BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T*,
Orange, and Colt Technology Services are working with MEF and TM
Forum to release the first set of standard application programming
interfaces (APIs) for orchestrated Carrier Ethernet services later
this year. This initiative uses MEF's LSO (Lifecycle Service
Orchestration) framework and TM Forum's Open API framework.
AT&T, Orange, and Colt have been working to accelerate
adoption of SDN across the industry. AT&T has been
collaborating with the enterprise arm of Orange, Orange Business
Services, on standardized APIs that will enable SDN architectures
from different network service providers to interoperate with each
other. AT&T and Colt held the first successful SDN
interoperability trial proving that SDN architectures from
different network service providers can interoperate with each
other across continents.
After a successful proof of concept, the companies are leading
the charge, along with MEF and TM Forum, to accelerate efforts to
develop a set of standardized APIs for industry-wide use.
Service providers will be able to use standardized APIs to work
with each other's SDN architectures in near-real time. The
projected release of the first round of APIs is at the end of 2017.
This is a key step toward enabling orchestrated on-demand services
over more automated and interconnected networks.
Traditionally, each service provider uses different systems and
interfaces to manage different aspects of its networks. This
creates friction and inefficiency when providing an end-to-end
service. Our world is becoming increasingly connected. A "smart"
network is critical to deliver services to customers across many
networks.
"The more companies that are using a standard, the more powerful
and beneficial it becomes for everybody," says Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics
Inc. "As momentum builds, more and more operators, vendors and
other partners will find it advantageous to join in or they will be
faced with the danger of falling behind their competitors."
"Our research shows that the number one issue impeding the
delivery of on-demand services is the need for a standardized
approach to orchestrating services across multiple provider
networks," said Rosemary Cochran,
Principal, Vertical Systems Group. "This initiative led by
industry leaders to collaboratively standardize on APIs for
Ethernet services is an essential step toward tackling this
challenge."
The API standardization effort for orchestrated connectivity
services is being conducted within MEF in partnership with TM
Forum, and is open to both MEF and TM Forum members. This project
revolves around the LSO Sonata reference point that deals with the
management, operational, and business interactions between service
providers. The API standardization project will build upon TM Forum
Open API standards work involving nine of the world's largest
service providers.
There are plans to standardize 8 API definitions. This builds on
the industry-agreed Open APIs developed by TM Forum members. The
first 3 APIs below will be defined in the first round of the
project this year.
- Address validation
- Service availability
- Ordering
- Quoting
- Billing
- Assurance
- Testing
- Change management
These APIs will help reduce the burden of fragmented networks,
giving businesses the power to provision scalable, flexible network
services on-demand through software platforms like ECOMP. ECOMP is
now open-sourced through the Linux Foundation and will be used as a
reference implementation for LSO APIs. These connected networks
will save costs and be more agile, helping businesses streamline
their operations.
A federation of like-minded, involved companies will come
together using these common APIs to help the industry usher in the
next era of SDN-based Ethernet globally. Companies interested in
joining this initiative can visit the MEF website for more
information and learn more about TM Forum's Open API framework
here.
Follow all AT&T news at MWC at: att.com/mwc, or on Twitter
@ATTbusiness and @ATTshape.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by
subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T
brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About Colt
Colt provides high bandwidth services for enterprises and
wholesale customers in Europe,
Asia and North America's largest business hubs. Colt
enables the digital transformation of businesses through its
intelligent, purpose-built, cloud-integrated network, known as the
Colt IQ Network. It connects over 700 data centres around the
globe, with over 24,500 on-net buildings and growing. Colt is also
recognised as an innovator and pioneer in software defined networks
(SDN) and network function virtualisation (NFV).
Colt has built its reputation on putting its customers first,
with a focus on delivering true local presence and agility for
enterprises that are global yet need local attention. Customers
include data intensive organisations spanning over 200 connected
cities in nearly 30 countries. Colt counts 19 of the top 25 global
telecoms companies and 18 out of the top 25 global media companies
(Forbes 2000 list, 2016) amongst its customers. In addition, Colt
works with over 50 exchange venues and 13 European central banks.
Colt is privately owned, making it one of the most financially
sound companies in its industry and able to provide the best
customer experience at a competitive price. For more information,
please visit www.colt.net.
About Orange Business Services
Orange Business Services, the B2B branch of the Orange Group,
and its 21,000 employees, is focused on supporting the digital
transformation of multinational enterprises and French SMEs across
five continents. Orange Business Services is not only an
infrastructure operator, but also a technology integrator and a
value-added service provider. It offers companies digital solutions
that help foster collaboration within their teams (collaborative
workspaces and mobile workspaces), better serve their customers
(enriched customer relations and business innovation), and support
their projects (enriched connectivity, flexible IT and
cyberdefense). The integrated technologies that Orange Business
Services offer range from Software Defined Networks (SDN/NFV), Big
Data and IoT, to cloud computing, unified communications and
collaboration, as well as cybersecurity. Orange Business Services
customers include over 3,000 renowned multinational corporations at
an international level and over two million professionals,
companies and local communities in France.
Learn more at www.orange-business.com or follow us on
LinkedIn, Twitter and our blogs. Orange is one of the world's
leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of
40,9 billion euros in 2016 and has
263 million customers in 29 countries at 31
December 2016. Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol
ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect
with leading entertainment, business, mobile and high speed
internet services. We offer the nation's best data network* and the
best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider.** We're one of
the world's largest providers of pay TV. We have TV customers in
the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. Nearly 3.5 million
companies, from small to large businesses around the globe, turn to
AT&T for our highly secure smart solutions.
Additional information about AT&T products and services is
available at about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on
Facebook at facebook.com/att and YouTube
at youtube.com/att.
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*Claim based on the Nielsen Certified Data Network
Score. Score includes data reported by wireless consumers in the
Nielsen Mobile Insights survey, network measurements from Nielsen
Mobile Performance and Nielsen Drive Test Benchmarks for Q3+Q4 2016
across 121 markets.
**Global coverage claim based on offering discounted
voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; and voice roaming in more
countries than any other U.S. based carrier. International service
required. Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary
per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.
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SOURCE AT&T Inc.