery tracking, CCTV monitoring and city-wide sensor monitoring. The vEPC will be responsible for managing traffic to and from IoT-type devices, leveraging its ability to scale network functions as needed to provide a dynamic balance of capacity, performance, power consumption and resource availability. The CognitiV Cloud Manager will be responsible for managing this process, keeping track of available resources and network load, while also providing SK Telecom with a straightforward interface for customizing the behaviour of each Virtualised Network Function (VNF).
Samsung said that it has successfully completed its virtualised EPC Proof of Concept (PoC) and subsequent trials with SK Telecom in late 2013, and was chosen by SK Telecom in 2015 for deployment in the mobile carrier’s dedicated network for IoT services. Samsung also claims that the AdaptiV Core scored the highest among vendors competing for the contract with SK Telecom, particularly in the areas of product performance, functionality, stability and ease of management. The solution provides a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) and the ability to easily manage virtualised resources.
Jong-bong Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Network Division at SK Telecom
We are delighted to collaborate with Samsung on our NFV solution for SK Telecom’s IoT services. SK Telecom is preparing for the IoT era through active business collaboration. Through the application of virtualised network technologies, we are confident that we can deliver a truly consistent and innovative network as well as superior service quality.
Youngky Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics
We are honoured that SK Telecom has selected Samsung as the sole vendor to support SK Telecom’s sophisticated mobile network. NFV is one of the core technologies of next-generation mobile networks and will play a critical role in helping telecom operators in terms of network deployment, management and operation as well as service efficiency and rapid scalability.
