WOW! field tests virtual network platform powered by Juniper Networks

SUNNYVALE, CA --(Marketwired - September 29, 2016) - Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), an industry leader in automated, scalable and secure networks, today announced that WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone (WOW!), a progressive broadband service provider in the United States serving residential, business and wholesale consumers in over 20 markets, is field testing Juniper Networks' Cloud CPE solution as a means to deliver new services to business customers. With Juniper Networks Cloud CPE, which includes the Contrail Cloud Platform, Contrail Service Orchestration and Juniper Networks® vSRX Virtual Firewall, WOW! is evaluating the evolution of its business services offering to include an agile, cloud-based platform to enable automated, efficient delivery of value-added services to customers.

Providing next-generation services through the cloud enables cable operators to increase the value of their network by offering a portfolio of hosted services available on-demand. Through the use of technologies like software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV), cable operators also have the ability to quickly spin up new services to manage and monitor service performance without having to commit large amounts of capital at the onset. In fact, a recent Juniper study which examined how businesses are leveraging network and IT automation, found that 93 percent of respondent companies that were using both SDN and NFV feel that these technologies give them a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace. SDN and NFV are bringing cable providers unprecedented levels of agility to expand their businesses, offering managed services, such as security, voice, Wi-Fi and SD-WAN.

WOW! approached the network transformation project with clear objectives to deliver an exceptional end-user experience. They also knew that architecting and implementing a hybrid infrastructure that incorporated both physical and virtual network elements in order to create a flexible, richly connected environment was key to the success of the project. The Juniper Cloud CPE solution automates the delivery of virtual services from anywhere in the network: the customer premises, the edge, or the data center.

News Highlights:

• Cloud CPE Powered by the Contrail Software Suite: Juniper Networks Cloud CPE serves as a foundational element of WOW!'s virtual network platform. Specifically, WOW! is using Juniper's Contrail Service Orchestration, which provides a suite of tools to simplify, automate and manage the delivery of cloud-based network services across their life-cycle, and Contrail Cloud Platform, a turnkey cloud orchestration solution for creating, scaling and deploying VNFs in OpenStack clouds.
• Industry-leading Security: Cable operators have the ability to offer its business customers managed security offerings based on Juniper Networks vSRX, the industry's most efficient and powerful virtual security platform. Business customers will be able to protect data assets and eliminate network threats. As the industry's fastest virtual security platform, vSRX delivers core firewall, networking and advanced security services.
• Combining the Virtual and Physical: WOW! will leverage their existing Juniper Networks infrastructure along with other third-party infrastructure for this project, including Juniper Networks MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers, EX Series Ethernet Switches and QFX Series Switches.

Supporting Quotes:

"At WOW! we're committed to providing our customers with innovative solutions, combining technology with outstanding customer service. Field testing Juniper's SDN and NFV technology is helping us quickly evaluate new business opportunities that allow us to provide the innovative and forward-thinking services that our customers demand." -Eric Fligel, vice president of Network Engineering at WOW!

"The advent of NFV has transformed the managed services model, enabling it to flourish and grow, especially as cable service providers continue to evolve their businesses to serve net new customer segments. As an industry leader in networking, we keenly understand the critical role that integration of virtualized technologies with the network plays in the digital transformation journey, especially as a means of automating end-to-end workflows and utilizing physical and virtual data in order to deliver an optimized and customized end-user experience." -Paul Obsitnik, vice president of Portfolio Marketing at Juniper Networks