There's an emerging trend of service providers trying to virtualize their core network. Rakuten in Japan is a leading example.
"They have assembled a small army of suppliers to build a virtualized network built on x86 hardware.
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Rakuten has no dedicated hardware except in its antennas, ensuring the upgrade to 5G will be straightforward.
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Chief Architecture Officer Tareq Amin said the network has "virtualized everything," including radio access, core, transport, IP, billing and operational support systems."
I'm not sure who this army of suppliers is though.
