Access and optical vendor says it's going to be part of Deutsche Telekom's software-defined network and has embraced Netconf and Yang for its new OSS.

September 15, 2014

3 Min Read
Adtran: We're In at TeraStream

Access equipment vendor Adtran says it's going to play a role in TeraStream, Deutsche Telekom's next-generation network that is one of the global telecom sector's most intriguing and analyzed projects.

The German giant operator has been talking for several years about TeraStream, an all-IP, next-generation network model that's being used to introduce a new networking topology that includes: a new approach to OSS, using Netconf and Yang; OpenStack for cloud management/orchestration; KVM as a hypervisor; and the introduction of SDN and NFV functionality. (See DT Teams With A10 for NFV Advance and Deutsche Telekom: A Software-Defined Operator.)

TeraStream is already being built, starting in Croatia in Eastern Europe, where Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT)'s T-Hrvatski Telekom has built a next-generation core network. Axel Clauberg, the German operator's VP of Transport, Aggregation and IP & Fixed Access in the CTO Team, has been updating the industry on TeraStream's progress for the past two years, most recently during a keynote presentation at the Big Telecom Event (BTE). (See Nothing Is Sacred, DT's Clauberg Tells BTE .)

The whole industry is keeping a close eye on TeraStream, as it will provide real-world guidance about how the next generation of wide area communications networks will operate, and reveal great insights into the role that SDN and NFV can play in telco strategies. As a result, every vendor on the planet wants to be associated with DT's strategy.

According to senior VP and managing director of international markets, Dr Eduard Scheiterer, Adtran Inc. (Nasdaq: ADTN) will soon be one of those vendors. The vendor is already a key supplier to Deutsche Telekom for the operator's fixed broadband network in Germany, supplying its VDSL2 vectoring equipment for a major rollout. (See Fiber Revival at Deutsche Telekom and The Value of Vectoring.)

During a briefing session with analysts and journalists in London, Scheiterer noted that Adtran would be extending its relationship with the operator as a supplier for TeraStream.

That would be a real coup for the vendor, which is seeking to grow its international reputation and business and become less reliant on its US customers. It went a long way towards doing that with the acquisition in mid-2012 of Nokia Siemens Networks' fixed broadband access business, a deal that came with DT (and many others) as an existing customer. (See Adtran Completes NSN Acquisition and Adtran Wants NSN's International Pull.)

Want to know more about G.fast? Check out our dedicated DSL/vectoring/G.fast content channel here on Light Reading.

So what exactly will Adtran's role be? The vendor didn't answer that question specifically, but did note during its presentation that its upcoming portfolio of G.fast-enabled broadband access equipment, which is due to be commercially available in the second quarter of 2015, has new OSS that is TeraStream-friendly. (See G.fast: The Dawn of Gigabit Copper? and Adtran Offers G.Fast Crosstalk Cure.)

That new OSS, developed for IPv4 and IPv6 implementations, is based initially on a proprietary version of Yang (a data modelling language) over Netconf, the Network Configuration Protocol developed by the IETF for reading and writing network configurations. (See Netconf & Yang Go Mainstream.)

In the future, Adtran's Netconf/Yang OSS will be based on the specifications laid out in the Broadband Forum's WT-301 and WT-318 technical works in progress, which are for Fiber-to-the-Distribution Point (FTTdp) networks and the Management Architecture & Requirements for FTTdp respectively. Adtran is also not ruling out the introduction of Netconf/Yang OSS tools for its entire portfolio.

That OSS move plays right into DT's TeraStream management system plans, so while nothing is official, it looks like Adtran's G.fast equipment looks set to become part of the TeraStream access rollout. That's something for Adtran's main G.fast rivals, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , to ponder.

— Ray Le Maistre, Circle me on Google+ Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

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