MTN South Africa, in partnership with Ericsson, has completed the modernisation of its core network.
According to the telecommunications company, the modernisation brings benefits to SA’s mobile infrastructure, including reduced latency, enhanced data throughput and strengthened overall user experience, providing more reliable and seamless connectivity.
As part of the modernisation, MTN SA deployed cloud-native Packet Core and user management functions from the dual-mode 5G Core solution on Ericsson’s Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution in an expedited timeframe in the first half of this year, says the telco.
In addition to the rollout of the new cloud-native functions, MTN SA and Ericsson upgraded other functions that will continue to be hosted on virtualised infrastructure powered by Ericsson.
According to the telco, the modernisation project has delivered early achievements. It points out that MTN and Ericsson “achieved a world-first by completing the first in-service software upgrade of an Ericsson Packet Core Gateway node with a collocated Packet Core Firewall”.
MTN explains that this upgrade took place seamlessly, with no interruption to 2.52 million active user sessions and 40Gbps of data flowing through the network.
This initial deployment has been expanded, with the addition of Ericsson’s cloud-native Cloud Core Policy Controller (CCPC) on its network, further strengthening the partners’ commitment to enabling digital transformation and automation in SA and across the continent, they comment.
This cloud-native evolution empowers MTN SA to transform its legacy policy control systems, driving enhanced flexibility, scalability and operational efficiency.
The CCPC, in its first configuration as a policy and charging rules function in Africa, enables MTN South Africa to implement real-time dynamic policies for 5G non-standalone, MTN explains.
Additionally, the CCPC supports the policy control function for 5G function, ensuring MTN SA's readiness for the introduction of the 5G standalone core.
MTN South Africa also reached a key milestone in its automation journey by executing a container-as-a-service rolling upgrade on the cloud container distribution, which was upgraded with zero disruption while CCPC was handling approximately two million active sessions, the telco states.
It points out that this demonstrates the robustness of MTN SA’s cloud-native infrastructure and aligns with industry best-practices for zero-downtime deployments.
Solomzi Mnyaka, general manager of network services engineering and L2 support at MTN SA, says: “Building on our shared achievements with Ericsson over a period spanning more than 30 years, the core network modernisation and expansion mark an important step in our ongoing journey to build a modern, future-ready network for South Africa.
“As we continue to evolve and digitise our operations, having the right technology foundation is critical. The implementation of Ericsson’s cloud-native policy controller and packet core gateway as part of the dual-mode 5G core solution enables us to respond more quickly to customer demands, launch new services with agility, and simplify our internal processes through automation. This partnership reflects our focus on driving innovation, while maintaining high standards of reliability and performance for our subscribers.”
Sandile Dhlomo, head of Ericsson South Africa, says: “In line with our #AfricaInMotion vision, we are committed to shaping the future of digital connectivity on the continent.
“The solution enhances the operator’s session, mobility management and policy control capabilities, while laying the groundwork for future 5G standalone. Together with MTN, we are enabling a more flexible and automated policy framework that supports monetisation, network evolution and enriched user experiences across South Africa.”
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