Orange hits new milestone with first of its kind end-to-end 5G SA network, Pikeo

Orange is making fast progress on its journey towards software and data-based, fully-automated networks, with the results of its end-to-end cloud-native 5G Stand Alone (SA) experimental multi-cloud network, Pikeo.

According to the telco giant, this experimental network, the first of its kind in Europe at the time of its launch in June 2021, represents a key stage in its preparation and underlines the organisation’s leadership in determining the shape of future networks.

The experiment has run over two locations in France and is currently used by internal employees. The trial will be extended soon to a third site in Spain for internal use.

To date, Orange said that the network can be automatically redeployed in less than one hour; automate anomaly detection for mobile networks is much faster; optimise energy consumption by automatically switching off in the evening – an area Orange said at the end of last year it would be turning its attention to; model end-to-end slice management for critical communication services, and implement a zero-trust model.

Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group CTO and SVP Orange innovation networks, unveiled the findings at this year’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, which two of TechInformed’s journalists are presently attending and reporting on.

“We are proud to showcase the benefits of a fully automated cloud-native multi-cloud 5G SA network at this year’s Mobile World Congress,” said Leboucher. “The experience gained from the Pikeo project and the expertise of Orange Innovation teams will be leveraged in the new Mobile Private Network cloud experimental offer launched by Orange Business.”

“As Orange seeks to fulfill its ambition to become the telecom reference for resilient, green, software and data-based networks, the results of this trial to date mark a major milestone in achieving this.”

The organisation added that Pikeo will transform its activities, shaping how it builds, deploys, and operates its future networks. Automation, disaggregation, cloud, data/AI will all play a key role on this journey delivering networks that will operate much faster (for example, deployment 300 times faster; detection of anomalies, 100 times faster; and immediate security updates, when required).

The implementation and operation of this greenfield network for more than one year has provided Orange with “invaluable” experience and knowledge on the automation of cloud-native 5G SA networks.

Orange also noted that the experiment developed its know-how in integrating technologies from various partners such as Dell Technologies, AWS, Casa Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, as well as Amdocs, Arista, Mavenir and Xiaomi and clarified what this means in terms of skills and transformation.