Light Reading Evaluates Nokia's Virtual Network Functions

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 11, 2016) - Light Reading has published the results of a unique and important independent evaluation of virtualized network functions (VNFs) developed by Nokia. The independent test was conducted by leading networking technology test company EANTC, and paid for by Light Reading, to ensure impartial and authoritative results.

EANTC evaluated multiple Nokia VNFs, testing them for performance, scalability and other important attributes and concluded that they achieved carrier-class status and are ready to be deployed by communications network operators.

That's an important finding, as network operators are at a key stage of their virtualization strategies: They need to decide which parts of their network architecture should be virtualized (and when) in order to become more efficient, develop new business opportunities and gain competitive advantages, yet without losing functionality or degrading performance.

"Network operators are keen to introduce VNFs to their networks to gain competitive and operational advantages but they need to be sure that these next-generation technologies can meet their exacting requirements," noted Light Reading Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre. "Tests such as the ones carried out by the experienced and, importantly, independent EANTC team show that they can move ahead with confidence," added Le Maistre.

"Our extensive evaluation of Nokia's virtualized routing, broadband network gateway and mobile core solutions showed their performance strengths, specifically the efficient data plane enabled by Nokia's VFP technology and adaptive, modular scaling mechanisms," said Carsten Rossenhoevel, Co-Founder and Managing Director of EANTC (European Advanced Networking Test Center). "The published test report covers a wide range of realistic test scenarios representative for service provider networks. It describes our test methodology setting new standards in VNF testing, and details all results transparently and reproducible."

"The EANTC testing gives us unbiased, external validation of the capabilities and readiness for deployment for our virtualized portfolio. We believe these results set a new industry benchmark for outstanding performance, scalability, resiliency and manageability for IP routing and mobile gateway virtualized network functions (VNFs)," said Sri Reddy, VP and GM, IP Routing and Mobile Core, Nokia. "Our heritage is in developing a best-in-class IP portfolio, and now with the investment we've made in taking this portfolio to the cloud, our customers can feel assured they will get highest performance carrier-grade IP solutions for any deployment environment -- be it general purpose compute or purpose built hardware -- giving them flexibility to suit their specific business needs."

You can find the full report here: http://www.lightreading.com/ethernet-ip/new-ip/evaluating-nokias-vnfs-part-2/d/d-id/722018.

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About Light Reading

Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) helps the global communications industry make informed decisions. The Lightreading.com site is the definitive source for next-generation communications analysis for more than 450,000 users each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading also produces live events for executives charged with monetizing cable, New IP, optical, Ethernet, mobile, gigabit cities, security, virtualization, components, communications drones, next-gen analytics, Internet of Things and wireline networks.

About EANTC

EANTC (European Advanced Networking Test Center -- www.eantc.de/) is internationally recognized as one of the world's leading independent test centers for telecommunication technologies. Based in Berlin, Germany, the company offers vendor-neutral consultancy and realistic, reproducible high-quality testing services since 1991. Customers include leading network equipment manufacturers, Tier 1 service providers, large enterprises and governments worldwide. EANTC's proof of concept, acceptance tests and network audits cover established and next-generation fixed and mobile network technologies.