Vimpelcom is planning to take its virtualisation plans to Russia later this year, after announcing a wide-ranging project at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
Speaking to Mobile Europe, CTO Yogesh Malik identified Evolved Packet Core as the likeliest candidate to be virtualised first, followed by network functions and then additonal services.
Virtualisation is a “key pillar” of Vimpelcom’s strategy, according to Malik. A vEPC was introduced to Kyrgyzstan and Laos last month, with plans to extend that to Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Tajikistan later this year.
“The model needs to change dramatically…Virtualisation by far is one of the big steps in our journey.” says Malik.
He describes the biggest virtualisation challenge as changing the skills and culture within a company, and moving staff away from existing technology and ways of thinking.
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