Red Hat and NEC collaborate to drive Kubernetes-based 5G adoption

RALEIGH, N.C. — Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a collaboration with NEC Corporation to deliver 5G solutions built on Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform. With NEC’s 5G core network solutions running on Red Hat OpenShift, organizations will be able to capitalize on 5G across a broad set of use cases including 5G core, 5G radio access networks (RANs), edge computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and more, helping them create new revenue opportunities. 

NEC, a global leader in IT and networking solutions, and Red Hat have collaborated on joint open source software development with a focus on network functions virtualization (NFV) system integration using Red Hat OpenStack Platform for years. Now, as communication service providers (CSPs) and digital service providers (DSPs) aim to build a 5G future built on cloud-native principals, they will be able to work with Red Hat and NEC to drive local and private 5G, while adopting a more consistent, horizontal cloud platform hardened for their environments. 

This new cloud-native network function (CNF) infrastructure will give service providers a common telco cloud infrastructure for multiple use cases, helping to drive down management and operational expenses. Service providers will also be able to realize the benefits of an open, horizontal platform that can lower total cost of ownership (TCO) by up to 30% over silo based deployments, according to a Red Hat sponsored report from ACG Research. 

A strong ecosystem drives innovation 

A strong network ecosystem is a crucial component of 5G success, a need that Red Hat recognizes. Red Hat offers validation or certification of interoperability of CNFs with Red Hat OpenShift, helping partners prepare their applications for a cloud-native future and give their customers a greater competitive advantage with a faster path to 5G and cloud computing adoption at scale. 

NEC has taken advantage of this opportunity by validating their 5G core CNFs on Red Hat OpenShift, with plans for comprehensive certification this year. By taking these steps, NEC can offer operators more scalability, flexibility and enhanced security as they explore new revenue streams. Additionally, Red Hat can certify that a 5G CNF created with the supportable foundation of its Universal Base Image (UBI) helps reduce risk, leading to greater stability and faster development as service providers deliver 5G solutions to their customers. 

Supporting Quotes

Darrell Jordan Smith, senior vice president, Industries and Global Accounts, Red Hat

"As 5G becomes central to the competitiveness and viability of service providers, it’s critical that these organizations deploy on a foundation that supports a consistent, reliable and cloud-native strategy. We’re pleased to work with NEC to provide this new infrastructure built on Red Hat OpenShift. NEC understands the power of open principles and through this expanded collaboration, service providers will be able to maximize the benefits of 5G use cases in the telecommunications sector and beyond."

Michio Kiuchi, senior vice president , NEC Corporation

"We are pleased to collaborate with Red Hat to help CSPs and DSPs stay competitive in this increasingly demanding global 5G market, especially on the cloud-native front. Through our long-term and continued collaboration with Red Hat, we are working to build an open industry standard which has enormous potential for expanding awareness and adoption of 5G cloud-native network functions. NEC 5G solutions will provide a more efficient and reliable network experience for our customers by integration with Red Hat’s cloud-native solution."