AT&T’s Extensive SDN Plans Pave Way for 5G

AT&T has arguably been the most aggressive telecom operator when it comes to transitioning its network toward greater software control. This has led to the operator being proactive in both developing telecom-specific SDN platforms as well as partnering with numerous software and open source groups to tailor already established platforms for telecom use. This has also positioned the carrier to be among the first to launch commercial 5G services. The carrier initiated that SDN push with the Supplier Domain Program it launched in 2009. That program was a high-level move to realign its equipment purchasing pipelines and pare down the total number of vendor partners it worked with from around 150 down to around 40. That effort gained steam with the 2.0 version of that program, which launched in 2013. AT&T said its Domain 2.0 focus was on separating hardware and software functionality, separating network control plane and forwarding planes, and improving management of functionality in the software layer. That includes using SDN and NFV technologies.