ACG Research has released a study showing that virtualizing the functions of mobile Evolved Packet Core (EPC) technology really can save mobile operators bundles of money. Virtualizing the EPC can save up to 68 percent on capex and 67 percent on opex, says ACG in a study sponsored by VMWare and Affirmed Networks. This is based on comparing bids from traditional EPC vendors, which package their solutions as a collection of hardware and software, with virtualized EPC products that use the network functions virtualization (NFV) approach of putting software functions onto commodity hardware.
