China Telecom and ZTE deploy a dedicated 5GC on the public cloud

China Telecom and ZTE say they have jointly deployed what they claim is the industry’s first dedicated 5G core (5GC) on a public cloud.

The deployment uses ZTE’s telco cloud-native “industry 5GC” (i5GC) solution. All function tests have been passed, and the results indicate that the i5GC and public cloud resources are compatible, ZTE says.

Moreover, ZTE adds, this deployment of a lightweight dedicated 5G core on the public cloud verifies the maturity of dedicated 5GC technologies, and constitutes a significant step for private 5G network development worldwide as it will accelerate the use of public cloud in private 5G deployments.

In the function test process, full container deployment of a dedicated 5GC, based on the EKS container platform, was implemented on the public cloud. The test verified multiple functions such as mobility management, session management, handover flow, security management, slicing flow and virtualization. It also effectively solved various adaptation problems from telco cloud to public cloud.  

Based on this deployment, ZTE said, operators can easily, quickly and flexibly integrate industry applications into their networks, and provide industry customers with integrated 5G cloud-network services.

ZTE said it worked jointly with China Telecom to analyze the development trend of lightweight dedicated 5GCs, discussed the value and advantages of private 5G network services on public cloud, and explored new cloud deployment models for industrial digital transformation.

“In cooperation with China Telecom, we have been exploring new forms for private 5G network deployments, providing more choices for product integration, delivery, operation and maintenance,” said Wang Quan, vice president of ZTE.