Verizon’s investment this week into cloud-native network core platform provider Casa Systems could set the carrier up to break open the private network market with a flexible 5G-powered platform.

The deal itself includes Verizon taking an ownership stake in its long-time vendor as well as committing up to $140 million over the next six years on Casa Systems’ cloud-native 5G core platform.

Adam Koeppe, SVP for technology strategy and planning at Verizon, said the carrier will plough that platform into its private network efforts. He explained that Verizon will use Casa Systems’ platform to deploy a 5G core or mobile edge computing (MEC) systems onto just about any infrastructure environment an enterprise customer might be running. This includes a customer’s private cloud or on-premises bare metal system.

“When we look at new functions that are coming onto our core network, our 5G core capabilities are all cloud native,” Koeppe told SDxCentral. “So it was really important for us to ensure that Casa provides us with the solutions that we're working with them on are all cloud native so they fit right into our architecture very seamlessly, and the private network with MEC is a tremendous growth area.”

Verizon’s past work with Casa Systems revolved around the vendor’s physical infrastructure business. This included femtocells that Verizon used to help support enterprise network deployments.

Koeppe also cited Verizon Business’ deal earlier this year with Celona to broaden the operator’s On Site LTE and 5G service. The operator plans to make Celona’s LAN equipment available for private networks in multiple configurations for a private core on-premises, or in a public or private cloud.

“There's a tremendous amount of interest from the enterprise sectors, at venues, locations like that, where they absolutely need something more advanced and more robust to help meet their needs,” Koeppe said. “They're overcoming the limitations of things like WiFi, and private network goes specifically to meet their needs. So having a robust set of tools in your toolbox, if you will, it's absolutely to our advantage and it's really how we differentiate ourselves.”

This enterprise push comes at an interesting time for the market. Dell’Oro Group earlier this year revised downward its expectations for private wireless projects due to a slower exit coming out of 2021. The analyst firm explained that while “the successful launch of private 5G services by suppliers with strong enterprise channels could accelerate the private 5G market at a faster pace than expected … it will take some time for enterprises to fully understand the value of private LTE/5G.”

Casa Systems late last year made a strategic shift toward their cloud-native business where it expects to see a bigger growth opportunity. Verizon as part of the new agreement is investing $60 million in the first year of the deal, broken out between $40 million for a nearly 10% stake in the vendor and $20 million in committed product purchasing. That commitment is equal to around 5% of Casa Systems total revenue haul in 2021.

Koeppe highlighted Verizon’s approach toward partnerships in the cloud-native ecosystem in powering its network virtualization plans. He cited the carrier’s long-standing work with Red Hat in using its OpenStack and OpenShift platforms as the central core to those efforts.

“We have relied on partners in the open source community to really help advance our rapid ascension into a fully virtualized network,” Koeppe said. “There are multiple paths to go down on that path as well. Some operators in the past have tried to do all that stuff themselves. But we found really great value in having strong industry partners, like Red Hat, that have helped us really manage that type of virtual ecosystem internally.”

One of those other “operators” is long-time rival AT&T, which last year sold its vast Network Cloud technology business to Microsoft, where AT&T now runs its 5G and cloud-native business.

Koeppe stressed that Verizon maintains a high quality level for new vendors entering its ecosystem, which can prove to be a challenge.

“That scale … candidly, it's a lot for some startups to really adopt and accelerate from day one,” Koeppe said. “What we tend to focus on with both our traditional, larger supplier partners and new ones is ensuring that the requirements that we have to operate on our network are crystal clear and met by the solution that's being provided. … That's a lot of work required by a new partner to ensure that their quality meets our expectations.”