1、Dimitris MavrakisJake SaundersPUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSINTRODUCTION AND MARKET OVERVIEW The telecoms market is experiencing a tumultuous phase,where internal and external pressures are now challenging network operators.In the technology domain,these companies dep

2、loy and manage complex systems that provide carrier-grade services,including critical communications.They must manage relationships with hundreds of suppliers that provide the necessary technology to power these vital networks.On top of these challenges,geopolitical pressures are limiting options in

3、 their supply chains,the COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous pressure on their networks,and the recent energy crisis is putting additional pressure on their financials.Nevertheless,the future is not so gloomy.5G networks provide a leap ahead in consumer experience and create the foundation for futu

4、re enterprise services and new revenue streams.To capitalize on this,telco operators now need to be as lean as possible in both their business operations and,most importantly,their networks.5G was introduced in 2019 with The 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP)Release 15,and the first networks w

5、ere lit a year later.5G is the first cellular generation that relies heavily on cloud-native technologies.It uses concepts and systems often found only in the web domain,including the Service-Based Architecture(SBA),the service bus for communication between network elements,and HTTP/2 for control pl

6、ane messaging.These are vital to enable the new services 5G is expected to deliver,including network slicing.One of the reasons these new services have yet to appear in the market is that most 5G networks rely on Non-Standalone(NSA)architecture,which connects new 5G radios to the 4G packet core.This

7、 has accelerated the deployment of 5G without deploying a complete end-to-end system.Nevertheless,a Standalone(SA)architecture will enable these services.TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION AND MARKET OVERVIEW .1TRADITIONAL CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTS.2REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS.3PUBLIC CLOUD DEPLOYMENT

8、S.4REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS.5TELCO AND PUBLIC CLOUD NETWORK COMPARISON.6TCO COMPARISON.7CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSMany telco operators are now planning the transition to SA,with China being the clear leader.All mobile operato

9、rs in China accelerated their 5G deployment with SA,contrary to the rest of the world,which chose NSA.Nevertheless,SA is now being planned in most Western markets,with cloud-native deployments being the standard choice for 5G Next Generation Core(NGC).In previous generations,there has been a choice

10、to deploy physical network appliances(referred to as Physical Network Functions(PNFs),Virtualized Network Functions(VNFs),and Cloud-native Network Functions(CNFs).Still,with 5G,cloud-native is specified in the standard and is the only choice.This is why network operators,namely greenfield operators,

11、are choosing the public cloud to deploy their 5G network core.Although there are few of these operators worldwide,they are now going ahead with alternative deployment models and showing their peers a new way of deploying radio and core networks.This started with Rakuten in Japan,which deployed an Op

12、en Radio Access Network(RAN)system,but was accentuated by DISH in the United States,which relies on Amazon Web Services(AWS)for hosting its core network and even parts of the radio.This bold approach will depend on the public cloud for hosting an entire cellular network,something that has not been d

13、one before.On the other hand,most telco operators have chosen to rely exclusively on the private telco cloud,giving them more control and visibility into the infrastructurebecause they own and operate it.The public cloud has several benefits that have been understood and widely used by enterprises g

14、lobally.On the other hand,using the private cloud also has inherent advantages,which is now a growing discussion topic in the broader Information Technology(IT)industry.But what about the telco domain?Which option is ideal for network operators deploying their 5G core networks,given that they may al

15、ready have legacy networks in place?Is the public cloud option indeed a cost-effective approach in the long term?Or are there hidden costs to be considered before choosing an aggressive public cloud strategy?Answering these questions is now a critical priority for telco operators,which need to deplo

16、y the systems for 5G,5G-Advanced,and even 6G in the future.Many of these systems will be deployed as cloud-native platforms for new types of services.Choosing the underlying infrastructure will have future implications when 5G enterprise services are introduced,including network slicing and open App

17、lication Programming Interfaces(APIs)for service exposure to application developers.This paper discusses the differences between private and public cloud deployments for 5G core networks.It aims to dispel some myths being discussed in the industry,particularly about using the public cloud.TRADITIONA

18、L CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSTraditional cellular network deployments have relied solely on private cloud deployments,called the telco cloud.All types of deployments are owned,operated,maintained,and upgraded by telco operators,which rely on their suppliers and vendors for their network infrastructure.

19、This deployment model has evolved from the physical network deployment model,where each appliance has traditionally been a physical box(device),predominantly used in 2G,3G,and even some 4G networks.However,this physical network deployment model was limited because each appliances hardware,data manag

20、ement,and networking capabilities were limited.At the same time,their upgrade meant that another box needed provisioning,installing,and managing.This physical appliance model has evolved to Network Functions Virtualization(NFV)and,most recently,cloud-native networks,where each physical appliance is

21、replaced with VNFs and CNFs,respectively.Both VNFs and CNFs are being deployed now in the telco cloud for different purposes because both provide benefits in individual domains.For example,VNFs are still being deployed for traffic-heavy components that will not likely need portability in the future,

22、while other smaller Network Functions(NFs)especially at the edgeare more conducive to being CNFs.Nevertheless,this decision depends on several factors,including the legacy network already in place,vendor relationships,and PUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSIn any case,the

23、telco cloud deployment model has progressed significantly in the past few years.Figure 1 illustrates this evolution.Figure 1:Evolution of the Telco Cloud Deployment Model(Source:ABI Research)The single-vendor,monolithic deployment model has evolved to a multi-vendor,disaggregated multi-cloud model,w

24、here network elements are cloudified and run on multiple types of infrastructure.This is vital for creating new types of enterprise applications,as only some vendors will likely have the broad set of capabilities needed to address multiple enterprise vertical business requirements.REQUIREMENTS AND C

25、ONSIDERATIONSThe requirements and considerations of a telco cloud deployment model are well understood because these deployments have been in the market for many years.Table 1 summarizes telco cloud deployment imperatives for 4G and 5G core network deployments.Table 1:Telco Cloud Deployment Imperati

26、ves(Source:ABI Research)INFRASTRUCTURE IMPERATIVESTELCO CLOUDInfrastructure ImmutabilityAt present,a telcos network services are pegged to the underlying infrastructure.This may not be particularly agile because specific clusters provide precisely one network service for every workload in that clust

27、er.However,trends like Open RAN,Control and User Plane Separation(CUPS),and disaggregation are bound to change that rigidity in favor of more infrastructure fluidity.Implementation and Integration RisksLargely a Capital Expenditure(CAPEX)purchase model;the risk of implementation rests largely with t

28、elco operator;a major challenge to monetize in the short term.Carrier-GradeIn part,it must provide carrier-grade or“five-nines”service availability.Industry SupportedLargely driven by standard bodies that have long cycle times to next-generation technologies.Diversity of EnvironmentsHeterogeneous en

29、vironments with Physical Network Functions(PNFs),CNFs,and VNFs in a technology deluge.Diversity of WorkloadsTelco-edge needs to support core network workloads and elements,in addition to IT functions and applications.Little open-source presence exists in the telco edge domain and,even so,open source

30、 presents a major cybersecurity challenge.Infrastructure MaintenanceMaintenance and network healing are predominantly manual and open loop.Remedial steps based on domain-specific offline data and manual processes and scripting,often viewed as tacit knowledge and not able to be codified.Artificial In

31、telligence(AI)is key to facilitate the operation and maintenance processes in the operator through automated control platforms.Software DesignSoftware design pegged to physical appliances,with coarse-grained component granularity and linear processes,and a prescriptive/imperative(script-like)model.A

32、 big challenge in software design is accelerated scalability and the migration from hardware infrastructure to cloud platforms with a click of a button.Cost Savings/EconomicsThe telecoms industry is an asset-intensive one with factories and supply chains,inventory turns,and manufacturing not necessa

33、rily associated with the cloud and/or efficiencies.Single-Vendor Interdependent MonolithicVertical SolutionVertical SoftwareIntegrationIntegrated NFVIOpen Disaggregated.Modular Multi-Vendor CloudOpen DisaggregatedMulti-CloudSingle VendorFull End-to-End(E2E)Stack(Hardware and VNFs/CNFs)Single VendorV

34、NFs/CNFs onCommercial-Off-the-Shelf(COTS)HardwareMulti-VendorVNFs/CNFs Running onIntegrated NFVI withSingle Virtualized Infrastructure Management(VIM)Multi-VendorVNFs/CNFs Running onIntegratedMulti-Vendor VIMVNFs/CNFsRunning onMulti-VIMSingle VendorMulti VPUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE N

35、ETWORK DEPLOYMENTSDeploying in a telco cloud model also has several benefits:Telco-Grade Applications:There are Total Cost of Operations(TCO)benefits from hosting telco-grade NFs with existing telco cloud infrastructure.Due to traffic traversing throughout telco networks,many NFs are better suited f

36、or the telco cloud,especially on the user/data plane.To this effect,the telco cloud is cost-effective for applications with stringent requirements like low latency,large amounts of storage,and specialized compute resources,such as VNFs,RAN,and edge deployments.Telco-Grade Reliability and Performance

37、:Communication Service Providers(CSPs)provide a reliable service,encapsulated in Service-Level Agreements(SLAs)with performance guarantees,such as latency and bandwidth requirements,alongside 99.999%for service layer disaster recovery features.This remains a distinct advantage of telco cloud archite

38、cture stacks,as they are often optimized for performance.UnifiedOperationsandMaintenance(O&M):Streamlined and unified O&M is another benefit of the telco cloud.Vertically integrated stacks benefit from a single or lower number of vendors,reducing the complexity and interworking required with existin

39、g solutions and vendors.Depending on the deployment,divided O&M can also inflate costs,as coordinating between organizations can be time-consuming and create synergy issues with larger telco workloads.Rapid Iteration and Automation:As network complexity increases with NFs moving to VNFs/CNFs in a cl

40、oud environment,automation and rapid iteration of services become necessary for telco network operators.With the telco cloud,telco network operators often have fewer vendors.They can rely on fine-tuned VNFs,hypervisors,and Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure(NFVI)layers to streamline end

41、-to-end automation and service iterations.High Network Security:With fewer vendors and network resources managed by the telco network operator,a private telco cloud reduces access points for cybersecurity threats and provides an ideal environment for organizational security policies.In this respect,

42、the public cloud is predicated on a shared network with multiple organizations,which increases the risk of data leakage and inhibits telco network operators from meeting strict regulatory compliance standards.Data sovereignty is also a major benefit of the telco cloud,where all client and operationa

43、l data remaining on-premises and can be fully controlled.These challenges are accentuated when managed manually,when the bottleneck becomes the workload of the network manager.This is a major reason that automated platforms are now becoming the most prominent deployment paradigm in the telco cloud d

44、omain.PUBLIC CLOUD DEPLOYMENTSPublic cloud deployments for telco networks are a topic of fierce discussion and study in the market.While there is ongoing speculation about their role in the telco domain,significant developments exist.For example:DISH is deploying part of its RAN and mobile core on A

45、WS Cloud.Deutsche Telekom is piloting 5G SA with Google Cloud Platform.AT&T is deploying its 5G core on Microsoft Azure in AT&T sites.Several hyperscalers are also deploying on-premises versions of their public cloud software in operator data centers for various functions,including 5G SA core networ

46、ks.Among these three cases,only DISH is a deployment of considerable size and in commercial operation.Still,it has yet to provide conclusions regarding the long-term stability of its network,with millions of subscribers connected.Moving forward,ABI Research believes that VNFs,Management and Orchestr

47、ation(MANO),and CNFs will become the primary infrastructure considerations influencing the growth and adoption of the public cloud for CSPs.Alongside these factors,addressing the TCO associated with priming infrastructure PUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSfor 5G and trans

48、itioning to digital service-based business models will drive adoption.While not the highest priority,businesses and enterprises have been considering migrating workloads to the public cloud in order to save costs;for example,sandboxing new applications or migrating applications that require geograph

49、ical distribution.CSPs must carry out a careful assessment before migrating on-premises workloads,including Operational Support Systems(OSSs)/Business Support Systems(BSSs),to the public cloud.In any case,the public cloud does introduce several benefits for telco networks,and deployments are evolvin

50、g,as illustrated in Figure 2.Figure 2:Public Cloud Adoption Waves for Telco Networks(Source:ABI Research)REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONSThe requirements and considerations of deploying VNFs or CNFs in the public cloud have yet to be fully understood,particularly for brownfield networks that operate

51、a mix of physical,VNFs,and CNFs.DISH and AT&T will provide more visibility into public cloud use,but even these findings will be different from most operator networks that are in operation today.Table 2 illustrates a few considerations for public telco cloud deployments.Table 2:Public Cloud Telco Ne

52、twork Imperatives(Source:ABI Research)INFRASTRUCTURE IMPERATIVESPUBLIC CLOUDInfrastructure ImmutabilityImmutability implies that apps/networking are loosely coupled with the underlying hardware,holding no unique properties and,therefore,easily replaceable.If one instance falls over,another can take

53、its place;this is the modus operandi in public clouds.Implementation and Integration RisksLargely an Operational Expenditure(OPEX)purchase model;risk in the purchase decision will shift from the customer toward the supplier.Carrier-GradeCloud infrastructure is characterized by“triple nine”(99.9%)ser

54、vice availability.Industry SupportedBy and large,the open-source community standardizes.Diversity of EnvironmentsHyperscalers have software DNA and environments predicated on Virtual Machines(VMs)and cloud-native methodologies from the onset.Diversity of WorkloadsDesigned for both open-source and pr

55、oprietary applications,and mostly for DC IT functions.Infrastructure MaintenanceAutomated and closed-loop maintenance predicated on model-and policy-driven processes,open APIs,and real-time data and telemetry.Software DesignSoftware design pegged to fine-grained,isolated,and elastic functions(micros

56、ervices)based on declarative(model-like)DevOps and cloud principles.Cost Savings/EconomicsIncremental marginal cost:a considerable investment is made upfront to develop a software product and then the marginal cost of producing each one is very small.Marginal transactional costs:hyperscalers can sel

57、l with very low distribution and related costs.2021 AND EARLIERFirst WaveSecond WaveThird Wave20222025 AND ONWARDGreenfield telco cloud deploymentsBrownfield telco cloud migrationAdd agility to current on-premises appsBenefits start around edges with reporting,analytics,AI/MLCI-CD onboardingBasic ne

58、tworkingCloud basicCost comparisonAvoid large DC buildoutsOn-premises DC alternativeService availability&optimizationPerformance,SLAsMonolithic ArchitectureSecurity&data sovereigntyData location&jurisdictionCross-border data flowMigrate to cloud wholesaleOSS and core network may shift to public clou

59、d if performance requirements are satisfiedCloud serves as a“platform for platforms”Avoid cloud lock-inFull telco and IT convergenceAmalgam of proprietary telco systems with modular Internet architecturesMicroservice-based PUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSDespite being a

60、 viable alternative,there are several unknowns facing telco operators that are planning to deploy in the public cloud,including:TCO:There are TCO challenges tied to hosting large NFs on the public cloud.The size of NFs is typically larger than enterprise applications.It has more stringent performanc

61、e requirements,which 1)can cause issues related to migration between different cloud platforms,and 2)inflate costs from hosting them on the public cloud for communications services.In this respect,new NFs and customer-customized requirements can drive up costs to meet service-level performance requi

62、rements.Reliability and Performance:Alongside higher costs associated with running larger telco workloads continuously in the cloud,there are stringent SLAs and service uptime agreements for network services that telcos must consider.In this respect,telco cloud guarantees quick and effective network

63、 fault recovery that can potentially reach a reliability of 99.999%.In comparison,public cloud vendors often can only assure a much lower level of reliability that can be as low as 99.9%.Telcos must spend more to ensure reliability.O&M:With public cloud O&M,platforms face challenges with a divided O

64、&M,as telcos must now disaggregate network control and interface with public cloud vendors.This creates challenges in cross-layer invoking and demarcation,and network monitoring time can increase from milliseconds to seconds.Moreover,not having visibility and control over infrastructure makes root c

65、ause analysis challenging for service providers using the public cloud.Rapid Iteration:Telco networks require fast and continuous iterative upgrades to get new functions based on more recent technologies to market.Different operational environments and disaggregated O&M architecture can make the web

66、 more complex,slow the iteration process,and impact network maintenance and automation.Data Sovereignty and Security:Moving IT and core workloads to the public cloud draws security and sovereignty concerns for CSPs.In this respect,region-specific data containment measures may not be possible once th

67、ese workloads are on the public cloud.These are manageable challenges that will be resolved in the future,but there is uncertainty facing them in the current state of the market.Nevertheless,any operator deploying SA in the next few years will likely consider both telco and public cloud deployments

68、very carefully.TELCO AND PUBLIC CLOUD NETWORK COMPARISONThe most pressing question telco network Chief Technology Officers(CTOs)are facing currently is whether they should deploy on-premises or partner with a hyperscaler to remove infrastructure management responsibility and potentially cost from th

69、eir business processes.This is neither a simple,nor an easy decision to make,with many factors to be considered,as discussed above.Nevertheless,ABI Research understands that there are merits and drawbacks in both the telco and public cloud approaches.The ideal solution is to manage a platform that c

70、onsolidates both directions in a“hybrid cloud.”The coexistence of the public and telco cloud is new,but it is expected to be the norm in the coming years.Ultimately,deploying a horizontal platform that houses the on-premises telco cloud and public cloud for the core,edge,and RAN elements will be ess

71、ential as the market progresses toward 5G-Advanced and 6G.This will become even more essential as AI/Machine Learning(ML)is used throughout the network for telco network management,maintenance,and PUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSFigure 3 compares the two approaches as o

72、f the end of 2022.Figure 3:Telco versus Public Cloud Features(Source:ABI Research)There are many considerations to assess before choosing a specific platform,especially for public cloud deployments.For example,telco NFs are typically larger than enterprise applications,and the costs for migration an

73、d public cloud vendors compute and storage costs to run these functions can demonstrate a higher TCO profile than using an on-premises telco cloud,as illustrated in the following section.TCO COMPARISONReducing the CAPEX associated with building and running data centers is one of the advantages of th

74、e public cloud,especially in the context of telco networks.In this respect,unlocking greater service flexibility by running NFs on the public cloud can allow operators to focus on networking and service diversification,rather than infrastructure management,which is a complex process.Inherent feature

75、s of the public cloud,such as inexpensive scale-on-demand and pay-per-use capabilities,automation of the provisioning and maintenance of services,enhanced application deployment versatility,and unlocking an increased pace of innovation,are critical factors to consider in the telco domain.Furthermore

76、,all these features that come by default on the public cloud pose little to no risk to the telco operator.On the other hand,moving wholly and directly to the public cloud will incur additional costs that may only be partially visible to the mobile operator at the beginning of the deployment.For exam

77、ple,transport costs in and out of the public cloud may increase gradually,but represent a significant portion of total costs.A hybrid cloud approach that combines the best of both the telco and public cloud may be the ideal compromise that can provide immediate benefits and ensure the future of telc

78、o network deployments.This study focuses on the data center build-out needed for 5G SA deployments in telco and public clouds.Migration to the public cloud impacts both CAPEX and OPEX considerations for telco data centers(high-performance NFs and CNFs,region build-out costs,O&M costs,etc.).The publi

79、c cloud does offer many benefits with a flexible microservice-based architecture and pay-as-you-go service model that can reduce CAPEX for data center build-out,provided the telco operator is in a covered public cloud region/zone.By moving all workloads to the public cloud,telco operators will effec

80、tively switch to an OPEX-based model,as 25 2022 ABI ResearchTelco Cloud versus Public Cloud FeaturesSystemperformance challengesData sovereignty&security challengesNo freedom for CSPs to pick HW/SW acceleration techniquesUniform,centralized infrastructure with few availability zones in a countryStan

81、dards-based and multi-vendor ecosystemSecurity&compliance with telco regulationInherently distributed(cellular)infrastructureHeterogeneous applicationsI/O intensive workloads for apps and transport-level functionsLightweight SLAs Tier Ones get dedicated links;not the same for Tier Twos Integration t

82、hat drives CSPs business disintegrates Integrated environment from app development to live opsFully automated to operate volume of nodesEnhanced performance for telco-grade appsReliability for disaster tolerance can reach up to 99.9999%Reliability stays between 99.5%-99.99%Technology ownership&contr

83、ol of core competenciesTelco CloudPublic CloudLegend:Modularize and drive to commodity competitionIntegrate&maintain PUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSoperations and service delivery are tied to resources managed by a cloud vendor.While specific applications like telco IT

84、,OSS/BSS,and management plane functions can be migrated to the public cloud,other NFs(e.g.,user/data plane and control plane)are more cost-effective,secure,and manageable on telco premises.To this effect,it is unlikely that all telco workloads can be migrated to the public cloud,especially in the co

85、ntext of“brownfield”operators.Figure 5:Data Center Yearly Accumulated TCO:Telco Cloud versus Public Cloud(Source:ABI Research)TCO model shows that public cloud will be more expensive than private telco cloud over 10 year period.The 10-year TCO to build,deliver,install,and run a data center(US$169 mi

86、llion)is lower in the long run than leveraging primarily hyperscale infrastructure and resources for operations(US$180 million).For a data center,annual OPEX is roughly US$10 million annually,and maintenance CAPEX is approximately US$2 million to US$3 million a year.Initial CAPEX for construction is

87、 about US$62 million for an average telco capacity building at 10 Megawatts(MW)and 10,590 square meters.Assuming the telco operator leverages an hourly on-demand or monthly subscription model,OPEX is approximately US$16 million a year to compensate for the larger and higher-performance workloads tha

88、t telco operators require 24 hours,7 days a week.Based on these parameters,a 10-year TCO analysis reveals that leveraging hyperscale equipment and deploying high-performance packet processing stacks to the cloud will outstrip the costs of running workloads purely on-premises.This scenario demonstrat

89、es the potential negative long-term impact that running a higher volume of NFs and high-performance workloads(i.e.,high link capacities at 100 Gigabit per Second(Gbps)and packet rates up to 150 million packets per second)continuously on the public cloud could have on TCO.Under the conditions of usin

90、g hourly on-demand charges or monthly rental charges,deploying telco-grade workloads on the public cloud can get expensive and outstrip the OPEX of running the data center in the long haul.$-$20$40$60$80$100$120$140$160$180$200Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Year 6Year 7Year 8Year 9Year 10US$MillionsD

91、ata Center 10-Year TCO(Accumulated)Public Cloud OPEXTelco Cloud OPEXTelco Cloud CAPEXPublic Cloud CAPEXPUBLIC,PRIVATE,OR HYBRID CLOUD FOR 5G CORE NETWORK DEPLOYMENTSCONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Telco networks have much to gain from cloudification,cloud-native networks,and the public cloud.Moving

92、NFs from proprietary infrastructure platforms to telco clouds and public clouds has many benefits:faster time-to-market and agility for services,enhanced network flexibility,and reduced OPEX and CAPEX.The advent of 5Gand the upcoming deployment of the 5G NGChas only increased the interest in cloudif

93、ication in the telco realm.In this respect,telco operators have many aspects of cloudification that need to be put into perspective to help drive decision-making for the best approach to moving NFs to the cloud.These decision points include service performance and security thresholds,cost considerat

94、ions,and integration with existing network infrastructure and functions that must be evaluated when developing a cloud strategy.In most brownfield network cases,the telco cloud remains attractive,but no telco operator can deny the benefits of the public cloud as well.While a pure public cloud approa

95、ch does exist,there remain several potential drawbacks for“brownfield”operators.Additionally,a telco operators market positioning,infrastructure,data sovereignty requirements,and geographic location will make certain deployment models more attractive than others.Moreover,data sovereignty is an impor

96、tant concern,especially because the biggest cloud providers in the Western world are based in the United States.Given this perspective,operators should consider not only their unique position when evaluating a cloud strategy,but also their maturity and track record.The analysis and conclusions reach

97、ed in this paper indicate that although the telco cloud is currently the preferred approach,public cloud deployments are also picking up and providing tangible benefits for mobile networks.Nevertheless,the transition to the public cloud does come with risks and potential costs that cannot be predict

98、ed,especially as telco operators may not be able to predict which applications and services will be driving their network use in the future.ABI Research recommends a hybrid cloud approach,with the telco cloud acting as the anchor for vital network elements,while using the public cloud for parts that

99、 need to scale up or down in a flexible manner.Regardless of their choice,it is now essential to deploy the platforms that can manage both types of cloud,which can act as the foundation for future generations,including 6G.For many telco operators,the telco cloud is the most mature and tested cloud s

100、trategy,which meets the exceptional performance,security,and criteria that telcos require.However,to remain competitive and in line with industry developmentsand most importantly,to stay future-prooftelco operators need to consider the hybrid cloud,preferably with platforms that combine the benefits

101、 of both domains.The conclusion of this whitepaper and study is that telcos need to deploy horizontal platforms that can connect the best of both public and telco clouds to allow them to deploy a successful cloud-native strategy.Published February 2023157 Columbus AvenueNew York,NY 10023+1.516.624.2

102、500About ABI ResearchABI Research provides actionable research and strategic guidance to technology leaders,innovators,and decision makers around the world.Our research focuses on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries,economies,and workforces today.ABI Researchs

103、global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms,empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors.2023 ABI Research.Used by permission.ABI Research is an independent producer of market analysis and insight and this

104、 ABI Research product is the result of objective research by ABI Research staff at the time of data collection.The opinions of ABI Research or its analysts on any subject are continually revised based on the most current data available.The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable.ABI Research disclaims all warranties,express or implied,with respect to this research,including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular