Mobile service providers need to optimise and secure their 5G traffic as they start to operate more like the cloud – scaling with growth and adapting to demand. Yet many companies are still using multiple vendors to create this platform, which can be challenging and expensive to manage. The answer: a “best-of-suite” solution from one provider can simplify service delivery, save on operational costs and apply consistent security policies across all apps.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why a consolidated cloud-native GiLAN/ N6 solution offers a 60% reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Why flexibility and adaptability are crucial as networks support an array of applications including more Internet of Things (IoT) deployments.

Join us for a deeper dive into the service provider threat landscape and explore how service providers can take a proactive approach to embedding security into their networks. Learn about the most important cybersecurity threats, including devices, edge, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, and 5G network threats.

This session will provide critical information to every service provider seeking to keep their networks secure:

• Predictions for the service provider threat landscape
• Key actions you can take to prepare and safeguard your network
• Top considerations to help support your security efforts

5G is becoming a reality as several deployments have already started and more are to come this year. With 5G, service providers will be able to offer new services to new types of devices.

In order to achieve this, service providers have to rethink their network architectures and operational models. They need to be able to deploy both network functions and application services closer to the end users and also follow an agile model with time-limited use cases.

In this session, we’ll cover:

• Challenges and complexity of deploying new network architectures
• Options available today for simplifying the deployment of these architectures
• Examples of enhanced services a provider can offer based on new architectures

5G is much more than just speed. For example, it is a leap forwards for the digitisation of industries, it enables remote health care for rural and remote communities, it enables the building of private networks and via IoT, can help save our ecology.

But to achieve all this we need a network that is agile and responsive to changes. This is where automation plays a key role in a complex 5G network architecture.

In this session we will discuss:

• Why automation is important in 5G
• How you can start the network automation journey
• Examples of how our customers are automating their service networks (SGi/N6)

5G networks are leveraging many of the concepts successfully used by the largest websites on the planet, including a containerised, microservices architecture orchestrated with Kubernetes.

IT-centric Kubernetes present some challenges for telco use cases, such as scaling issues and limited networking capabilities. However, new edge platforms can simplify the management of highly distributed Kubernetes clusters, enabling new network functions and edge applications.

In this session you will learn:

• What's missing in Kubernetes today to support telco use cases
• How solutions such as SPK and Aspen Mesh help Kubernetes work for telcos
• How to manage distributed edge architectures based on Kubernetes
• How to avoid repeating the mistakes of NFV

Networks continue to evolve to 5G, with virtualized services and functions being critical to new architectures. This doesn’t mean that hardware is going away. Hardware platforms will continue to play a role supporting key high performance functions such as CGNAT, DDoS protection and compression. In addition, a new generation of hardware-offload technologies now allow for processor-intensive functions - such as CGNAT, DDoS protection and SSL encryption - to be performed in high-performance hardware. This can have an enormous effect on network performance, compute efficiency, connection latency and cost – especially in virtualized environments running on Common-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers

In this session, we’ll cover:

• VELOS – F5’s next-generation chassis solution, which bridges traditional and modern architectures with unique hardware and software attributes
• F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition integration with Intel SmartNICs and Quick Assist Technology (QAT) solutions that enable service offload to deliver greater performance with lower TCO and compute usage