ECI® Offers Operators Smooth Transition to 5G

PETACH TIKVA, Israel, Feb. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ECI, a global provider of ELASTIC Network^® solutions for service providers, critical infrastructures and data center operators, today announces the availability a highly adaptive, advanced solution to provide the dynamic, intelligent connectivity fabric required for 5G networks. It serves as a springboard for 5G, enabling operators to easily scale and build underlying infrastructure for addressing key 5G requirements such as ultra-low latency and hyper-flexible bandwidth, while simplifying and automating operational lifecycles to reduce OpEx.

5G will drive significant growth in mobile bandwidth – with the industry estimating a 100 to 1000-fold capacity increase – and an exponential surge in end-end-connections driven by IoT. While mass implementation is expected in 2020 and beyond, many operators are already beginning to introduce 5G NSA (non-standalone) network solutions using new 5G radio specifications in tandem with a 4G core network. However, providing more sophisticated services based on the concept of network slicing will require a full 5G connectivity fabric and standalone (SA) standard.

"5G promises to change the way we live, offering unprecedented services and an unparalleled user experience, but 5G goes beyond capacity. It is not just another G, nor is it simply about radio, rather it will change networking as we know it," said Darryl Edwards, CEO and president of ECI. "However, we must remember 5G will still need to operate in conjunction with 4G LTE, and even 3G. It is paramount that network infrastructure be ELASTIC enough to enable the interworking and coexistence of generations."

At the core of ECI's solution is the Elastic Services Platform, launched earlier this year. At the heart of the platform lies ECI's programmable transport products: Apollo Optical family, Neptune Packet-Optical family and Mercury™ NFV-based solutions. These solutions are fully leveraged and orchestrated by ECI's Muse™ – an open, modular SDN software suite – which provides real-time network control and optimization of service delivery. By bringing together the latest in IP and Optical interworking (including new technologies such as FlexE and Path Computation), intuitive service orchestration and network automation, ECI's 5G solution delivers:  

• Scalable Transport – provides the basis for a highly dynamic, distributed 5G architecture. ECI's Neptune and Apollo product lines create the ultimate scalable transport solution for RAN to Core connectivity, offering an optimized feature set for mobile backhaul, environmentally hardened for any condition as required.
• Adaptive Network Slicing – enables operators to tailor connectivity based on the use case or service profile. ECI's Elastic Services Platform creates and supervises end-to-end network slicing, enabling dynamic latency adaptation and policy-driven bandwidth assignment for ultra-high bandwidth and low latency services, so slices can be customized according to required network performance metrics.
• Assured Service Delivery – to truly assure 5G services and help increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. ECI's Muse software suite enables a simple and intuitive way to define, profile, monitor and enforce SLAs to ensure current and future 5G services e.g. autonomous cars, are optimized, always on and running at peak efficiency.
• Integrating (MEC) Multi-Access Edge Computing – allows operators to control the data flood while optimizing metro network performance and reducing latency. By leveraging ECI's Mercury NFV-based solutions, operators can simply and easily add compute power, speed or capacity while preparing for 5G.
• Open Architecture – provides seamless integration into 5G ecosystems. Since its ELASTIC network strategy inception, ECI has continually promoted and offered open APIs, interfaces and SDN controllability to ensure full functionality in multi-vendor environments. ECI's ecosystem interoperability has already been recognized at various industry showcases.

"We are one of the few network vendors with a clear focus on mobile backhaul, delivering solutions to some of the most demanding and fastest growing T1 mobile operators in the world," said Jimmy Mizrahi, executive vice president of portfolio business at ECI.  "We are the only company offering Elastic MPLS solutions which extend traditional IP/MPLS to add Segment Routing and FlexE with the tools to evolve between the different technology domains, so essential to 5G functionalities like network slicing. Moreover, realizing that 5G will not be rolled out overnight, we ensure that operators can pay as they grow, by supporting the incremental expansion of today's metro networks as well as tomorrow's 5G networks". 

Click here to schedule a meeting at the ECI MWC booth: Hall 6 booth #6C10 to learn more about ECI's 5G Solution. ECI will also be demoing its ELASTIC MPLS segment routing interworking capabilities at MPLS+SDN+NFV World Congress in Paris, April 2018.

About ECI
ECI is a global provider of ELASTIC network solutions to CSPs, critical infrastructures as well as data center operators. Along with its long-standing, industry-proven packet-optical transport, ECI offers a variety of SDN/NFV applications, end-to-end network management, a comprehensive cybersecurity solution, and a range of professional services. ECI's ELASTIC solutions ensure open, future-proof, and secure communications. With ECI, customers have the luxury of choosing a network that can be tailor-made to their needs today while being flexible enough to evolve with the changing needs of tomorrow.

For more information visit www.ecitele.com.

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SOURCE ECI Telecom