NFV

Let’s take a short trip down memory lane. Media gateways, routers, home location registers (HLRs), IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), and so on were components that made up legacy telecom systems. Customized hardware, operating systems, and other software were required to offer telecom services to customers. These legacy network devices were very expensive and had high operating costs. Therefore, customers ended up with high operating expenses (OPEX) and capital expenses (CAPEX). That resulted in a lock-in with long-term contracts with the telcos for support and maintenance. Another byproduct of such environments was that scalability came at a premium and self-healing capability was minimal or non-existent.

IP-based technologies gradually replaced legacy networks, to the point where even legacy services such as voice (phone) communications are now delivered over IP (VoIP). This led to the ubiquitous wireless data networks of today, of which 5G is the latest incarnation. Telcos...