Intel, Google Cloud partner to facilitate 5G rollout with telecom-focused solutions

Technology majors Intel and Google Cloud have collaborated to build telecom-focused cloud reference architectures and integrated solutions for communication service providers (CSPs). 

This is expected to increase adoption of 5G in multiple networks and edge locations, Intel said in a statement.

The partnership will focus on helping CSPs deploy virtualised Radio Access Network (RAN) and Open RAN solutions on modernised infrastructure, launch new labs to develop solutions for 5G networks, and enable easier deployment of applications to the edge of the networks.

“Communications service providers can adopt cloud-native technologies to harness the potential of 5G, both as a connectivity solution and as a business services platform to deliver applications to the network edge,” Shailesh Shukla, vice president and general manager of networking at Google Cloud, said.

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Shukla, in a separate Google blog post, said the company looks to partner with players across the telecommunications ecosystem. This includes application providers, carriers, CSPs, hardware providers and global telecoms, he said.

Such an industry wide partnership would help decrease cost and time-to-market, helping the telecom industry shift to cloud-native 5G, Shulka wrote.

“As communications service providers build out their 5G network infrastructure, our efforts with Google Cloud and the broader ecosystem will help them deliver agile, scalable solutions for emerging 5G and edge use cases,” Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager of the Network Platforms Group at Intel, said.

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The partnership is expected to benefit industries such as retail, manufacturing and healthcare through a combination of 5G, edge and artificial intelligence solutions, the statement said.

As part of the partnership, Google Cloud’s global infrastructure will work alongside Intel’s solutions such as the Intel Cloud-native Open Network Edge Service Software (OpenNESS), the Data Plane Development Kit(DPDK) and hardware based on Intel’s Xeon processors. Intel’s FlexRAN reference software will be utilised to understand how to implement wireless access loads through flexible software architectures.