PARIS — Orange S.A. (EPA: ORA), a leading French multinational telecommunications group, has announced a groundbreaking achievement in its pursuit of software and data-driven, fully automated networks. The company has successfully concluded its end-to-end cloud-native 5G SA experimental multi-cloud network, known as Pikeo, marking a pivotal milestone in its readiness for the networks of the future. This experimental network, a pioneering initiative in Europe, was inaugurated in June 2021 and has been operational across two sites in France, catering to internal employee usage. Orange is now poised to expand the trial to a third site in Spain, according to a press release published on EuropaWire.
The Pikeo 5G SA network represents a paradigm shift in telecommunications, being multi-cloud in nature and deployable on Orange Telco Cloud infrastructure or on AWS, utilizing a hybrid architecture. This versatility in deploying 5G private networks on robust cloud environments opens up new vistas for applications such as smart factories, erasing the boundaries between network connectivity and digital functionalities.
Orange’s vision, centered on software and data-driven telecommunications, is set to reshape its operational landscape, influencing how it constructs, deploys, and manages its future networks. Automation, disaggregation, cloud, and data/AI will be pivotal in this journey, promising networks that operate at significantly enhanced speeds. For instance, deployment times are expected to be 300 times faster, anomaly detection 100 times faster, and security updates immediate when required.
The successful operation of this greenfield network for over a year has provided Orange with invaluable insights into the automation of cloud-native 5G SA networks. Additionally, it has bolstered Orange’s expertise in integrating technologies from a spectrum of partners, including Dell Technologies, AWS, Casa Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Amdocs, Arista, Mavenir, and Xiaomi.
Moreover, this venture has allowed Orange to underscore the growing maturity of Open RAN technologies, paving the way for field deployments in the near future. For instance, Orange’s recent announcement regarding the deployment of the first commercial sites in a rural area in Romania this year underscores the confidence in Open RAN’s readiness for initial deployments on operational networks.
Orange remains steadfast in its commitment to harnessing automation and artificial intelligence to deliver faster and more efficient services to its clientele. With this latest milestone, the company is well on its way to realizing its vision for the future of telecommunications.
The experimental network pioneered by Orange has demonstrated the transformative potential of automation and artificial intelligence in the telecommunications sector. Notably, the network showcased the ability to automatically redeploy its 5G core and RAN in under an hour, a significant improvement over the timeframes required on legacy networks. Furthermore, the network exhibited accelerated automated anomaly detection, empowered by AI-driven dashboards identifying anomalies and their root causes. Additionally, energy consumption was optimized through automatic shutdowns of 5G private networks during off-hours. Orange also successfully implemented a zero-trust security model, integrating identity and access management with automated vulnerability detection and SIEM integration. Collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) showcased the feasibility of running network functions over a public cloud, employing a Zero Trust security model and on-demand use of AWS resources to optimize energy efficiency. The trial is set to continue in 2023, further exploring automation through AI and evaluating potential use cases.
Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group CTO and SVP Orange Innovation Networks, expressed pride in showcasing the benefits of a fully automated cloud-native multi-cloud 5G SA network at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Leboucher emphasized that the experience gained from the Pikeo project, coupled with Orange teams’ expertise, would be leveraged in the new Mobile Private Network cloud experimental offer launched by Orange Business. As Orange endeavors to establish itself as the telecom reference for resilient, green, software, and data-driven networks, the achievements of this trial mark a significant milestone in this endeavor.
In collaboration with key partners HPE, Casa Systems, and AWS, Orange will present two examples of its implementation at MWC 2023. The demonstrations will underscore Orange’s progress in leveraging cloud-native 5G SA networks and its commitment to reshaping the future of networks, highlighting instances of a 5G mobile private network dedicated to high-quality video distribution for sports events and end-to-end orchestration of 5G slicing, including automated anomaly detection and self-repair. These presentations will underscore Orange’s dedication to driving innovation in telecommunications.
