
February 4, 2021
The Five Key Traits of Highly Successful 5G Networks
The new year gives each of us an opportunity to reflect on self-improvements for the future, and maybe networks are no different. Right now, your network could be telling itself that 2021 is the year it’ll finally get serious about IoT or stop talking about cloud-native and take the plunge. In which case, your network has its work cut out

December 17, 2020
Standalone (SA) and Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G Architectures: The various paths to 5G revenues and profitability
A Telecom Transformation is underway. With 5G, a whole new generation of networks is being built to connect 50+ Billion Devices, creating more than a $12 trillion-dollar market opportunity for Mobile Network Operators. The road to 5G, it turns out though, isn’t a straight line. This leads us to a discussion of non-standalone architectures (NSA) and standalone architectures (SA). Here

November 17, 2020
4 Key Capabilities for a 5G Slice Management Tool
No matter how you slice it, your slice manager matters a lot If you were to ask mobile network operators what keeps them up at night, “5G slice management” probably wouldn’t be their first answer. Or their second, third, fourth… well, you get the point. The fact is that slicing is just a very small slice of 5G rollouts at

November 8, 2020
5 Revenue-Driving Applications of Private LTE Services
In my last blog about monetizing Private LTE Networks, I made the case for private LTE services as a way for mobile network operators (MNOs) to monetize their networks. In this blog, I’d like to highlight some of the use cases and applications for private LTE services—that is, the nitty-gritty of how MNOs can actually make that money. Today, the

October 27, 2020
UnityCloud Ops Brings Together Orchestration, Management, and Automation for Accelerated Digital Transformation in the World of 5G
Digital transformation is central to everything you do. It’s what determines how you build your network. It’s what sparks innovation in your business. It’s what will drive the great customer experiences of tomorrow. But without a new approach to orchestration, automation, and management, telco operators will never realize the full benefits of digital-driven initiatives such as 5G, multi-access edge computing,

September 28, 2020
Microsoft and Affirmed: Accelerating the path to 5G Services in the Cloud
With the announcement of Azure for Operators, Microsoft has outlined a vision and strategy to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever, opening new opportunities for service providers all over the world. Microsoft’s recent acquisitions of Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch, while a surprise to some in the telecommunications industry, signaled Microsoft’s long-term commitment to

September 16, 2020
The four key investments in 4G which will pave the way to 5G
The journey to 5G has been like a summer road trip, with choruses of “Are we there yet?” mixed with exciting discussions about all the things we’ll do when we get there. It’s going to be a long haul, though, as 5G isn’t expected to officially “arrive” for several years. What we’ve seen so far is a smattering of 5G

September 3, 2020
Affirmed Networks Wins the Best Network Automation Technology Award at 5G World Summit 2020
The 5G World Summit 2020 event program may have been a virtual one but that didn’t take away from the event’s ability to highlight the criticality of the telecommunication industry during this unprecedented time. This was especially true in the awards program. Consisting of 15 dedicated 5G categories, the 5G World Awards are focused on celebrating and recognizing achievement and

September 2, 2020
3G Riding into the Sunset
Every now and then, a technology comes along that changes the strides humanity takes. The introduction of the first-generation iPhone in 2007 changed the way we look at the phone and how we use it. Smartphones and social networking have changed the way we communicate and work, which has had an unprecedented impact on healthcare, travel, education, national security, and

August 25, 2020
Going Native: Why Carriers Need to Embrace Cloud-Native Technologies Right Now
The cloud isn’t an if. It’s a when. And it will probably start like this: a few forward-thinking carriers will begin moving large portions of their network functions into the cloud and realize that the savings are almost shocking. Not the 2X magnitude CapEx savings we’ve seen from replacing physical servers with cloud-based servers, but a 10X magnitude CapEx+OpEx savings