AT&T has selected Juniper Networks' Contrail Networking to orchestrate the creation of virtual networks within AT&T’s cloud infrastructure.

AT&T will use Contrail Networking, based on Juniper's OpenContrail open source project, as part of the carrier’s software defined networking (SDN) thrust to help speed the deployment of new services.

Margaret Chiosi, distinguished network architect at AT&T Labs, alluded to this relationship with Juniper at an NFV World Congress event in May, but Juniper didn't formally announce it until today.

Chiosi had noted that AT&T is using multiple controllers in a hierarchy. There are local controllers — supplied by more than one vendor, she implied — controlled by a global controller that AT&T built itself, using the OpenDaylight Project framework.

Contrail is Juniper’s SDN technology that combines physical routers and switches to scale network infrastructures beyond data centers. Contrail uses Juniper’s OpenStack distribution for cloud orchestration. For AT&T, the open approach ensures vendor-agnostic interoperability.

Last week, AT&T announced is was designing virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) with Juniper as part of its on-demand services for business customers. Juniper’s vCPE will enable business customers to run multiple virtual functions with no new hardware.

An AT&T spokesperson said after SDxCentral's story was published: “The software-based appliance that Juniper has designed to our specifications is under development. We will be announcing our initial introduction date later this year. Currently, customers purchase individual, single-function appliances to meet each of their networking needs. With this solution, our customers will be able to run multiple functions on one appliance, such as routing and firewalls.  Over time, the portfolio of virtual functions that run on this CPE will expand.”