Telstra and Ericsson partner to orchestrate wireless services for network slicing

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC, news, filings) and Telstra announced a key world-leading milestone in their partnership to deliver 5G network slicing services for Australian enterprises. Harnessing the capabilities offered by the new Ericsson Dynamic Network Slicing solution to fully operationalize and monetize network slicing, the partners have completed the first phase of work in their journey to enable slice-based use cases like Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), broadcasting, automotive connectivity, stadium or precinct services, and more on Telstra’s leading 5G network.

The companies have finalized the build of the initial wireless capabilities for this project. The two main features of this phase are the orchestration of Telstra’s Radio Access Network (RAN) Rate Controlled Scheduling (RCS) which enables network slices to support efficient utilization of radio resources, and creating the ability to automate discovery of the entire Telstra 5G RAN topology by integrating Ericsson’s Common Topology Service and RAN management layer via the Ericsson Discovery and Reconciliation Framework.

Over the course of 2024, the partners will finalize the next phase of this work – the development and deployment of more advanced, open architecture supported features. This involves the two companies developing a network abstraction layer to provide open integration to the Telstra IT system via a Network as a Service reusable model for handling of service order management of the entire customer journey including service feasibility check, to site survey, to order to activate and network slice conditioning, antenna install and network assurance use cases.

Underpinning Telstra’s new services for enterprises of all types, Ericsson Dynamic Network Slicing is a solution to operationalize network slicing. Based on the Ericsson Service Orchestration and Assurance product, its additional software assets and a range of complementary services help realize network slicing as Telstra innovates with new tailored service experiences quickly and easily, and supports requirements around performance or resiliency on demand.

Emilio Romeo, Head of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, says: “We’re proud to have such a deep and successful partnership with Telstra in this mission to ensure 5G network slicing is as accessible as possible to those who can use it as a platform for innovation and evolution. Building these systems with automation as a key feature to reduce complexity and enhanced efficiency is the true path forward to achieve superior service experience, seamless operational excellence, and assured revenue with new business models.”

Shailin Sehgal, Telstra Executive Network Applications and Cloud, says: “The true opportunity of 5G is to be found in its ability to deliver premium, dependable and differentiated service experiences, beyond standard mobile broadband, through network slicing. With Ericsson’s Dynamic Network Slicing capability we are able to design experiences and deliver a service to meet the needs of specific customer use cases. As we continue to invest in and develop advanced 5G connectivity for Australia, the opportunity to extend this capability across a broad range of customer use cases expands and allows us to deliver incredible value for the biggest enterprise customers, all the way across to our individual subscribers.”

Ericsson Service Orchestration and Assurance, and the Ericsson Dynamic Network Slicing solution and associated services, are available now to new and existing customers worldwide looking to deliver more differentiated connectivity on open programmable networks. Further information and detail can be found on the Ericsson website here.