About the Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker
The Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker is our comprehensive database of live, commercial deployments of virtualised and cloud native network functions (VNFs and CNFs) and SDN technologies by leading telcos worldwide. It builds on an extensive body of analysis by STL Partners over the past eight years on NFV and SDN strategies, technology and market developments. The Tracker is provided as an interactive tool containing line-by-line analysis of over 900 individual deployments of VNFs, CNFs or SDN technology, which can be used to drill down by: • Region where deployed • Operator • Technology vendor • Primary purpose • Category of NFV/SDN technology deployed • …and more filters Below is a limited trial version of the tracker that allows you to look at the overall trend of deployments over time, the breakdown of deployments by primary purpose and how each category changes on a yearly basis. You can also select and filter by primary purpose using the dropdown menu on the right.
To access the full version of our interactive Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker, click the button below
Our accompanying analytical reports
We also publish accompanying analytical reports with each release and update of our Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker. Each report focuses on trends in specific regions or domain areas, in addition to global findings.
Our data
The data is drawn predominantly from public-domain information contained in news releases from operators and vendors, along with reputable industry media. In addition to these mainly public-domain deployments, there are many non-publicised deployments that are inevitably omitted from the Tracker. However, the ever-growing ‘Tracker’ database now constitutes a considerable body of research that offers a reliable snapshot of the overall market and the main trends in the evolution of telco cloud. As the Tracker contains details only of deployments in live, commercial telco networks (either completed or in progress), this provides a useful corrective to the hype of some vendors’ pronouncements about agreements with operators, which often relate only to collaboration arrangements and preliminary trials, rather than commercial roll-outs. The one exception to this rule is a limited set of data on some of the current live network trials of open and / or virtual RAN (vRAN). The reason for making this exception is the very high level of interest currently in open RAN.
More information on the scope and content
Here, the term ‘deployment’ to refer to the total set of virtual network functions (VNFs), CNFs or SDN technology, and their associated management software and infrastructure, deployed at an operator – or at one or more of an operator’s opcos or natcos – in order to achieve a defined objective or support particular services (we designate these as the ‘primary purpose’ of the deployment). For example, this could be: • to implement a virtualised mobile core • to launch a software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) service • or to construct a ‘telco cloud’ or NFV infrastructure (NFVi): a cloud infrastructure platform on which virtualised network services can be introduced and operated. In terms of the telcos included, we limit the database mainly to Tier-1 international and national telecoms operators, along with national fixed and mobile operators in smaller markets. For subsequent updates, we may expand the range and types of service providers included, because telco cloud is opening up opportunities for new players to provide cloud- and CNF-based connectivity and related services that are competing strongly with classic telco services.