Ericsson and Red Hat are working to validate the former’s cloud-native 5G core to work across the latter’s OpenShift software platform in a move similar to one struck by Ericsson earlier this year with Red Hat rival VMware.

Honoré LaBourdette, global VP at Red Hat, explained that the two vendors have validated services that support virtual evolved packet core (vEPC), 5G core, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), operating support systems (OSS), and business support systems (BSS). The vendors noted that proof of concepts (PoCs) have been running with service providers.

The new agreement is billed as an expansion of ongoing work between Ericsson and Red Hat targeting the telecommunications space. It’s focused on making sure Ericsson’s services running as cloud-native functions (CNFs) can operate at scale for telecom operators using Red Hat’s OpenShift and OpenStack platforms to support their 5G network deployments.

LaBourdette noted that the OpenShift work is new as the two vendors have been working for a couple of years on OpenStack integration.

Operators are using these vendor-agnostic platforms to support CNFs from multiple players to support their 5G systems and planned edge network deployments.

“Getting to the edge is where the operators will recoup the sizable investments that they've made to transform their core and taking advantage of 5G,” LaBourdette said. “They need to get all the way to the edge to drive new edge-types of use cases and services for both the consumer market as well as the enterprise market.”

They are also working on other technical collaborations, specifically calling out cloud radio access network (RAN) work at Ericsson’s Open Lab with Ericsson Cloud RAN customers and vendor partners. Ericsson’s Cloud RAN is a cloud-native software platform that includes disaggregated RAN functionality.

LaBourdette explained that work was in an “execution stage,” meaning it was making sure OpenShift could handle the Ericsson Cloud RAN cloud-native requirements. She added that OpenShift “will be the embedded container platform of choice for Ericsson collaboration solutions that they're taking to market.”

The two are also working to validate Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core that combines EPC and 5G core network functions into a common multi-access and cloud-native platform supporting 5G and legacy mobile packet core deployments. That work is in “early commercial operations carrying live traffic,” with larger scale commercial availability planned for year-end.

“The collaboration gives the service providers the confidence to accelerate this network transformation, and it also helps to reduce the risk in this multi-vendor environment,” LaBourdette said.

Ericsson announced a similar move with VMware in April. That agreement was to validate Ericsson’s CNFs running on top of VMware’s Telco Cloud Platform using three different deployment scenarios.

Red Hat and VMware were noted as being in “fierce competition” for the top 5G telco cloud-native platform, according to ABI Research’s recent 5G telco cloud-native platforms ranking.

“Their goals in telco are similar, and they are both positioning themselves to be multi-vendor, cloud native, and multicloud with the capability to service the core, edge, and RAN,” ABI Research analyst Kangrui Ling explained.

Both vendors fulfill what ABI considers the basic needs of a telco-grade platform, but they also boast additional criteria required for ABI’s market leaders. VMware stands out among the pack because of its multi-vendor certification program, which Ling described as “diverse and robust,” and Red Hat currently leads in multicloud deployments.

The Ericsson arrangement also highlights the growing adoption of Red Hat’s OpenShift platform into 5G deployments. OpenShift is based on the Kubernetes container orchestration project that allows for the migration of applications across different cloud and on-premises environments.

A recent report from TBR Senior Analyst Catie Merrill noted that Red Hat’s OpenShift platform has four-times as many customers as it did before IBM acquired the company for $34 billion back in mid-2019.

OpenShift’s increased ubiquity is opening doors for partnerships that take advantage of platforms that Red Hat might not offer.

LaBourdette explained that with the Ericsson move, there is “very little overlap. … I can’t think of any overlap that would be top of mind.” This includes Red Hat providing the virtual infrastructure to run the cloud-native applications sitting on top of the physical infrastructure and software provided by Ericsson.

Red Hat has done similar arrangements to boost other telecom platforms.

The vendor last year invested 250 engineers toward expanding the open radio access network (RAN) ecosystem. Red Hat described that effort as a “bridge for customers to embrace the open RAN movement” with an open, horizontal, cloud-native software platform that’s pre-integrated with multiple hardware and software vendor offerings.

Red Hat partnered with Altiostar, Ericsson, Intel, Mavenir, Nokia, Samsung, and others to design and assemble a more comprehensive framework. The effort also allows operators to tap into its OpenShift platform, which includes containers and microservices for network core, RAN, and edge computing workloads.

Red Hat is also part of a deal signed earlier this month with Telefónica to integrate its OpenShift platform into a new cloud service marketed at enterprises across Telefónica’s footprint in Europe and Latin America.