KT、オラクルの5Gネットワークにポリシー制御機能プラットフォームを採用

5G PCFプラットフォームは、5Gコントロールプレーンのポリシー管理機能として機能します。これは、サービス品質とネットワークポリシーを提供する5Gコアネットワーク要素の1つでもあります。Oracle scored a deal to provide Korea Telecom (KT) with its 5G policy control function (PCF) platform in support of the carrier’s 5G network deployment. That platform will allow the operator to construct use cases using network slicing to drive new business opportunities. The Oracle 5G PCF platform acts as the policy management function of the 5G control plane. It’s also one of the 5G core network elements providing quality of service and network policies. This allows an operator to manage network slices, or pieces of its network resources, that can be dedicated to specific use cases or customers. These services typically require service level agreements or very high reliability like autonomous vehicles. Oracle has a history with KT, having provided the South Korean operator with similar policy management on its 4G LTE network. The new deal followed trials of the Oracle 5G PCF platform. John Lenns, vice president of product management at Oracle, last year told SDxCentral that the vendor did see network slicing as an opportunity to power new use cases. He explained that this was being helped by operators moving toward virtualized platforms that can tap software control to manage those use cases. Oracle has not been the most prominent vendor when it comes to supporting operators as they move toward 5G network deployments. But it has been scoring deals that tap its cloud platform to support broader virtualization moves. AT&T Business CEO Thaddeus Arroyo told attendees at last year’s Oracle OpenWorld event that the carrier was using the vendor’s cloud to help it meet its goal to virtualize 75 percent of its network by 2020 and roll out 5G services. “We’re on a journey to move our entire network to the cloud,” Arroyo said, adding that moving to Oracle improves the speed and agility of these workloads. “It’s not just cost dynamics,” he said. “That’s table stakes.”