Unless you have been living on a deserted island, you know that 5G is coming. The industry and ecosystem is racing, prepping, and hyping on many fronts to usher in this new generation. And you probably also know that 5G architectures are virtualized. Yet, as recently as four years ago there was still a debate over whether virtualized networks would ever go mainstream, replacing the legacy, hardware-based infrastructure the industry had relied upon forever. Well that debate is over. The industry now fully understands the many compelling cost advantages of NFV — which starts by replacing expensive and dedicated hardware with white box servers.
