Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) introduces new telecommunications solutions and services to bolster the open telecom ecosystem and help communications service providers (CSPs) affordably ramp their transformation to open, cloud-native networks.

The telecommunications industry’s growing open ecosystem gives CSPs more choice in their technologies and partners as they modernize to cloud-native networks. CSPs need the various technologies of this open ecosystem to work together seamlessly to offer differentiated edge services and reduce costs. Dell aims to remove complexity and speed modern network deployments with its Dell Telecom Cloud Foundation, Dell Open RAN Accelerator and new telecom solutions and lab capabilities.

“Communications service providers are changing how they build and deploy open networks, establishing the foundation on which they can develop and deliver innovative services to capture the edge opportunity,” said Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager, Dell Technologies Telecom Systems Business. “Our expanded telecom solutions portfolio brings the open ecosystem together for network operators, giving them the simplicity and reliability they need to modernize their networks and monetize new services.”

Dell Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation speeds network modernization, business growth

The Dell Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation is a turnkey, end-to-end, modern network infrastructure solution that helps CSPs build and deploy open, cloud-native networks faster with lower cost and complexity. The Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation includes Dell hardware, Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator management software and the CSPs’ choice of integrated telecom cloud software platforms, including Red Hat, VMware and Wind River.

Dell is adding new Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator Modules to its software, giving CSPs the ability to deploy and lifecycle manage the entire cloud foundation stack. Once implemented, CSPs will have a scalable cloud foundation spanning core, edge and RAN for their open hardware and software environment with the flexibility to design and deploy open network functions and differentiated edge services. ACG Research estimates an up to 39% OpEx savings for CSPs deploying the Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation in their networks. ACG Research found CSPs also save time on testing and certification, manual processes, server provisioning, software upgrades and cloud stack integration and testing.

Dell and Marvell collaborate on new hardware to accelerate Open RAN

With the introduction of virtualized and Open RAN architectures, 5G networks are undergoing a transformation that brings cloud scalability to the RAN. Existing virtualized and Open RAN alternatives have previously lacked the performance of established networks, hindering the ability for CSPs to implement cloud-native 5G.

Developed in collaboration with Marvell, the Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card is a new in-line 5G Layer 1 processing card for vRAN and Open RAN solutions. Designed for Dell PowerEdge and other x86-based servers, the PCIe accelerator card brings the same Marvell OCTEON^® Fusion technology and performance of today’s leading 5G radio networks to the Open RAN ecosystem. CSPs can have better performing systems that lower cost and power consumption, allowing them to affordably scale high performing, modern radio access networks with an open architecture approach.

“Marvell is delighted to partner with Dell Technologies to enable an open, virtualized 5G RAN architecture that delivers advanced features and performance built on our proven OCTEON^® Fusion platform,” said Raj Singh, executive vice president, Processors Business Unit at Marvell. “The new Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card is an innovative no-compromise, cloud-native, inline, Open RAN Layer 1 acceleration solution that addresses the shortcomings of existing vRAN alternatives.”

"We’re pleased to see Dell Technologies and Marvell come together to innovate and create technologies that will enhance Open RAN platform capability and vendor diversity for operators,” said Andy Dunkin, Open RAN RF and digital platform development manager at Vodafone. “The promise of virtualized Open RAN platforms will be enhanced with the Dell Open Ran Accelerator Card that should offer network operators like Vodafone a less costly and more efficient path to Open RAN."

Dell and ecosystem partners help speed deployment of edge and core solutions

Dell continues to grow its open partner ecosystem with new telecom solutions for edge and core.

• Dell Validated Design for Services Edge 1.2 brings together edge compute resources with private wireless connectivity, enabling the ease of deployment, scalable operations and security capabilities required for large numbers of edge locations. Enterprises can place sensors and devices at the edge of mobile networks to capture and process data in near-real time, and use the data to generate insights, optimize operations and help increase productivity. The open standards-based design now supports Airspan 5G RAN for a fast deployment of enterprise private 5G networks.
  
• Dell Validated Design for the 5G Core with Oracle and VMware gives CSPs the choice to build a robust, scalable 5G core on industry standard infrastructure, in a more secure and reliable way. The solution can help reduce the time needed to design, test and integrate network components from multiple partners.

Dell expands telecom services and lab capabilities to drive faster ecosystem innovation

Dell continues to grow its telecom services capabilities to lead partner integration and accelerate CSPs’ deployment and adoption of telecom solutions. CSPs can quickly operationalize network infrastructure with Dell ProDeploy for NFVI. The service combines Dell factory integration and field deployment options to flexibly build the optimal NFV infrastructure specific to each customer’s network. The service integrates compute, networking and telecom cloud software platforms, helping CSPs deploy workloads faster and at scale, saving them time and cost. Dell’s proven processes enable 68% faster infrastructure deployment time with ProDeploy.¹

The Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab Solution Integration Platform helps CSPs and partners securely connect their lab resources to the Dell lab and infrastructure to develop and bring 5G and telecom edge services to market more quickly. With the labs interconnected to create a mini, open ecosystem, the Solution Integration Platform uses the latest DevOps techniques to conduct tests faster than manual testing, so services can be brought to market more quickly, with less risk and cost. CSPs and partners can use the new platform to conduct integrated testing and ongoing lifecycle management of Open RAN, 5G and edge services and applications.

Additional quotes

“At Red Hat, we believe that an open ecosystem is critical to driving innovation, from the datacenter out to the edge,” said Honore LaBourdette, vice president, Telco, Media and Entertainment, Red Hat. “By collaborating with other industry leaders such as Dell, we are able to offer service providers greater choice and scalability for their edge deployments, based on open principles and open standards for optimal flexibility.”

“A leader in the early 5G landscape, powering the majority of 5G RAN deployments, Wind River is delivering mature production-ready offerings on proven Wind River Studio technology that is live in deployment with operators such as Verizon and Vodafone,” said Avijit Sinha, chief product officer, Wind River. “Delivering a major component to the Dell Telecom Cloud Foundation and with our work on the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab Solution Integration Platform, Wind River is helping to address key operator challenges by providing fully cloud-native, Kubernetes- and container-based architecture for the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of distributed edge networks at scale.”

Lakshmi Mandyam, vice president of product management and partner ecosystems, Service Provider & Edge, VMware, said, “5G network architectures prioritize openness and interoperability. Service providers have choice to work with more technology partners than ever before. But with more choice comes added complexity. Our work with Dell and Oracle aims to reduce this complexity by streamlining the testing and validation of partner solutions on top of our 5G Core validated design. We are providing the foundation on top of which 5G networks can rise.”

“CSPs are eager to tap into the promise of 5G and bring new offerings to market as quickly as possible. Through teaming with industry leaders like Dell, we’re making that a reality and offering telcos a faster pace of deployment and best-of-breed core network technology,” said Andrew Morawski, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Communications.

Availability

• Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator Module for VMware Telco Cloud Platform global availability in April 2022.
• Dell Bare Metal Orchestrator Modules for Red Hat OpenShift and for Wind River Studio global availability in July 2022.
• Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card planned global availability in late 2022.
• Dell Validated Design for Services Edge 1.2 global availability in March 2022.
• Dell Validated Design for 5G Core with Oracle and VMware global availability in June 2022.
• Dell ProDeploy for NFVI availability beginning in April 2022.
• The Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab Solution Integration Platform global availability in July 2022.

Additional resources

• Learn more about the Dell Telecom Multi-Cloud Foundation
• Read more about the Dell Open RAN Accelerator Card
• Find more details on Dell’s expanded telecom solutions portfolio
• Connect with Dell via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn
• For approved Dell Technologies assets please visit our Media Library

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¹ Based on a September 2020 Principled Technologies Test Report commissioned by Dell Technologies comparing in-house deployment vs. Dell EMC ProDeploy for Enterprise deployment service. Actual results will vary.