LG U+, a South Korean telecommunications service provider owned by LG Corporation, and DriveNets, a leader in cloud-native networking software and network disaggregation solutions, announced the successful completion of a proof-of-concept (POC) process for DriveNets Network Cloud solution as a potential replacement for LG U+’s existing network core and backbone routing technology. In this effort, LG U+ led the first successful validation of cloud-native, backbone packet-forwarding transmission in South Korea. This successful POC trial is the latest step in LG U+’s evolution towards a fully cloud-native, disaggregated network.
"At LG U+, we are looking forward to evolving our entire network infrastructure to the cloud, including base stations, wired networks, and core networks,” said Lee Sang-Heon, LG U+ NW Advanced Development Manager. “DriveNets Network Cloud confirmed that we will be able to provide optimal service quality without interruption, even when traffic increases or other challenges occur, in a cloud-native environment. This test is an important milestone as we evolve our network to a cloud environment, ensuring the best customer experience by preemptively securing future network cloud technology.”
“This successful test with LG U+ is further validation of the value that building networks like cloud brings to service providers around the world,” said Ido Susan, co-founder and CEO of DriveNets. “DriveNets Network Cloud offers software-based, disaggregated networking solutions for any network use case, from core and peering to edge and access, running on a shared cluster of networking white boxes. Network Cloud provides on-demand capacity scaling, leading LG U+ to the next generation of network technology.”
Networks transforming to cloud technology
Telecommunications service providers worldwide are transforming their networks to disaggregated, cloud-native architectures now, or plan to in the near future. A recent Heavy Reading survey, A Radical Network Change to Cloud, found that an average 35 percent of service providers surveyed are already in the process of adopting modern cloud-native or disaggregated networks – from access to core – while more than 50 percent plan to do so within the next five years.
DriveNets is leading that transformation, engaging with nearly 100 operators and cloud providers worldwide, disrupting the market and bringing disaggregation to the largest networks in the world. As operators continue to evolve their networks to 5G technology, disaggregation will continue to be deployed more broadly.