Deutsche Telekom unveils new global enterprise network

In a proof of concept (POC) created with the support of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and VMware, leading global comms provider Deutsche Telekom (DT) has demonstrated a globally distributed enterprise network that combines its connectivity services in federation with third-party connectivity, compute and storage resources at campus locations in Czechia, the US and an Open Grid Alliance (OGA) grid node in Germany.

DT said its global enterprise network approach will aim to address its customers’ needs for fast and flexible booking, deployment and management of “seamless” connectivity services across geographically distributed enterprise locations with a unified interface – while benefiting from highly available, trusted services from communications and cloud service providers.

Working together, the three companies said that with the demonstration – based on a use case of video analytics with distributed artificial intelligence (AI) inference – they have showed the capability to federate, abstract and orchestrate geographically distributed compute and connectivity resources for hosting multi-national enterprise services on cloud and OGA grid nodes, providing global reach with local autonomy. Based on this approach, customers will be able to book connectivity services directly from DT with a unified interface for service and management of the network across its locations. 

The POC is also said to demonstrate how the approach supports an optimised resource allocation for advanced AI-based applications such as video analytics, autonomous vehicles and robotics.

In its physical form, the global enterprise network integrates DT private 5G wireless offerings, AWS services and infrastructure, VMware’s multi-cloud telco platform, OGA grid nodes, and Mavenir’s RAN/Core functions. Two 5G Standalone (SA) private wireless networks deployed at locations in Prague and Seattle are connected to a Mavenir 5G Core hosted on AWS Frankfurt Region using the framework of the Integrated Private Wireless on AWS program. The convergence of the global network with local high-speed 5G connectivity is enabled by the AWS backbone and infrastructure.

Using OGA architectural principles for Distributed Edge AI Networking, an OGA grid node was established on Dell infrastructure in Bonn, Germany to facilitate reliable connectivity across the European locations. 

The 5G SA private wireless network with User Plane Function and RAN, hosted at the Seattle location, is operating on the VMware Telco Cloud Platform to enable low-latency services. The VMware service management and orchestration (SMO) is also deployed in the same location and serves as the global orchestrator. The SMO framework is designed to help simplify, optimise and automate the RAN, Core and its applications in a multi-cloud environment.

To demonstrate the benefit of this approach, the POC deployment saw use of a video analytics application where cameras were installed at both Prague and Seattle locations and connected through a private wireless global enterprise network. Using this approach, DT said operators were able to run AI components concurrently for immediate analysis and inferencing, enabling businesses to seamlessly connect devices across locations using the global enterprise network.

“As AI gets engrained deeper in the ecosystem of our lives, it necessitates equitable access to compute and connectivity for everyone, everywhere across the globe,” said Kaniz Mahdi, group chief architect and senior vice-president of technology architecture and innovation at Deutsche Telekom.

“Multi-national enterprises are seeking trusted and sovereign compute and connectivity constructs that underpin an equitable and seamless access. Deutsche Telekom is excited to partner with the OGA ecosystem for co-creation on these essential constructs and the enablement of the Distributed Edge AI Networking applications of the future.”