Kaloom Delivers UPF Functionality to Telenor’s Multi-Vendor Standalone 5G Core Solution

Truly multi-vendor 5G core built on Red Hat OpenShift reduces complexity and accelerates productivity through open standards

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kaloom^TM, along with its partner MBUZZ Europe, today announced its expanded partnership with Telenor and the integration of its 5G packet core User Plane Function (UPF) within Telenor’s larger ecosystem of integrated partner solutions in a unique cloud-native trial to gauge the readiness of cloud-native deployments.

In contrast to monolithic, single vendor 5G core deployments that have strong interdependencies with the specific integration of the underlying container infrastructure , Telenor along with its partners has deployed a truly multi-vendor 5G core built on Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, to provide an open, more efficient vendor-neutral solution. Telenor recently demonstrated its Proof-of-Concept (PoC) trial with Kaloom’s unique and proven UPF offering, as well as Telenor’s other partners’ web-scale, cloud-native technologies. With the eventual goal of commercializing a vendor neutral standalone 5G Core solution, the PoC demonstrated Telenor’s ability to on-board network functions provided by vendors such as Kaloom onto a microservices-based, containerized, vendor-neutral Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) architecture that features scalability, user-friendliness, resource efficiency and openness.

Kaloom offers a fully programmable and automated cloud networking solution that is disrupting how edge and data center networks are built, managed, and operated. Kaloom’s 5G packet core User Plane Function (UPF) integrates with Red Hat OpenShift and provides a multi-tenant, high performance (multi-Tbps throughput capacity), low latency, cloud-native solution with embedded support for more secure 5G network slicing complemented by full automation capabilities to enable faster time to services and 10X TCO savings. 5G network slicing enables the creation of virtual data centers whereby an edge data center can be partitioned into multiple independent virtual data centers, where each virtual data center is provided its own virtual fabric. Each vFabric can be assigned to a different operator/customer, thus enabling multiple operators to share a common distributed cloud architecture. Tenant separation is flexible as separation is done at the hardware (port) level with full isolation offering better security and better quality of experience.

As one of the key technology partner solutions selected in Telenor’s trial shown in the figure (below), Kaloom demonstrates that Communications Service Providers (CSPs) like Telenor are enabled to select new, open standards-based, best of breed solutions.

Telenor recently debuted a video demonstration of the multi-vendor solution via a use case that incorporates Kaloom’s 5G UPF offering and its multi-slice capability to show the solution’s ability to provide full isolation between each slice and deliver better security and quality of experience (Click here to get an overview of the demo).

“This trial proves that a multi-vendor 5G Core is indeed possible on a vendor neutral platform. It is important to mention that we were positively surprised by the readiness of the involved partners for cloud native,” says Patrick Waldemar, Vice President, Telenor Research.

“As the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, Red Hat OpenShift is an ideal platform to run multi-vendor, interoperable functions as a single cloud platform. Our collaboration with Kaloom enables networking, including 5G-UPF services as a first-class citizen in a containerized world, thus reducing operational challenges and accelerating time to productivity,” said Darrell Jordan-Smith, senior vice president, Industries and Global Accounts, Red Hat.

“Telenor’s open 5G core is the perfect showcase for demonstrating Kaloom’s unique solution,” said Paul Parker-Johnson, Chief Analyst & Practice Lead, Cloud & Virtual System Infrastructures at ACG Research. “Amid the clamor for new apps and innovation in 5G, Kaloom’s full-stack slicing clearly shows its ability to support diverse applications securely. Its innovative, cloud-native platform provides an agile infrastructure on which network function and application software developers can deliver their solutions as well. And with 5G networks being distributed from core to edge locations of many kinds, Kaloom’s ability to extend its same fabric architecture elastically to hundreds of distributed sites, while supporting diverse applications’ requirements, will provide operators with a uniquely versatile path toward meeting their 5G goals.”

About Kaloom^TM

Kaloom is delivering a fully programmable and automated cloud-native edge center networking software solution that will disrupt how distributed cloud edge and data center networks are built, managed and operated by Telecom, Fixed and Mobile Operators, Data Center and Cloud Service Providers. Kaloom comprises technology veterans with proven track records of delivering large-scale networking, analytics, and AI-based solutions for the world’s largest networks. Kaloom is based in the Quartier de l’innovation in Montréal, Quebec. For additional information visit www.kaloom.com.

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