Telefonica and Ericsson Evolve Core Network in Chile

Telefonica Chile, the largest mobile network operator and internet service provider in the country, has announced that it is working with Ericsson to completely virtualize the operator's core network.

A fully virtualized core network will, the companies said in the release, provides the operator with faster time-to-market of innovative new products and services that capture the opportunities presented by use cases in 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Under the terms of the new deal, Ericsson will deploy its Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) solution, including virtual EPC, virtual IMS, virtual AAA and NFVi, in order to provide Telefonica Chile with the largest number of possible virtualized telco applications in a shared resource environment known as UNICA.

“As market leaders in key 5G technologies such as NFV and SDN, Ericsson is helping operators around the world to evolve their existing networks toward 5G,” said Nicolas Brancoli, Head of Customer Unit South Latin America, Ericsson. “With this deal, we will deliver the first 5G Ready Core network in the country to Telefonica Chile, enabling the operator to cement its leadership position in the region well into the future.”

Ericsson said it will virtualize all telecommunications applications within the network into a shared environment known as UNICA, with three datacenters in operation across the country. Installation, project management, network optimization, training and Managed Services are part of the agreement, according to reports. Complete rollout and live service is expected during the second quarter, 2018.