Telco cloud deployment activity slowed down in Q2 2024 with only 20 deployments added to the tracker, eight of which were completed in earlier years. The remaining 12 included five 5G NSA cores (four already launched) and three SA cores, all of which we expect to go live by the end of 2024. In this report we analyse the prospects for 5G SA including a deep-dive on the state of deployments on the public cloud.

e& and O2 Germany: A tale of two hyperscalers

• By February 2024, only three telcos had carried out substantive deployments of CNFs on public clouds:
  • DISH’s roll-out of its 5G SA and open RAN network on AWS.
  • Migration of AT&T’s CNFs and launch of its SA core on the Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus platform.
  • Swisscom’s deployment of an Ericsson converged NSA/SA core on AWS (SA functions still not launched commercially).

• In 1H 2024, two announcements appeared to signal progress:
  • In February, e& announced it would deploy Microsoft’s own SA core solution (formerly Affirmed Networks) on Nexus.
  • In May, O2 Telefónica reported that it would deploy a Nokia SA core in Germany on the AWS cloud.

• However, in June 2024, Microsoft restructured its operator business, resulting in the discontinuation of the mobile core products (including the former Affirmed and Metaswitch product sets). The Operator Nexus business also ceased to be a strategic development focus.
• This cast doubt on Microsoft’s commitment to telco cloud, i.e. to providing a neutral cloud platform for operators to run multi-vendor CNFs and network workloads. It also meant that e& may now need to choose a new CNF vendor and possibly also a new hyperscaler partner, unless it chose to repatriate its 5G SA core to its private cloud. We await confirmation of the eventual outcome.

Components of the e& and O2 Telefónica 5G SA deployments on the public cloud

Source: STL Partners

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Table of contents

• Summary of telco cloud activity in Q2 2024
• Executive summary
• Deep-dive: Deployments on public cloud
• Regional overview
• Operator view
• Vendor view

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• Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker Q4 2023: Year-in-review

Author

David Martin

Senior Analyst

David Martin has specialised on telco cloud at STL Partners since 2016, writing numerous strategic reports on different aspects of the topic. He also originated STL’s Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker: a major database of commercial telco cloud deployments by leading telcos worldwide. He is a telecoms analyst of around 25 years’ experience. David obtained a First Class degree in French and German at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he also pursued doctoral studies in French.