Large scale telco cloud deployments will hit global critical mass after 2020 in parallel with the deployment of 5G, according to a new report from ABI Research.

The report, titled ‘Telco Cloud Framework and Deployment Roadmaps’, argues the latest network generation will likely require a new core network to allow for advanced concepts, including network slicing and services geared toward different business verticals. Early 5G deployments, during which time there will not be an immediate need for a new telco core, will likely focus on enhanced mobile broadband.

Dimitris Mavrakis, research director at ABI Research, said: “Although a few open source projects are contributing valuable inputs toward the evolution of telco networks, there is also competition among open source projects, and the concept is also misunderstood and in some cases, misused by several industry players.”

Telecommunication giants such as AT&T, DT, Telefonica, and Verizon are developing their strategies and planning their networks as shared platforms, rather than a mix of individual network appliances. This means that network resources will be virtualised, distributed, and software controlled, leading to a much more agile network which will allow the implementation of an “Untelco” strategy, selling tailored network resources to different verticals.

Another report from GSMA predicts that the commercial 5G networks will be widely deployed at the beginning of the next decade and, by 2025, will provide coverage to a third of the world’s population. Already leading the trend, Ericsson, in partnership with SoftBank, recently announced the next step of their 5G trial to 28GHz, after successfully completing the 4.5GHz and 15GHz spectrum on basic 5G trials in Tokyo.