By: Robin Kent

Network operators are constantly looking to introduce new services and design networks in different ways to improve performance and lower costs. The industry currently appears curious over Virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC), but this could be the innovative service that they have been looking for. Now is definitely the time for operators to press ahead and start deploying vEPC in large scale LTE networks. However, they need to know how to best utilise the solution, which we also refer to as the network in the cloud, and in what way to implement it in order to provide the highest Quality of Experience (QoE) possible to the end user, who in today’s world demands 4G connectivity.

The trends

The trends the industry has seen regarding the development of virtualised EPCs are two-fold. Firstly there is EPC as a service, which is where EPC services are offered from a central point to many different users. The main use of EPC as a service is for field testing and product prototyping as they fill in the gap between research and product development by providing initial realistic environment prototyping, which is not necessarily offered by a traditional service provider. In addition to this, a further benefit of EPC as a service is the fact that it is a substantial enough application that it can be progressed into a virtualised solution, making the vEPC achievable as well as meaningful.

The second trend being observed is wholesale EPC services. This is where a large operator or service provider offers EPC services to multiple tenants, often smaller operators such as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which works effectively because of its modularity, scalability and flexibility. The modularity aspect of this solution enables different functions to be split up, allowing all components to be deployed separately or in any combination at the most appropriate point in the network. As a result, smaller operators avoid expensive hardware investment and larger operators benefit from a single point of control plane management. This level of scalability enables the solution to be tailored precisely to suit each and every customer’s needs.