The telecom industry may or may not undergo a software-defined networking (SDN) revolution. But if it does, key Asia/Pacific operators are taking steps to ensure they don't miss out.

Operators from the region's three biggest markets are working on plans to test or deploy SDN or introduce the sort of network function virtualization (NFV) capabilities currently being examined by a high-powered group of Tier 1 operators.

The theory is that SDN and NFV offer telcos the potential for easier, more flexible and more cost-effective network operations by separating the data and control planes and deploying standardized network hardware platforms controlled by independent software systems.

And those potential benefits have caught the attention of some heavy hitters.

Among the region's SDN pioneers, NTT Communications Corp., the global ICT services arm of the NTT Group, is by far the most advanced.

NTT Com says its infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering, called Enterprise Cloud, launched in June, utilized the OpenFlow SDN protocol that enables remote controllers to modify the behaviour of network devices and was the world's first to use network virtualization technology.

Developed using OpenFlow-enabled devices from NEC Corp., it enables users to add and control virtual appliances such as firewalls and load balancers to their networks as and when they need them, according to the operator.

"There is no need for users to care about network connectivity," states NTT Com senior vice president Ito Yukio. "We were able to shorten time for construction and setting change to a few minutes from two weeks."

NTT Com also uses OpenFlow capabilities to manage backup between its data centers worldwide.

The next step is to consider the use of SDN capabilities to connect enterprise LAN elements to NTT Com's cloud infrastructure to enable data migration to the cloud. "We expect OpenFlow can achieve quick service expansion because it will use less expensive commoditized equipment," said Ito.

The ability to program extra functionality by writing code means more service flexibility and lower operating expenses ex as a result of centralized control, he added.

SDN is in the pre-commercial stage in China, where industry bodies organized the first SDN and Open Networking Summit in Beijing recently.

Duan Xiaodong, head of the networking department at China Mobile Ltd.'s Research Institute, told the conference China Mobile was planning SDN trials in its data centers, its cloud radio access network (or C-RAN), its core network and its cloud WLAN.

Duan described SDN as an "inevitable trend," citing lower costs, higher efficiency and more flexibility. He said he expected the first products to roll out next year.

The Chinese giant is not currently a member of the main SDN standards body, the Open Networking Foundation, but Duan said it aimed to join in standards-setting for both NFV and SDN.

Another mobile operator, South Korea's SK Telecom, is looking at SDN as a means of cutting complexity and enhancing network competitiveness and agility.

But Dr. DK Lee, manager of SK Telecom's Core Network Lab, says SDN deployment for mobile "is unlikely to take place within a short period of time" because of "high entry barriers, the uncertain effect of SDN on mobile and the issue of standardization."

— Robert Clark, contributing editor, special to Light Reading