Open-Source Community Addresses Next Generation Carrier Operations
This article was published in Global Banking and Finance Review on April 22, 2020. You can read the original article here
Network operators, integrators and software vendors have joined forces to create Leitstand, an open-source community that aims to increase the efficiency of developing, buying and running network management systems for next generation carrier networks. It will provide the tools needed to operate the underlying infrastructure in a disaggregated telecoms network, including zero-touch provisioning of infrastructure, inventory management, operational visibility of network elements, alarm monitoring, fault diagnosis and software version management. The Leitstand toolset will be provided in an open-source model, freely available to any operator, equipment vendor and systems integrator. Initial contributors to the Leitstand initiative include Deutsche Telekom, EWE TEL, Reply, and RtBrick.
In the past, equipment providers developed bespoke management systems to assist carriers in operating their networks, said Hannes Gredler, founder and chief technology officer at RtBrick. Although common protocols and interfaces emerged, these tools were usually optimized for the vendors own equipment. This resulted in inefficient use of development resources within equipment vendors and complex integration challenges for carriers operating multi-vendor networks.
By providing the operational toolset on an open-source basis, Leitstand will increase the efficiency of producing, maintaining and enhancing carriers operational tools and processes, for both the vendors and the carriers. Tools will be made available at no charge to other operators and system integrators.
Now, developers can focus more effort on solving higher-value problems, rather than ˜reinventing the wheel for every system element, said Robert Soukup, Senior Program Manager at Deutsche Telekom. A wider pool of developers also means a deeper pool of ideas, with the most innovative solutions bubbling up to the top.
The Leitstand community welcomes organisations to contribute resources to solving this next generation challenge for carriers. For more information, please visit Leitstand.io
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, with some 184 million mobile customers, 27,5 million fixed-network lines, and 21 million broadband lines. We provide fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet, and IPTV products and services for consumers, and information and communication technology (ICT) solutions for business and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries. With a staff of some 211,000 employees throughout the world, we generated revenue of 80.5 billion Euros in the 2019 financial year, about 66 percent of it outside Germany.
About EWE TEL
EWE TEL, a 100 percent subsidiary of EWE AG (Oldenburg), is one of the biggest regional telecommunications company offering the full range of telecommunication services to more than 650,000 private, corporate and public customers. The service is based on the companys own 40,000 km communication network. EWE TEL GmbH is the driving force behind broadband expansion in North Germany.
About Reply
Reply specialises in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. As a network of highly specialised companies, Reply defines and develops business models enabled by the new paradigms of big data, cloud computing, digital media and the internet of things. Reply delivers consulting, system integration and digital services to organisations across the telecom and media; industry and services; banking and insurance; and public sectors.
About RtBrick
RtBrick provides carrier routing software that runs on off-the-shelf hardware. It has applied the same approach to networks that the huge ˜cloud-natives have used to build and operate their web-scale IT services. RtBrick is a privately held company, with staff located in India, Europe and the USA.