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Issue 1604/2013

TELUS: An MBB journey

China Mobile looks toraise its network IQ

SDN: Networkrevolution is coming

TalkTalkkeeps theconversationlively

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A debate is raging in China as to whether or not telcos should startcharging for WeChat (Chinas equivalent of WhatsApp). he service hasalready attracted some 300 million users and counting, and has becomeas vital to the social lives of Chinas urbanites as texting was in the heydayof the ip phone. Since its launch in January 2011, WeChat has renderedSMS obsolete among Chinas screen worshippers, and it is no doubt takingmoney out of the voice coffers as well. However, WeChats usurping oftraditional voice and text stems not only from its no-charge model, butmore importantly, its ease of use and sharing a critical aspect of a superiordata-oriented user experience.

On the other side of the globe, -Mobile has reaffirmed its commitmentto uncarriership through its no-contract offerings, but lost amidst theunsubsidized hype has been the ne print stating that unlimited voice andtext are included with up to 500MB of data for USD50. Te subscriberinterprets this as tariffed data, with free text & voice as a bonus. hiscertainly represents a new way of thinking about your phone bill, and maylead to the retirement of the term as telcos look to unify the four-screen world. Phone companies are becoming data providers (two of Chinas big-three telcos derive over half of their revenue from non-voice sources), andsome industry players view this as gloried dumb pipe provision; those thatdo are looking for an answer.

As we usher in a data-oriented world, operators must rethink theirbusiness and operational models, and explore sustainable models forO partnership. In the WeChat case, PCCW has recently launched anunlimited WeChat package for a little over one U.S. dollar a month, butMainland Chinas big three telcos have yet to settle with local Internetgiant encent (WeChats provider), a process that will require wisdom onboth sides. Tere is no one-size-ts-all solution in this arena, but any & allmodels that prove viable will surely have a better customer experience at thecore.

However, business models cannot be innovated in a vacuum; theunderlying architecture must support it, and this is where SDN comes intoplay. SDN is a revolution in network architecture and operation where yourbrilliant ideas are no longer bound to network standards and the expensive,

specialized gear that implement them. Trough cooperation, competition,or a little of both, SDN can enable a steady stream of innovative services,and some will prove the differentiators that will keep telcos out of the dumbpipe trap for the next decade.

Change we need

Sponsor

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Publisher

Huawei COMMUNICATE Editorial Board

Consultants

Ken Hu, Eric Xu, Guo Ping,Ryan Ding, Zhang Wenlin, Heymans Zhu

Editor-in-Chief

Sally Gao ([email protected])

Editors

Pearl Zhu, Xue Hua, Julia Yao, Jason PattersonMichael Huang, Joyce Fan, Linda Xu, Xu PingCao Zhihui, Li Xuefeng, Pan TaoChen Yuhong, Zhou Shumin

Contributors

Li Yingying, Huang Dongyang, Li ZhipengHuang Shengqiang, Chen Lin, Zhang XueleiMo Yongbo, Ren Ling, Liu Xun, Ella Wong

E-mail: [email protected]: +86 755 28786665, 28787643 Fax: +86 755 28788811 Address: B1, Huawei Industrial Base, Bantian, Longgang, Shenzhen 518129, China

Publication Registration No.:

Yue B No.10148

Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2013. All rights reserved.No part of this document may be reproduced or transmittedin any form or by any means without prior written consent ofHuawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

DisclaimerThe contents of this document are for information purposeonly, and provided as is. Except as required by applicable

laws, no warranties of any kind, either express or implied,including but not limited to, the implied warranties ofmerchantability and tness for a particular purpose, are madein relation to contents of this document. To the maximumextent permitted by applicable law, in no case shall HuaweiTechnologies Co., Ltd be liable for any special, incidental,indirect, or consequential damages, or lost pro ts, business,revenue, data, goodwill or anticipated savings arising out ofor in connection with any use of this document.

Sally Gao, Editor-in-Chief

For electronic version and subscription,please visit www.huawei.com/winwin

Hear what operators want to share in person,see how peers succeed in a erce marketplace,and delve into their secrets to success.At WinWin , its all about success.

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WHATS

INSIDETalkTalk keeps the conversation lively01

alk alk has emerged as a game changerin British media and communications,thanks to a savvy sense of the market thatstarts at the top. Trough double-digitgrowth, the operators commitment tobeing the value-for-money provider haspaid off, as have its outside-the-box movesin broadband, mobile, and television.

Voices from Operators

04/2013

Sunrise has a certain quality05

Sunrise is Switzerlands second-largestoperator, now providing mobile, landline,Internet, and V services. After recentprice cuts by the incumbent, CEO OliverSteil saw quality as the key to his companyslong-term success. He recently sat down with WinWin to talk the latest trends andstrategies in Alpine communications.

TELUS: An MBB journey09

ELUS is at the forefront of smart deviceadoption, enabled by an ecosystem whereindustry players & governments continueto operate in an environment that rewardsinvestment and promotes innovation.echnology Strategy and Operations EVPEros Spadotto shares the telcos L E story,successes, and challenges ahead.

Issue 16

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China Telecom: Smooth coverage fora bumpy landscape

34

Mobile security management27 UC&C keeps Huawei on the same page43

SDN: Network revolution is coming17Software-dened networking (SDN)is at the vanguard of a telco revolution.Great importance should be attached toits development and impact on networkelements so that resource utilization, servicedeployment exibility, and user experiencereach their full potential, according toZhao Huiling (China elecom).

SDN: The new frontier in ICT13

More and more IC professionals guaranteethat SDN will bring revolutionary changesto traditional network architecture, but what is SDN architecture, what problemsdoes SDN solve, and how should vendorsand customers prepare for SDN? Dan Pitt,Executive Director of the Open NetworkingFoundation, has the answers.

Perspectives

From Clean Slate to SDN20

Mobile Extreme: Striking paydirt inLatin America

37

WinnersChina Mobile looks to raise itsnetwork IQ

31

China Mobile is trying to improve the networkmaintenance process by creating an internal bodyof thousands of homegrown experts, developedthrough initiatives such as U-Practice, a trainingprogram the operator carried out in conjunction with Huawei in 2011.

Tao of Business

Big data and how to use it25

Data center modularity keepsPhoenix ying high

40

Phoenix New Media managed to completely relocateits operations to a new office building within threemonths, thanks to a modular data center solutionthat conserves energy, accelerates deployment, reducesinvestment, and protects the environment, laying asolid foundation for its global footprint.

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TalkTalkkeeps the conversation lively

VOICESFROM OPERATORS

alk alk is a telco success story, one that rests on anoperator actually doing what the market has beentalking about endlessly providing innovativeproducts and services that inspire loyalty in

customers. Whats more, this has been done primarily withckle, cash-strapped consumers in a moribund economy, at atime when most telcos see the well heeled and/or corporate asthe path to sustainable margins.

Broadband as the cornerstone

alk alk has enjoyed growth rates in the upper-teens

to low twenties since its 2010 spinoff from he Carphone Warehouse (an independent mobile phone retailer) andcurrently serves over ve million customers across Britain. Itis now in a close third behind Virgin Media in terms of xedbroadband market share, with both near 20%, a 10-pointmargin behind market leader B Retail.

alk alk CEO Dido Harding, who has been in chargesince the March 2010 spinoff, attributes the operators successto audacious internal reforms that created a leaner and moreefficient company. We were an octopus, because we grewpartly organically and partly through acquisition. Tree yearsago, we had arms and legs all over the place. We removedquite a few arms and legs as we simplied the business and arenow in a place where were growing the company and offeringmore products to our customers as, hopefully, a young adult.

Harding has a retail background, having cut her teeth atBritish firms such as homas Cook, esco, and Sainsbury,making her an unorthodox choice for telco leadership, thoughnot from a alk alk perspective. In 2006, the operator shookup the market by offering free (thoughcomplimentary wouldbe a more accurate description) broadband services, whichattracted so much interest that it became something of adouble-edged sword for the operator in terms of waitingtimes. When we launched free broadband, the team atthat time thought that we would get a couple of hundred orthousands of customers in the rst three months. Yet, theycame in the rst three days and nally we found ourselves not

By Linda Xu

TalkTalk has emerged as a game changer in British media and communications, thanks to a savvy

sense of the market that starts at the top. Through double-digit growth in a market crowded withindustry titans, the operators commitment to being the value-for-money provider has paid off, ashave its outside-the-box moves in broadband, mobile, and television.

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Dido Harding, TalkTalk CEO

We always look tointroduce products as

signi cantly better value formoney than the incumbents.And we try to do thingsdifferently to challengeconventional wisdom inthe way we work.

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quite ready for this unexpected boom of demands, Hardingstates.

However, despite some reputational setbacks related tothose wait times, alk alk irrevocably changed the market.Six years ago, broadband in the U.K. cost about 60pounds a month, says Harding. As a result of alk alksentry, the prices for phone and broadband came down verydramatically. And at the same time, entirely related to that,demand for broadband and usage of digital connectivity havegrown dramatically in the U.K. So today, U.K. consumersspend more time online than any other consumers in the world. he product (broadband) is easy to buy and muchmore affordable.

alk alk has recently raised its broadband speeds tobetter compete with more premium offerings, launchingits 38Mbps and 76Mbps superfast services at 10 and15 pounds a month, respectively, and the uptake hasbeen solid. Weve been selling superfast broadband foreighteen months and gained over 30,000 customersout of our five million user base. Roughly 40% of ourcustomers have the will and can subscribe to the superfastbroadband if they want it, but the demand isnt there yet. What the vast majority of alk alk customers need is areliable broadband connection and they can do prettymuch everything they want to, including live streaming ofHD V, with 8-to-9Mbps on average.

he fixed broadband market is one where cynicismreigns, but Harding speaks of it very positively. If youlook at the way consumers and businesses are using digitalconnectivity, I think the really interesting thing is that allour customers are using it more and more. So there is anever increasing demand for more bandwidth in our network.How we build our network for the future is to make surethat we are ambitious enough about the demand for greatbandwidth and creative enough in the way we design ournetworks so that we can bring the costs down to meet thosecustomers needs.

Veering towards TV and mobile

In Great Britain, the broadband and xed voice businessesare starting to plateau. Te U.K. today has roughly 80% ofthe population connected by broadband. I think that whenmy children have their children and grandchildren, 100% ofthe population will be online. So the rates will continue togrow, but there wont be exponential growth in connections,notes Harding, who believes it imperative to tune alk alksstrategy. For the last six years, we have mainly sold phonesand broadband. Yet recently, weve launched V and mobilephones on top, and we expect thats where the bulk of growth

VOICESROM OPERATORS

TalkTalks view of how you promote any new service is that youshould invest in the customers rather than lots of advertising. Thats a

much more powerful way of investing and driving growth.

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for our business will be coming from.In July 2012, alk alk dived into a pay V market already

cluttered with whales in the forms of B Vision (750,000+customers), Virgin Media (3.7 million cable customers)and Sky (10 million V customers). However, alk alkaims to lure 7.5 million Freeview (a U.K. free-to-air service)households into the realm of pay V.

What alk alk is trying to do with our V product isto provide those Freeview customers who currently dont payanything for V with the opportunity to buy a little bit to givethem the access to all of the amazing content you can get inthe U.K. and elsewhere in the world without having to spend40, 50, or a 100 pounds a month committing to all of it. Our job in V is not to bring a new technology that no one on theplanet has ever seen; it is to make something affordable andeasy to use for people who currently dont have any form of payV service in their home. So what were trying to do is reallycreate a new market in the mass market mainstream.

alkalks V service could eventually cover several millioncustomers. It offers a classic series archive, as well as seven-day V catch-up service. Its cornerstone is Huaweis YouViewset-top box (S B), which integrates a digital video recorder with a Freeview channel receiver and an Internet connectionfor V on demand. Te box, priced at GBP299, is free toalk alks 1.1 million premium subscribers, along with aone-year contract with LOVEFiLM online video rentals,unlimited broadband, and free domestic landline calls. We work really hard to make sure our V proposition is fantasticvalue for money, says Harding.

alk alks pay V is both reducing churn and attractingsubscribers, to the tune of over 1,000 V subscribers per day.Our view of how you promote any new service is that youshould invest in the customers rather than lots of advertising.If you have a really brilliant disruptive proposition thatsfree, you can actually afford not to spend lots of money inadvertising or promoting, because youre giving the moneyto the customer. And thats a much more powerful way ofinvesting and driving growth. Harding constantly reiteratesalk alks mantra of not being a bleeding-edge innovator.

We want to be the marketplace for content, not thecontent rights owner. Its a big-boys game, buying rights. As of December 2012, alk alk had signed up 80,000subscribers, providing them with access to V content and working in concert with O content providers.

alk alks value-for-money philosophy is also reflectedin its device lineup, as budget-minded consumers may not worship upscale handsets. Im not selling iPhones. Mycustomers are more interested in value-for-money phones forthe future, such as those from Huawei. In general, Hardingspeaks highly of alk alks collaboration with Huawei.Huawei is an absolutely vital strategic partner of alk alk.here are some parallels between alk alk and Huawei.

Both businesses love setting themselves ridiculous challenges,trying to do things faster, better, and more simply, at a moreaffordable price than looks in any way achievable when yourst set out. Tat brings out the best in our company and Ihope brings out the best in Huawei as well, which means that,together, were a powerful combination.

Stable & happier customers

alk alk advocates a safer, freer, more affordable andoverall better Internet environment for its subscribers.Inspired by the concept of road safety, alk alk worked inconjunction with Huawei to launch its parental control tool,HomeSafe, in May 2011. It is free to all our customers.Tat is the theme of what we do in alk alk. And we nowhave over half a million of our customers actively using it. Itsa huge differentiator. No one else in the U.K., thus far, andno one else in Europe is doing anything like it. It is givingus a real competitive advantage over the rest of the market.Customers who use HomeSafe are much less likely to leaveus. So its been a fantastic investment.

alk alk is also a staunch supporter of net neutrality, havingsigned the Open Internet Code of Practice in July 2012. TeInternet is as free and open as any of our consumers wouldhope for. Weve signed the code of practice to make sure that we are all way clear and open, with our customers and anything were doing to our customers involving a choice of what we do.

Harding herself may be a chief executive, but shes notafraid to mix it up in the trenches, frequently getting on thehelpline to address customer complaints in person. I whisperto the agents and ask them to put the customer on hold andsay theyre going to pass the call to their manager. Ten I saythat Im the chief executive and I want to explain whats goingon and see what I can do. It has the most brilliant impactI get probably 20 or 30 emails a day from customers. I willbe in the email dialogue personally with customers everyday. Actually Im encouraged by that. Although thats not sostatistically significant, its a really powerful measure to see what the new issues are. You can personally see the trends asthey emerge and spot the new things and notice the thingsthat have died down.

Harding concludes that roughly 20% of U.K. householdsand about 7% of U.K. businesses take their phones, broadbandand digital services from alk alk. So in lots of ways we mirrorthe whole of the nation. We always look to introduce productsas signicantly better value for money than the incumbents. And we try to do things differently to challenge conventional wisdom in the way we work. We expect our customers touse more and more bandwidth, and more and more digitalconnectivity over the course of the next ve years.

Editor: Jason [email protected]

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Sunrise has a certain qualitySince its founding in 1996, Sunrise has grown to be Switzerlands second-largest operator, nowproviding mobile, landline, Internet, and TV services. After recent price cuts by the incumbent, CEOOliver Steil saw quality as the key to his companys long-term success. He recently sat down withWinWin to talk the latest trends and strategies in Alpine communications.

By Joyce Fan

Strategic changes

WinWin: So what does the Swiss market need and what is proving popular in terms of service trends?

Steil: Switzerland has the highest smartphonepenetration in Europe (in terms of contract customers),having reached 60% now. People use data a lot and theyare also looking for more applications. Speed and coverageare what they need. Tere is a very good chance for Sunriseif we have the right network in place to really monetizedata and drive its growth.

Another trend in Switzerland is bundled services. IP Vhas been very successful. We are also in the midst of anF H rollout and will soon have a signicant footprint.Tere are quite a few progressive bundles of xed, V,Internet, and mobile services on the market. Tis is anopportunity for us because, next to the incumbent, we are

the only player that provides all products.

WinWin: Would you describe the competitivelandscape in the Swiss telco market?

Steil: I would say that it has signicantly increasedrecently. Currently, we have three mobile operatorscompeting in the market the incumbent, Swisscom, who enjoys 60% market share; we are number two witha roughly 25% market share, and then we have Orange, which has 15% market share. We all expect that at somepoint there might be a cable operator with mobile offeringsand some MVNOs entering the market.

In July 2012, Swisscom announced a signicant pricecut and introduced a new tariff scheme based on dataspeed. Only with the highest data tariff (around 140 euros)can you get L E speed, and with the lowest one (50 euros)you get only 256Kbps. Tis made the entire competitionin Switzerland about price and data speed, a challengingposition for us and our other competitors, who had beencompeting based on cost up until that time. So, ourreaction was to move to quality.

WinWin: What have been the strategies andspecic moves that you have made under these newcircumstances?

Steil: We have some strategic pillars we are going tostrengthen our brand, our shopping network (retail stores),and our residential offerings with end-to-end bundledservices. Also, we will be more active in the B2B segment,providing business customers with cloud and IP-basedservices. Te key pillar is to basically compete in the Swiss


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Oliver Steil, Sunrise CEO

Switzerland has the highestsmartphone penetration inEurope. People need speedand coverage. There is a verygood chance for Sunrise ifwe have the right network inplace to really monetize data

and drive its growth.

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market based on network superiority. Te Swiss market ismore about quality, data speeds, and customer service, andyou can only win in the long run if your network is at leastcomparable if not better than the incumbents.

In the past, Sunrise focused on lower price offersand the network was good but not great. Now we wantto move away from that and say that the prices are stillcompetitive and attractive but without any perceiveddifferences in terms of network quality when compared with the incumbent.

TQ Net program

WinWin: Sunrise launched the TQ Net programthis past summer? Tell us more about the program, itsscope, targets, and overall plan?

Steil: Yes, we launched a project called op Quality( Q) Net, with Huawei as our partner. Te idea was tocompletely change both our mobile network itself and the way we run it.

We are carrying out a large network improvementprogram that will span a couple of years. It includes notonly the infrastructure for the xed and radio networksand backhaul network, but also the value-added servicesand other additional features. Te rst step is to swap allthe radio equipment on the GSM and UM S networksusing the latest technologies from Huawei, while in themeantime having the ability to move to L E very quicklyand smoothly.

WinWin: So the project involves network swapping. What challenges are you meeting and how are yougoing to solve them?

Steil: Te biggest challenge is that we are carrying outthe network modernization program while transitioningfrom our previous managed service provider to Huawei.

Tis has brought a lot of pressure to bear on bothorganizations, as most other companies would do one at atime; this is very difficult.

We need to determine how many resources we putinto this program. We want to make sure that ourinternal people, all the people who have been taken overby Huawei, and also Huaweis R&D people can worktogether very closely and develop the best network inSwitzerland. Certainly this will require a heavy CAPEXinvestment from our side over the next 18 months so that we can get the equipment in place as quickly as possible.

And apart from that, we all know that we are livingthrough a very difficult twelve-month period until we getthe network in better shape. What is important is absolutededication from both sides. Tis is why we chose Huawei,because we believed that we would get a very dedicatednew partner.

WinWin: Any stories from the front lines that you would like to share?

Steil: Our old managed services provider operates anetwork operating center (NOC) in Romania and was not willing to invest in an operating center in Switzerland. Oneof the nice things that weve seen from Huawei has beenits willingness to help build a local NOC in Switzerland,even though it was very empty at the beginning. Huaweirented the building and set up everything in a very shorttimeframe (around two months). Tis gave our peoplea clear view on how dedicated Huawei is as a partner tomaking it work. Tis has been a very positive story.

Second-gen managed services

WinWin: What were your key criteria and concerns when selecting a managed services provider for youroverall network?

VOICESROM OPERATORS

We are carrying out our network modernization program while transitioning froour previous managed service provider to Huawei. This has brought a lot of press

to bear on both organizations, as most companies would do one at a time.

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Steil: Criterion number one was maximumtransparency in terms of cost. A ve-year contract is toolong. We wanted to make sure that the partner is able togive us a good understanding of the costs, both CAPEXand OPEX, involved in running such a program.

Second, we wanted a partner able to effectively supplyall the relevant technologies, for mobile and xed, and runthe operation at the same time. We were coming out ofthe situation where our previous managed service provider was running our network. When we encountered unstableequipment, it always came from somebody else. Tis hasbeen a very negative experience, so we wanted a partner who can do everything.

Te third criterion was dedication. How dedicated willthis partner be to us? We have a history of being a smalleroperator in a small country who has always been the lastto get the relevant service. We wanted to have a partner who really prioritizes Sunrise at the top and is willing tomake our success in the market space happen and dedicateresources and time to us. Tis was the third criterion.

o conclude, we believe that Huawei is giving us areasonable price for these services and good visibility forsome years. You have all the relevant technologies and afantastic R&D department to drive the development ofthat technology. You also have absolute dedication to oursuccess. Tis is why we chose Huawei.

WinWin: Huawei is taking over your managedservices from a previous vendor. What typicalchallenges have you met in this so called second-genmanaged services scenario?

Steil: Like always, you will have all the typical challengesof any big transition. You are moving people, then you haveto motivate people. You are moving technology, then youhave to understand the processes. You are serving the businesssegment, and you have to understand these processes whichare completely different from the residential segment. It is

much more complex in terms of basic engineering. You needto understand what the topology and the network is like, what needs to be consistent with the past because it has been working well and what needs to be changed in order to get abetter network and better processes.

Speaking of second-generation managed services, thishas been a three-way transition because people have movedfrom the old provider to Huawei, from Sunrise to Huawei,and back from the old provider to Sunrise. I think this ismuch, much more difficult than rst-generation managedservices, where you can look at the operator and say thatI will take over all your processes, documents and people.For the rst two years, I will do it the way you have donebefore, and then we will start to transform it to somethingbetter or more meaningful.

Our case is another story. We had our previous managedservice provider for four years. Tey took over from Sunriseand changed our processes already in place. For example,they put the NOC in Romania, changed our processes andstaffing, and shared some of their resources with us. So when Huawei comes in, it is something in between. Youtake all these pieces and need to put things into order again.

WinWin: What do you consider to be the key successfactor?

Steil: Te key success factor would be a dedicated teamthat consists of Huaweis engineers from China and otherplaces, local service people, and people you took over fromour previous managed service provider. Tis joint serviceteam should focus on engineering, drive quality, understandthe local market, and bring in international best practicesand the massive R&D capacity that you have. In this way,they can collectively work together effectively and drive thequality of service and innovation. You need to form such abig and powerful team that wants Sunrise to win, and thatcan lead to a big improvement.

We believe that Huawei is giving us a reasonable price for these managedservices and good visibility for some years. You have all the relevant technologies

and fantastic R&D. You also have absolute dedication to our success.


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Eros Spadotto, TELUS EVP ofTechnology Strategy and Operations

At TELUS, our top priorityis to ensure our networks,technology solutions,and innovations deliverexceptional experiencesfor our customers andpositive impacts for ourshareholders.

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TELUS: An MBB journeyTELUS and other Canadian telcos are at the forefront of smart device adoption, enabled by anecosystem where industry, suppliers, and governments continue to operate in an environment thatrewards investment and promotes innovation for the bene t of all Canadians. At the Huawei MBB2012 Forum, Eros Spadotto, EVP of Technology Strategy and Operations at TELUS, shared the telcosLTE story, successes, and challenges ahead.

By Ella Wong

WinWin: What makes Canada stand out in theglobal wireless industry?

Spadotto: Canadians are truly a connected population.In their latest study, J.D. Power and Associates reportsthat smartphone penetration in Canada has risen to 54%, which is up from 36% in 2011. Tis means that morethan half of all wireless customers in Canada are usingsmartphones today.

Recently, comScore also reported that Canadassmartphone market penetration by percentage of mobilesubscribers was 62% as of December 2012. Tis is anincrease of 17 points over 2011. Tey also found thatCanadians continue to be highly engaged online comparedto the rest of the world; nearly 100% visit the web everyday.

Looking ahead, we have a tremendous opportunityto continue delivering powerful mobile solutions toCanadians. Canada has earned a strong leadership positionin the telecommunications industry and has held leadingpositions in the world for telecom service adoption asa result of its dynamic ecosystem of global innovators,leading partnerships that tailor global solutions and makethem work for Canadians, and a federal government thatbalances investment, competition, and spectrum to benetthe needs of all citizens.

More than 46% of all information and communicationtechnology (IC ) employees have been in their positionfor more than ve years and half have been in theirposition for at least 36 months, changing jobs less

frequently than their American counterparts. And lowerturnover rates mean higher prots.

Te result is that even with one of the sparsestpopulations in the world and challenging marketeconomics, most Canadians benet from stiff competitionand have ready access to the fastest mobile networks inthe world with HSPA +, HSPA Dual Carrier and L Etechnology available today. Its a remarkable homegrownsuccess story.

WinWin: What is changing the global wirelessindustry?

Spadotto: I see four key trends that are impacting theglobal wireless industry and driving the cycle of smarter,more powerful devices, richer applications and faster, morereliable networks.


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Firstly, social media is changing how we connect and when we connect. In terms of populations, Facebook hasmore than one billion active users, and more than half ofthem use Facebook on a mobile device. Every single dayusers spend more than 10 billion minutes (thats 20,000years) on social networks, and traffic from mobile devicestripled in 2011. Every day, hours of video are uploadedto You ube every minute, 25% of global You ube viewscome from mobile devices, and people watch one billionvideos on Youube mobile. Whats more, Youube isnow available on 400 million devices, and 2012 saw 175million tweets per day, with the top witter moment inhistory seeing 25,000 tweets per second.

Secondly, the Internet is mobilizing. Essentially we areentering the dot-com 2.0 era. All industries are takingadvantage of this trend, from retail to automotive toentertainment. Data is growing exponentially and thereare big opportunities relating to identity, commerce,payments, advertising, cloud, health, analytics and muchmore.

Tirdly, consumerization is the new driving forcein terms of always-on, any-device, anytime, anywhere.Te trend for technology adoption has dramaticallyevolved in the past ve years. In the past, weve seentechnology innovation trickle from military to enterpriseto consumers. Now, we see an innovation storm at theconsumer level that is inuencing enterprise strategy. Who would have thought that consumers would have achoice from more than 800,000 apps in the App Storeand 800,000 in Google Play? Te consumerization ofinformation technology (I ) further fuels this technologyinnovation and evolution, which is based on non-traditional forces and sources. Tese change agents are lessstructured and less controlled by our established industry

players and the result is that the pace of evolution is nowmuch faster and the process of innovation happens in realtime.

Fourthly, hyperconnectivity is the way to describe todaysglobal wireless industry. wo key trends have emerged here everything is connected and everything is connectedall the time (83% of our devices dont go to sleep). Fornew network operators, the impact has been to focus onthe convergence of xed and wireless, the convergence ofcommunications, and the delivery of pervasive broadbandconnectivity, security and entertainment.

WinWin: What do you see as the latest challenges fornetwork design and growth?

Spadotto: All of the above forces contribute to adata tsunami, and signaling storms create challengesfor network operators from a mobile traffic growthperspective, in particular with respect to payload andsignaling. o illustrate, in Canada, while the data traffichas seen tremendous growth of more than 100% year overyear for the past three years, the signaling traffic has grownby a staggering 2700%.

For network operators, smart device signaling isemerging as a challenge. As an example, our 4G networksgenerate 30 times more signaling than traditional voicenetworks and the retry mentality doesnt back off. Te Yahoo! mail app sends out 240 automated signals per day, while witters sends out 90, Facebooks sends out 125, and Yahoo! Messenger sends out 360 signals per day. Whatsmore, the chattiest Android apps can generate a staggering2400 signals per hour.

Spot coverage has also become a key issue. We providespot data usage service where people congregate in largenumbers, for example, at sporting events and ash mobs.

VOICESROM OPERATORS

The trend for technology adoption has dramatically evolved in thepast ve years. In the past, weve seen technology innovation trickle from militto enterprise to consumers. Now, we see an innovation storm at the consumer

level that is in uencing enterprise strategy.

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Tese events also have implications for public safety.Due to the exponential growth in data traffic, many

carriers today are operating Giga sites (cell sites that areserved by 1Gbps ber connections). Giga sites representunique challenges to every operator, since by denitionthey require the use of a large number of cells or sectors andrequire extensive engineering design to mitigate the impacton interference and overlap. ELUS was one of the earlyadopters of Giga sites and they did help us serve high densityareas like downtown Vancouver. Giga sites in downtownVancouver, for example, typically handle more than 1.2terabytes per month.

WinWin: What makes TELUS a leader in mobilebroadband?

Spadotto: At ELUS, our top priority is to ensure ournetworks, technology solutions, and innovations deliverexceptional experiences for our customers and positiveimpacts for our shareholders. I like to say coverage is kingbut experience is queen it all comes down to workingthrough specic challenges to deliver a dynamic andreliable experience across our networks.

Te rollout of new networks will always be a challenge. We rolled out HSPA in 2009, HSPA Dual Carrier in2011 and now, just two years later, are taking L E out toour customers. o meet the challenge we actively managenetwork and spectrum assets to stay ahead of customerdemand for smartphones and data applications. We havean excellent track record of leveraging technology evolutionto enhance our network capabilities and performance. Wedemonstrated this again in 2012 by building the largestL E wireless network in Canada, offering faster speeds tomore than two-thirds of Canadians. Combined with 97%HSPA coverage, our wireless broadband network is one ofthe best in the world.

We are also expanding and enhancing the speed andcapabilities of our advanced wireline broadband network,covering more than 2.4 million households, or two-thirdsof those in our service areas. Our hybrid network approachincludes VDSL2 technology overlay, ber to the home innew areas, and ber to the suite in multi-unit dwellings. We are now overlaying VDSL2 bonding technology withthe ability to double speeds up to 50Mbps. We are alsotesting new technologies in our labs, offering furtherpotential speed and capability increases in the future.

Our broadband network investments allow us to offera superior entertainment experience. ELUS was therst carrier globally to allow customers to control theirV with hand gestures and voice commands. Our OptikV ( ELUSs IP V service, offering 600+ channels)has a robust technology roadmap, with new IP-basedinnovations continually in the pipeline.

Te need to reduce technology costs and centralizeinfrastructure is critical to meeting the challenges ofthe data tsunami and the needs of our customers, which are evolving into cloud computing and uniedcommunications, requiring secure, managed data hostingservices. Our new Internet data centers, which are amongthe most power-efficient in the country, have achievedLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)gold status, positioning us extremely well to stay aheadof government and enterprise demand for managed andcloud services.

We will keep building, evolving, and enhancing ournetworks and solutions to provide customers with asuperior service experience at home, at work, and on themove.

WinWin: What is the future of MBB?Spadotto: From a Canadian industry perspective I

believe there are two key success levers. Firstly, industryspectrum planning continues to remain in lock step asCanada leads the world to exponentially-higher dataconsumption. And secondly, Canada continues to have ahealthy balance of regulation and free market economics,ensuring the future of a healthy and vibrant MBB sector.

At ELUS, putting our customers rst is inherentin our culture. So, looking at the unique mix of ourgovernment, enterprise and consumer base and their ever-changing needs, were continuously transforming ournetworks to address the colossal increase in data demandthat our consumers are asking for. At the heart of the newdesign landscape lie microcells pole-mounted low-powersites using Huaweis HetNet (Heterogeneous Network)product line.

ELUSs spearheading introduction of Huaweis world-rst L E microcells in 2012, at the downtown core ofour home base in Vancouver, British Columbia, was asignicant success that answered challenges regardingtechnical readiness, implementation issues, and userexperience as anticipated. Te sites are fully commercialand provide impressive results in terms of capacity offloadand overall data experience that comply with and surpassELUS expectations from the project.

ELUS continues to lead global efforts in microcelldevelopment and is currently planning the extensionof both geographical and functional scope. In closecollaboration with Huawei, the company has providedseminal feedback and recommendations that shapeproduct and feature evolution. Te superior dataexperience that ELUS customers have becomeaccustomed to will be further empowered by additionalmicrocell deployments.


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Dan Pitt is the ExecutiveDirector of the Open NetworkFoundation and President ofPalo Alto Innovation Advisors,which advises entrepreneursin Silicon Valley and Canada.He is also a former Dean ofthe School of Engineering atSanta Clara University.

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SDN: The new frontier in ICTSoftware-de ned networking (SDN) is becoming the new focus of the ICT industry. More and more ICT

professionals guarantee that SDN will bring revolutionary changes to traditional network architecture, but whatis SDN architecture, what problems does SDN solve, and how should vendors and customers prepare for SDN?

Dan Pitt Executive Director of the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) has the answers.

By Soheila Soheil

Reporter: Why do we need a new network paradigmsuch as SDN?

Pitt: We have been operating on a 30-year-old networkparadigm, where a networking switch or router has hadto have the complete network intelligence in it governedby (up to 6000) distributed protocols. Tis has led tonearly every new organizational need being met withyet another protocol tacked onto the others, ultimatelycreating a bucket of networking protocols that takes yearsto work through standards committees and proprietaryimplementation environments. SDN makes networksdirectly programmable and thereby able to more exiblymeet operators needs.

Reporter: How do you dene SDN? What is SDNarchitecture?

Pitt: SDN facilitates direct, real-time programmingof network functionality by taking the control functionsout of the switching devices in the network and movingthem into a logically separate control environment, calleda network operating system, that runs on a garden-varietycomputer server that anyone can program. So, control nolonger resides solely in routers that only the manufacturercan program. Programmability of a logically-centralizedcontrol plane is the essence of SDN.

Reporter: What is OpenFlows role in SDN?Pitt: OpenFlow is one of the three critical components

of SDN. Te rst is the separation of forwarding fromcontrol, with forwarding becoming simply fast packetprocessing in network switches, and control becominglogically centralized in the network operating system as just described.

Te second is the OpenFlow protocol, which conveys

to the switches the forwarding tables they need to processthe packets (with traditional networking, the switchesand routers had to determine this themselves, with allof the negative consequent cost, performance, and time-to-market implications; with SDN, the control softwaredetermines the paths according to how the operator wantsto govern the network).

Te third is the consistent, system-wide programminginterface to the network operating system, which actuallymakes the network programmable, or software-dened. Without separating forwarding from control, nearly allthe benet of SDN is lost. With separation of forwardingand control but without OpenFlow, some other means ofconveying the ow-table information to the switches isrequired. OpenFlow is the industry standard for doing soand is extremely general purpose.

If separation of forwarding and control is 1, theOpenFlow protocol is 2, and the consistent, system-wideprogramming interface is 3, then SDN = 1 + 2 + 3.

Reporter: Why SDN? What problems does SDNsolve?

Pitt: Primarily, SDN solves the problems ofnetwork inexibility, slowness in response to changingrequirements, inability to be virtualized, and high costs. With the infrastructure the way it is now, operators arentable to offer new services quickly because they must wait for vendors (and standards committees) to approveand incorporate new functions in proprietary operatingenvironments.

With SDN, the operators can simply write theirown software to determine network functions. SDNenables new initiatives through exibility, agility, andvirtualization. SDN allows network operators and

Perspectives

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enterprises to create and offer new services virtuallyanytime using ordinary software. By abstracting thenetworking functionality through OpenFlows forwardinginstruction set, networks can now be virtualized andtreated by applications as logical resources.

Eliminating the need to tie applications to specicnetwork details like ports and addresses makes it possibleto evolve the networks physical aspects without the delayand cost of both rewriting the applications and manuallyconguring the network devices. Te perpetuation ofmanual conguration through command-line interfaceshas long held networking back from the advances invirtualization enjoyed by the computing world, and has ledto high operating costs, long delays in updating networksto meet business needs, and the introduction of errors.

Reporter: What are other benets of SDN? Business?Economics?

Pitt: SDN makes networks programmable by ordinaryprogrammers using ordinary software running on ordinaryoperating systems on ordinary servers. Tis opens thedoor to a huge market with vast customer choice forhighly-customized solutions. Te whole way the networkbehaves becomes based on open software, not on vendor-proprietary hardware and software, for new featureimplementation.

Moreover, some network features become vastly simplerto provide, such as multicast and load balancing. opologyrestrictions (such as tree structures that inhibit the now-dominant east-west traffic in data centers) also disappear.

In general, the ve biggest benets of SDN are: It creates flexibility in how the network is used,

operated, and sold. It promotes rapid service introduction, because network

operators can implement the features they want insoftware they control, rather than having to wait for a

vendor to put it in-plan in their proprietary products. It lowers operating expenses and has fewer errors

because of the reduction in manual conguration. It enables virtualization of the network and therefore

the integration of the network with computing andstorage so the entire I operation can be governed moresleekly with a single set of tools.

And it better aligns the network, and all of the I , withbusiness objectives.

Reporter: What progress has been made recentlyin paving the way for the acceptance of SDN? Whatare the biggest hurdles that remain, and what are theprospects for addressing them?

Pitt: In the last year, ONF has fostered implementationand deployment of OpenFlow-based SDN throughthe production of implementable standards, prototypedemonstrations, interoperability experiments, plugfests, whitepapers, solution briefs, and tutorials. Tese havedriven product announcements and releases involvingvendors and operators.

OpenFlow-based SDN has already been applied toenvironments as diverse as hyper-scale data centers,enterprise data centers, public and private cloud serviceproviders, multi-tenant hosting facilities, logisticscoordination, telecom networks, campus networks, circuit-switched networks, and optical networks. It is also beingused for services ranging from network virtualization,security, and access control to load balancing, trafficengineering, address administration, and energymanagement.

Progress on the OpenFlow standard has includedupdating it to incorporate IPv6, extensible expression,tunnels, and other features. Te foundation (ONF) hasalso added standards covering switch conguration,interoperability testing, and conformance testing.

SDN makes networks programmable by ordinary programmers using ordinarysoftware running on ordinary operating systems on ordinary servers. This opens door to a huge market with vast customer choice for highly-customized solution

Perspectives

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ONF is exploring the architecture of the orchestrationfunctions above OpenFlow that interface to applications,management systems, existing control planes and carrierservices, and we are enabling OpenFlow to be used not just for switching Ethernet LANs but also optical, circuit,and wireless transport technologies.

Finally, we are making it easier for networks to exploitthe performance benets of hardware OpenFlow switchesand for those deploying OpenFlow-based SDNs to easilyintroduce OpenFlow capability into the legacy networksin which they have signicant investment. With somuch of the OpenFlow technical foundation in placeand now in development by vendors, we are startingto see the emergence of value-added elements that rideon OpenFlow. Tat is the benet of our having madeOpenFlow an industry standard.

Reporter: What are the next steps for vendors?Pitt: Next year, the market will see that networking is

not only getting exciting again but is capable of drivingtremendous business value, and vendors want to bring thisvalue to their customers. We are rapidly seeing OpenFlowcapabilities being added to switch and router families andto network control and virtualization software products.Others are hastening the production of L4-7 software-based virtual appliances that run over an OpenFlowsubstrate and replace purpose-built hardware appliances.

We will continue to advance technical standards andarchitectural understanding to increase applicability,utility, and implementation, and the next step for vendorsis to translate these advances into announcements ofprototypes, products, platforms and tools designed tofacilitate rollout of SDN.

Reporter: What are the next steps for customers toprepare for SDN?

Pitt: I always encourage those who deploy or operatenetworks to take a three-step approach to SDN. First, askyour vendors about their SDN solutions and how closelythey adhere to the OpenFlow standard and how well theyinteroperate with products from other suppliers.

Second, try to at least get your hands dirty with a trialdeployment. Find out what works for you, what needsdrive your interest, what products you want to procureand what software you want to write yourself, and whatskills you need to upgrade or acquire. Determine if youradoption of SDN is primarily to save money or makemoney; this will determine how to approach uppermanagement for the funding of larger and larger projects.

Finally, consider joining ONF to drive the technologyin a way that best meets user needs. We particularly welcome users of the technology, and ONF is set up togive users a controlling role in what gets worked on andapproved, and how.

(Adapted fromICT Insights , a Huawei Enterprise magazine)Editor: Jason [email protected]

SDN promotes rapid service introduction, because network operators canimplement the features they want in software they control, rather than having

to wait for a vendor to put it in their proprietary products.

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Perspectives

SDN: Networkrevolution is coming

By Zhao Huiling, Wang Qian, & Shi Fan, Beijing R&D Center, China Telecom

What is SDN?

DN is a revolution in telecommunications wherethe network control plane is decoupled from theforwarding plane through programmable control.Standard SDN architecture consists of three layers.

he application layer is the top, and supports the variousservices and applications. he middle layer is the controllayer, which allocates data resources and maintains networktopology and status information, while the infrastructure is atthe bottom, processing and forwarding status information.

With current networking, traffic control and forwardingare fullled by the network gear, which integrates vendor-specific operating systems and other hardware thatservices greatly depend on. But with SDN, network gearmerely forwards the data, with the hardware itself lessspecialized and the original operating system replacedby an independent (vendor-agnostic) OS compatible with a wide variety of services, which, like the hardware

communication routes, are no longer hard-wired, makingfor a telco world thats a lot more exible.

Background

Since its establishment in 2011, the Open NetworkingFoundation (ONF) has been committed to standardizingand commercializing SDN and OpenFlow technologies.Te IE F proposes the Forwarding and Control ElementSeparation (ForCES) protocol as a standard frameworkand mechanism for interconnection between control andforwarding elements in IP routers and their ilk. Te IE Fs Application-Layer raffic Optimization (AL O) workinggroup has also put forward a traffic localization protocolmeant to reduce the overall load through provision oflocation and ranking information to peers through nearest-peer connection, as opposed to random connection. heIE F has also founded the I2RS working group to study therequirements of opening up router systems, the architecture

S

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Software-de ned networking (SDN) is at the vanguardof a telco revolution. Great importance should be attachedto its development and impact on network elements so thatresource utilization, service deployment exibility, and user

experience reach their full potential.Zhao Huiling

in general, and the various application scenarios.he I U elecommunication Standardization Sector

(I U- ) has three teams SG13, SG11, and SG15, studyingSDN standards. SG13 focuses on SDN architecture, whileSG11 focuses on protocols and interfaces, and SG15 worksout standards for software-dened optical transport.

he China Communications Standards Association(CCSA) is also making some headway with SDN, withthree teams assigned to the matter. he C1 team is working on application scenarios & requirements, problemanalysis, and protocols, while C3 studies SDN smartpipes and C6 tries to iron out software-dened O N.

Commercial interest

Vendors generally believe that SDN should enhancerather than replace legacy gear, with commercial studies,thus far, focusing primarily on equipment virtualizationand software-based control. Virtualization lies in theintegration of packet-switched data network (PSDN),BRAS, and SR devices, among others, while software-based control should bring about a programmable networkbased on OpenFlow and its protocol cousins.

Many vendors have SDN-based hardware platformsand software in place. Some pundits even predict thathardware manufacturers will gradually transform intosoftware suppliers. Chinese vendors suggest that carriersuse controllers to realize end-to-end forwarding control.

Carrier study of SDN is still nascent. N DOCOMOhas developed the 2.0 version of its virtual networkcontroller for unied service and on-demand deployment

for multiple data centers, and it is now in use across areasonable swath of the global business community.

Key elements of SDN

SDN decouples the control plane from the forwardingplane, with the control function programmable. Onephysical network can be virtualized into various subnetsthat support more customers and more applications.

Te application layer manages and controls the forwardingand processing of application/service traffic; it also supportsnetwork configuration, increases network utilization, andensures service security and quality. he control layer, alsocalled the network operating system (NOS), processes logicalinformation concerning the data forwarding plane, and thisincludes the collection and maintenance of network topologyand status data. he NOS also utilizes software to controland manage the resources of the forwarding plane. heinfrastructure layer, also known as the data forwarding layer, isresponsible for data processing, as well as the forwarding andcollecting of status information. With traditional networks,these tasks are performed by separate network devices, but withSDN, a single unit, connected to the control layer throughprogrammable interfaces, is needed.

Decoupled from service features, hardware is responsiblefor forwarding and storage only, so a software-definednetwork can be built from relatively cheap components.Network functionality is strictly software-enabled, so thegear itself is relatively unspecialized (modular). Te NOS(server) controls network operation; various networkparameters, such as route, security, policy, QoS, and traffic

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priority, can be customized and configured in real time,making for a drastic reduction in M for a service.

Impacts of SDNBesides the much trumpeted control-forwarding

decoupling and improved resource utilization, SDN bringsa large number of other benets to network owners as well.Control plane centralization and virtualization simplifynetwork O&M, reduce OPEX, and facilitate O&M proxyand service coordination, while the open-source softwareinvolved can be customized with ease, enabling serviceinnovation while shortening its M. Whats more, the opennature of the network will draw more champions to the SDNbanner, enabling lower costs for construction and gear.

However, the control plane is critically important toSDN, as the NOS becomes the kernel for the network. A centralized control plane warrants both tighter securityand greater network reliability, and this could give NOSvendors more power over the industry chain. Te controlplane will become the key battlefield for NOS vendorsand carriers; as such, carriers must seek their trustworthyvendors to help them apply SDN in their smart pipes tocontend.

hanks to the effective network resource schedulingthat it entails, SDN has also seen action outside the telcoindustry. Google has applied it for its data centers, thuseasing the giants dependence on carrier networks. Asa commercial pioneer in the field, Google was testingSDNs nascent elements as early as 2011. Googles 12key data centers, which span three continents, are nowconnected through 10Gbps links that feature precise trafficengineering and priority queuing, which increase linkutilization from the 30-to-40% norm to nearly 100%.

Smarter pipes

he smart pipes much valued by the telco industry

depend on SDN. Tey are smart, ubiquitous, and speedy,and this is made possible through rapid resource allocation,exible access, and on-demand service quality guarantee all ancillary benets of SDN.

he CCSAs C3 team has been established to studythe requirements, architecture, and key technologies ofan SDN-based smart pipe. Tis research primarily focuseson elements such as user experience analysis, trafficscheduling, and policy control, as well as the networkvirtualization requirements, network architecture, andkey SDN technologies involved, such as virtualization offunctionality, offerings, and the overall network.

Data centers

SDNs first applications were in data centers, bothbetween and within. For SDN-connected data centers, onephysical network can be virtualized into multiple logicalnetworks, bearing the traffic of multiple data centers,and resources can be pooled, regardless of their dispersal.SDN routers can be deployed at the data center egress tomonitor link bandwidth utilization and traffic, while datacenter controllers control the SDN gear there to facilitatescheduling of virtual links and traffic. his improvesbandwidth efficiency, solves the problems of exibility andscalability faced by cloud data centers that serve multipletenants, and realizes smart networking between datacenters.

For intra-center networking, the migration ofcorresponding network policies must be in sync with that ofthe virtual machines (VMs). hanks to SDN, data switchinterfaces from different vendors can be standardized forconnection to the data center management platform. WhenVMs migrate, the management platform will discern theirsources and destinations, after which the platform implementsthe policies of the source switch and delivers the VMs to thetarget switch, ensuring enjoyment of the same services aftermigration.

Editor: Xu Shenglan [email protected]

Perspectives

Smart pipes are ubiquitous and speedy, and this is made possible

through rapid resource allocation, exible access, and on-demand servicequality guarantee all ancillary bene ts of SDN.

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From Clean Slate to SDN

By Haisang Wu

Software-de ned networking (SDN) is considered the next stage in the evolution of telco architecture,but it is worth noting that it is in fact a splendid example of technological cross-pollination; OpenFlow andits protocol brethren came about through recent efforts to remake the Internet for the 21st century, and

these technologies will no doubt continue to intertwine for the foreseeable future.

It all started with the Internet

orn in 1969 as a Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency (DARPA) test network, theInternet is now more than 40 years old. heCP/IP-based Internet was destined to succeed

due to three factors connectionless packet switching, best-effort operational principles, and end-to-end transmission;all have helped it prevail over traditional circuit-switchedarchitecture at each turning point in its development.

However, the Internet has inherent flaws in itsscalability, security, mobility, and QoS. Improvementsand innovations have been carried out to address them,including classless inter-domain routing (CIDR), networkaddress translation (NA ), and multiprotocol label

switching (MPLS), which, miraculously,have enabled the Internet to stay

ahead of obsolescence tothis day. However,

the Internets

B

fundamental aws remain, and no amount of patching canultimately overcome them. Many researchers are startingto believe that the problem can be ultimately solved byredening the network structure, though this a task is onpar with replacing a jet engine at 30,000 feet.

Tis radical solution, known in academia as the CleanSlate, represents the abandoning of the original networkstructure altogether with a new one built from scratch,one that can satisfy current as well as future needs.

Te Clean Slate moniker in its proper sense refers toa research program initiated by Nick McKeown fromStanford, but it has since expanded to include a variety ofgovernment-led projects such as the Global Environmentfor Network Innovations (GENI) project, a subproject ofthe Future Internet Network Design (FIND) initiated bythe U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); the FutureInternet Research and Experimentation (FIRE) project, asubproject of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)of the EU; and the AKARI and corresponding testbed JGN2+ projects sponsored by Japans National Institute ofInformation and Communications echnology (NIC ).

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Perspectives

The Internet has inherent aws in scalability, security, mobility, and QoSthat no amount of patching can overcome. Many researchers believe that theseproblems can be solved by rede ning the network structure.

The birth of SDN

In 2007, Nick McKeown, his student Martin Casado,and Professor Scott Shenker from the Universityof California-Berke ley, founded Nicira, a networkvirtualization company with the slogan OpenFlow. In July, 2012, Nicira was acquired by VMware in a USD1.26billion deal; what VMware was after was Niciras networkvirtualization technology. In 2011, Nick McKeownand Scott Shenker co-founded the Open NetworkingFoundation (ONF), a non-profit organization, seekingto expand the inuence of OpenFlow and SDN beyondacademia.

Tough a college-level project, Clean Slate has a boldaim reinvent the Internet. It advocates starting fromscratch and abandoning the traditional incremental andbackwards-compatible rules. Program coordinators haveidentied ve key areas for research network architecture,heterogeneous applications, heterogeneous physical-layertechnologies, security, and economics & policy.

his program relies on the academic, scientific, andcommercial resources of Silicon Valley to successfully drawboth attention and funding. Clean Slate was phased out in January 2012, giving way to four major follow-up projects Internet Infrastructure: OpenFlow and Software-defined Networking; Mobile Internet: ProgrammableOpen Mobile Internet 2020 (POMI 2020); Mobile SocialNetworking: MobiSocial; and Data Centers: StanfordExperimental Data Center Laboratory. As an incubator,Clean Slate has undoubtedly been successful. he fourfollow-up projects are also attractive and promising.

Clean Slates research on network architecture started with OpenFlow. OpenFlow can be explained in traditionalrouting and switching terms. A traditional router or

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switch has a forwarding plane and a control plane, withthe latter performing route calculation and the formerforwarding data. An OpenFlow switch separates the twoplanes by shifting the route calculation function to anindependent controller. Te controller and the OpenFlowswitch communicate through the OpenFlow protocol.Te forwarding plane on the OpenFlow switch can thenabstract the flow table to determine formats, matchingrules, and actions for packets. One of the aims forOpenFlow is the development of new network protocolsso that the forwarding plane does not necessarily forwardpackets based on IP x uple.

Initially, OpenFlow was simply defined as a Layer-2control protocol, which is certainly not enough torevolutionize Internet architecture. If the forwardingplanes for all nodes in a network are deployed externallythrough OpenFlow, the control and the forwarding for theentire network will be separated, allowing for more renedand sophisticated traffic management than access controllists (ACLs) and routing protocols on traditional routers would allow. In terms of network applications, separationof the control from the forwarding also facilitates virtualmachine (VM) migration and security policy control.Tis exible software-based control lays the basis for thesoftware-dened networking (SDN). More revolutionarythan OpenFlow, SDN popularizes the idea of networkvirtualization, with OpenFlow functioning as an enabler.

OpenFlow is an enabler of SDN

Centralized network control and distributed forwarding arenot new concepts. OpenFlow was rst developed to control theforwarding planes of switches or routers through the network.Tis out-of-band model very much resembles public switched

telephone network (PS N) architecture a typical exampleof centralized control. Centralized network control isorthogonal to distributed Internet route calculation. henew wrinkle here is that OpenFlow is capable of controllingout-of-band equipment and testing new network-layerprotocols in incubators such as campus networks. Bysupporting OpenFlow, a traditional equipment vendoris able to provide hooks to users that enable out-of-bandcontrol of devices, without releasing system implementationdetails.

After the control and forwarding planes are separated,the gear no longer needs to calculate routes for packetforwarding, making the task itself that much easier. WithSDN, bottom-layer hardware is virtualized, independentof VMs and applications running on it. OpenFlowsdesign goal also aims at router commoditization, just likePCs with Windows operating systems and applications.Existing routers on the network can be transformed intoOpenFlow-enabled nodes, with newly-deployed networkelements now OpenFlow-dedicated nodes, all with asimple forwarding plane. Network services can then bedelivered flexibly as applications through applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs) or native applications.

However, the communications community is knownfor its resistance to radical reform. Since router design isdominated by major vendors as opposed to the OpenFlowcommunity, the software layer is commonly added betweenthe applications and the network engine, which functionsas an alternate controller. Some alternate controllers areopen-source applications, others are provided with APIs toaccess the network engine, while still others have no APIsat all. However, OpenFlow is only one of many possible ways to connect the forwarding plane with the controller,and major vendors often choose other practice-provenprotocols.

In terms of network applications, separation of the control from the forwardingfacilitates VM migration and security policy control. This exible software-basedcontrol lays the basis for the software-de ned networking (SDN).

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echnically, SDN-based network virtualization makesconnection between applications and the network possible.he type of controller determines how difficult that

connection is to make. However, technical difficulty is asecondary concern to carriers, who may be more worriedabout network deployment and evolution.

Will SDN replace the Internet?

Te jury is still out on this question. For the Clean Slateproject, SDN is a new networking method that featuresthe separation of the control plane from the forwardingplane, with unied OpenFlow acting as the channel andinterface between the control plane and forwarding planes.he centralized control plane makes the entire networktopology transparent to applications and services, as wellas virtualization and bottom-layer programming. In other words, this network restructuring does nothing less thanredene the Internet.

However, SDN cannot replace the Internet at thispoint, and neither can a lot of other innovations. In fact,it is inappropriate to compare SDN with the Internet, aseach attempts to solve different problems.

If the forwarding and the control planes are separated,they still need to be connected in some way. And whatsmore, distributed controllers also need to be connected,but direct interconnection of the planes or the controllersis surely impossible on a large scale. So what else canbe used? Most current SDN ideas assume a traditionalnetwork, which means standard autonomous systems,routing, and peering architecture for interconnection.

In this sense, SDN is a supplementary layer or avirtualization layer of the current network, driven bytechnologies such as cloud architecture, dynamic resource

allocation, mobile computing, and virtualized computing.It aims to help carriers decouple services from interfaces tofacilitate network O&M and simplify network structure.

SDN and the routing-based Internet can be comparedto the kernel space and user space in an operating system.Modern operating systems use process space to realizeisolation and protection, and employ system calls tohelp applications access the kernel, while the memorymanagement unit (MMU) maps virtual and physicaladdresses. However, isolation of the kernel and user space would seem to degrade system performance, and thereforemany high-performance embedded operating systems allowusers to directly access the kernel, without employing userspace. Nevertheless, isolation, protection, and virtualizationdo have their uses. Programmers need only visit the virtualaddress, without considering the problem of kernel crash.his makes application development kernel-independent,facilitating development and maintenance, and todayssoftware industry is based on this mechanism.

If SDN is to be applied to the current network,the prerequisite is the keeping of traditional bridging,routing, and switching functionalities, which securescalability, interoperability, and reliability (similar tothe basic functions of the operating system kernel). Teupper SDN layer (or virtualization layer) decouplesservices from physical interfaces, interface features, andnetwork topologies (similar to the kernel/user spaceisolation in the operating system). he upper layerservices are similar to applications in the operatingsystem. Such services seen in carrier use today arebasically cache, carrier grade NA (CGN), rewalls, loadbalancing, IP V, and VPN. In view of the developmentof the software industry, its easy to envision that newSDN application scenarios will be available for carrier,enterprise, and data center networks.

Perspectives

SDN cannot replace the Internet at this point, and neither can a lotof other innovations. In fact, it is inappropriate to compare SDN with the Interne

as each attempts to solve different problems.

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SDN application scenarios

SDN cannot replace the Internet at this time, but it canbe used in certain scenarios, especially in data centers andinfrastructure as a service (IaaS) applications that use largenumbers of VMs. Network virtualization obscures the locationinformation for VMs, so customers who buy a large numberof them need not know the details. Network virtualization,along with storage & computing virtualization, can implementflexible resource allocation in cloud environments, whilesimulating traditional interprocess communication (IPC) todeliver resource scheduling among VMs.

Niche applications will also be easier through SDN.In an operating system, consecutive virtual addresses maycorrespond to discrete physical addresses. Similarly, thescattered storage space of data centers can be integratedinto a pool to improve resource use efficiency. Whats more,SDN makes their load balancing easier. raditionally, linkstate update notifications are sent to each egress router, while distributed SDN can inform each server cluster, oreven each hypervisor (virtual machine monitor) for linkstate updates. VMs and SDN have spawned many start-ups, who apply distributed dynamic resource computing totraditional services such as load balancing and rewalls.

As the old stomping grounds of SDN, campus networksare natural applications. FlowVisor (an OpenFlowcontroller) and SDN can create multiple independentand programmable logical networks (slices) on a physicalnetwork, which is advocated by the Global Environmentfor Network Innovations (GENI).

In the telco field, the most likely market is accessservices as carrier networks are in desperate need of exibleservice migration. SDN and network virtualizationeffectively control traffic, making network planning and

O&M easier than static in-band processing.Key challenges of applying SDN to carrier networks

are performance, service complexity, and security. Mostconservative carriers are skeptical of network openness;thanks to, or unfortunately because of, subscriber-awareservices such as AAA (authentication, authorization andaccounting), IP V, and VPN, carriers cannot change theirservices/applications as often as Google and Facebook do.

SDN as a guiding philosophy

I enterprises are service-oriented. hey hope to useSDN to virtualize networks, computing, and storage,ensuring dynamic and flexible resource allocation forprotable business. Carriers, thus far, have been networkoriented. Network bandwidth is a scarce resource andcarriers face less competition than enterprises in otherindustries. In this sense, SDN helps carriers improveoperational efficiency, service quality, and resource usage, while facilitating service deployment and not bringingabout network architecture revolution.

SDN can serve as a guiding philosophy, withOpenFlow, controllers, floodless deployment, andsymmetrical/asymmetrical deployment supporting it.Networking, computing, storage virtualization, and cloudcomputing have brought limitless opportunities for SDNand have greatly driven its development.

SDN is a rare opportunity for I enterprises, carriers,and manufacturers. he problem is how to seize theopportunity. Once a bold presumption is established, youneed to verify it. In the case of SDN, what the I /telecomenterprises need to do is to see it through, to gure out thebest ways (mechanisms) to fulll their goals.

Editor: Michael [email protected]

SDN helps carriers improve operational ef ciency, service quality,and resource usage, while facilitating service deployment and not bringing

about network architecture revolution.

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Big data and how to use it

Big and bigger data

he global volume of data is vast and growinggeometrically. IDC indicates that 2.8zettabytes (2.8 billion terabytes) of data weregenerated in 2012, and this gure is expected

to hit 40ZB in 2020; the big data era is here.However, big data does not just mean a lot of ones

and zeroes, it also represents a plethora of data categories,complex data structure, and dynamic data rates. Datasources can include cloud computing, the mobile Internet,smartphones, tablets, personal computers, sensors, and theInternet of hings (Io ); this is leading to overwhelminggrowth in unstructured data (exceeding 80% of the totalvolume) that can hardly be processed by traditional databases.

Non-relational databases and distributed operational

Tao of Business

Big data has been a hot topic for quite some time, and yet it is still largely an untappedresource in the telco industry, despite the fact operators are sitting on a mother lode of reliablaccurate user data. Needless to say, they need to get digging.

By Gao Qingzhong

architecture (based on the Hadoop software framework)have been emerging to help extract value from vast,complex data. Featuring great scalability, the Hadoopframework can process many categories of data at less cost,and is now widely in use by Internet service providers(including Facebook, Amazon, aobao, and Baidu),operators, banks, and more.

Such technologies will bring operators manyopportunities to boost productivity and increase revenue. A study from the University of exas indicates that a 10%increase in big data utilization will result in a 17% boostin operator productivity, amounting to USD9.6 billion inrevenue. In addition, big data analysis will help operatorsbetter understand user behavior, leading to more effectivemarketing; if operators can identify unsatised customers,coupons and other inducements can be offered to bringthem back into the fold.

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domains (offering O services, for instance). hisscenario uses big data to the fullest, with both users andthe infrastructure at large utilized for analysis. Big dataanalysis is applied not only to network logs, signaling,and OSS statistics, but also to consumer and BSS datato ensure optimal user experiences, network quality, andconsumer services. Service delivery platforms (SDPs) playa key role here as they smoothen the cooperation withthird-parties and converge their applications. Whats more,operators can offer big data analysis to third parties as anascent service.

Weve embraced big data, now what?

Operators must choose a strategy for how to gain valuefrom their data sources; there are three available networkoperations, new platforms, and customer services, thoughthey need not be mutually exclusive.

Network operations Relying on vendors solutions,operators build high-efficient, scalable, and cloud-based bigdata processing systems, while adding layered, cost-effectivestorage for network and signaling data. With shorteneddata processing procedures and ample bandwidth for thetransmission of big data, operators can shorten their dataanalysis time and improve O&M efficiency. In this way,operators can enhance E2E QoS, resource allocation, andoperational efficiency, with reduced OPEX.

Customer service strategy Operators build user datamarkets that require reliable, scalable, and cloud-based dataplatforms that support various analytical methods. In thisscenario, operators rely primarily on vendors solutions forbuilding big data processing systems. Based on user dataanalysis, operators can provide diversied and customizedservices to enhance user loyalty, discover new opportunities,increase revenue, and strengthen core competence.

New platform strategy Operators rely on self-developed big data solutions, build cost-effective cloudcomputing platforms, and launch big data processingplatforms using open-source software such as Hadoop.By cooperating with open-source organizations, operatorscan strengthen their R&D into core technologies andkey applications; they can also proactively launch testing,pilots, and applications for big data services, whileproviding Internet data center (IDC) services.

In short, operator utilization of big data is not aquestion of if but when, and the latter should be as soonas a strategy, such as the ones above, is decided. If it is not,the operator in question may find itself lagging behind,facing a long road ahead against the competition.

Strategic operator positioning

Although global telcos invest more than USD10 billionannually in broadband network infrastructure, they stilllag behind in meeting user demand for bandwidth. Alsolagging is revenue growth, anemic in the face of so muchtraffic, while profit stagnates under the pressure of theISPs. Big data offers telcos a way out.

During daily operations, telcos accumulate a largeamount of high-quality (i.e., truthful) user data. hismight include name, age, gender, home/office address, andprecise location. Call activity information such as who iscalled and when, as well as the phone bill itself (a goodindication of household income) can also be gathered. With all this in hand, operators and/or third parties cantake their marketing efforts far beyond Dear User.

here are three paths available to operators in termsof how they utilize big data and what data sources aretapped (users, network infrastructure, or both) smartnetwork operations (infrastructure), over-the-top (O )service provision (users), or integrated information serviceprovision (both).

Smart network operations Operators prioritize telconetwork operations, ensuring cost-efficient network scaleand intelligent traffic operations. In this scenario, big dataanalysis is carried out for network logs, signaling, andOSS statistics, enabling personalized customer services while enhancing network quality, user experience, andbrand image. Smart network operators also provide wholesale services for MVNOs and ISPs, in addition todirect network access to end users. With strengthened pipeoperations, these operators can minimize or completelyleave Internet services to more inclined third parties.

OTT service provision Operators attach much moreimportance to consumer services than smart networkoperations. When obtaining more income from consumerservices (such as O services) than network operations,said operators may just decide to get out of the telco gamealtogether and focus strictly on service provision. Big dataanalysis, in this case, is carried out for consumer and BSSdata, revealing underlying customer needs and enablingproduct customization and a timely response. Such serviceproviders will also build relational product databases toidentify target customers and ideal distribution channels. With innovative data and Internet services, these saidservice providers can use other operators networks forservice distribution and transform themselves by focusingmore on O services.

Integrated information service provision Sometelcos focus not only on smart network operations as pipeproviders, but also expand their business to consumer Editor: Michael [email protected]

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Tao of Business

Mobile Security ManagementGrowing consumer mobility and social networking are thrusting security challenges upon operators

whose infrastructure inevitably exposes user data to attack. One global operator has presented a visionarframework for a more agile and comprehensive security platform, one that better handles the dynamism a

increasingly IP-based nature of the modern communications network.

By Dr. Ning Chang & Wei Pan

n estimated 9% of all mobile subscribers willbe using L E by 2015, and the terminalsthat they use will more and more resemblemobile computers, with all the capabilities and

security baggage that this implies. Online payments, socialnetworking, and enterprise access all represent tremendoussecurity risks for both users and the network at large, withthe former possibly not considering the relevant security tobe their responsibility not a tenable position for either.

A new framework Greater employee mobility and security management

complexity are altering the way business units relate tocorporate I . Enterprises must leverage new technologies toinnovate their businesses, without inappropriately increasingthe risks involved. 3GPP specifications 33.102 and 33.401define the security architectures of 3G and SAE/L E,respectively. Five security feature groups are dened Network Access, Network Domain, User Domain, Application Domain,and Visibility & Congurability.

Compared to 3G, L E security requires a differentsystem protection mechanis m, with packet-basedarchitecture making matters worse as the hacking tools andknow-how needed to compromise it are already widespread.Enterprises need to understand and change their static andabstract security standards into operational tools that applydynamic policies to tackle ever-changing security risks, sothat business productivity stays on track.

A certain global operator has created a framework formobile security management that reects a strategy of assertiveself-defense within the ve aforementioned feature realms.

Tis framework denes the legal, functional, architectural,

managerial, operational, and system integration requirementsfor the creation of a network content filtering center(NCFC) that would reduce the impact of malware in themobile network through the detection and inspection ofsuspect programs, and the elimination of those deemedharmful, all without violating the relevant laws governingprivacy for both users and content. his framework hasfour functional components:

Network anomaly detection system Identifies userssuspected of generating malicious traffic. Such a system wouldnot only detect spammers but any & all sources of malware.

Network content ltering center Where suspect users will be redirected so that more definite evidence can begathered. False positives will be moved back to the generaltraffic flow, while malware sources will be prompted andgiven a certain amount of time to voluntarily cease thetraffic in question, which will be cleaned up by the center.he design and architecture in place here is intended toallow easy adaptation to any type of malware.

Service portal Enables real-time communication withand feedback for malware sources, who may be otherwiseunaware that their terminal is generating anything malicious,so that a timely and satisfactory resolution is reached.

Network policy controller Manages the overallsystem, controls the different security phases that suspectedmalware sources pass through, and executes the necessaryactions for the network elements; this includes malwaresuspect list generation based on anomaly detectors, trustedsource lists, and user complaints; provision of the necessaryresources to recognize said list; ordering of provisioningactions needed to apply to each user the relevant policy forhis/her current stage in the malware generation lifecycle;service portal control; real-time user situation reporting andallo

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