VMware, Inc. announced VMware vCloud NFV-OpenStack Edition 3.0, the next generation of the company’s production-proven network functions virtualization (NFV) platform for communications service providers (CSPs). With this new version of vCloud NFV-OpenStack Edition, which will include VMware Integrated OpenStack-Carrier Edition 5.0, VMware will be able to deliver breakthrough improvements in network performance, new carrier-grade networking capabilities, and intent-based service assurance to help improve the total economics of software-defined, open standards-based 5G and multi-cloud telco networks.

“VMware’s NFV solution is deployed in more than 50 CSPs globally supporting a wide variety of use cases and more than 300 million mobile subscribers. And with the imminent arrival of 5G, a new approach to the telco network and cloud is required to solve for the hyper distribution of virtual network functions, applications and data,” said Shekar Ayyar, executive vice president and general manager, Telco NFV Group, VMware. “With VMware vCloud NFV-OpenStack 3.0, service providers will be able to build software-defined, programmable, highly-distributed Telco Distributed Clouds based on open standards to deliver new advanced services to consumers, and quality-of-service-based network slices to serve the application needs for a wide variety of industries.”

VMware vCloud NFV delivers a 5G-ready NFV infrastructure (NFVI) platform, tuned to support rapid rollout of next-generation services with low latency and high network throughput, and support for a massively distributed set of end points and devices. VMware vCloud NFV enables CSPs to create an end-to-end software-based network architecture to deliver consistent, pervasive connectivity and intrinsic security to applications and virtual network functions wherever they are located, at global scale from core to cloud to edge, and independent of underlying physical infrastructure or location.

“A highly performant and reliable NFV platform is key to unlocking the cloud efficiencies that NFV promised,” said Caroline Chappell, Research Director and lead analyst for Analysys Mason’s Software-Controlled Networking research program. “It’s important that operators gain the benefits of a carrier-grade and scalable NFVI without sacrificing support for open industry standards and the ability to execute virtual network functions from multiple vendors. As operators begin to scale commercial NFV deployments, they will need robust platform features and the potential in future to run the same NFVI in multiple clouds.”