Verizon called on software suppliers and application developers to unite around web-scale principles for 5G, arguing access to uniform technology is necessary to speed delivery of next-generation capabilities.

Speaking during the Red Hat Summit 2020, Verizon VP of technology and supplier strategy Srini Kalapala said 5G will be the first “truly cloud-native network”, with everything from the RAN to the core built on a set of cloud-based applications. He explained this will give the operator greater flexibility to scale and deliver services faster.

Kalapala said Verizon began migrating to virtualised network functions in 2015, a move he noted had already made it more agile. As an example, he pointed to the operator’s ability to respond to changing traffic patterns during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic by increasing capacity on different cell sites in hours rather than weeks or months.

He added 5G will take things to the next level, requiring Verizon to deploy “a very consistent infrastructure across our footprint”, and urged software suppliers to take a uniform technology approach to help eliminate friction in its network environment.

“For us architecturally, we would ask the entire community to lean towards web-scale for 5G,” he said, adding adoption of a “common operations model” will help Verizon deliver “foundational capabilities faster”.