This document summarizes a panel discussion on open source in telecom networking. The panel discussed: 1) The potential advantages of open source including a large developer base that can quickly identify bugs, no upfront licensing costs, and rapid innovation through frequent releases and easy modifications. 2) Whether open source is delivering on its promises in telecom, with some panelists noting support from major operators but challenges in developing expertise and customized solutions. 3) Open questions around reliance on systems integrators, viable business models, and the right approach to consolidation versus competition among open source projects.

1. Open Source
Reality Check
PRESENTED BY
#2020VISION

2. Panel
PRESENTED BY
Luís Alveirinho
CTO
Altice Portugal
James Crawshaw
Senior Analyst
Heavy Reading
Hwa-Jung Han
Director of SDN Technology,
Architecture & Planning
Verizon
Kevin Shatzkamer
VP Enterprise & Service
Provider Strategy & Solutions
Dell EMC
Daniel Bar-Lev
CTO Office
MEF
Mirko Voltolini
Head, Network on Demand
Colt

3. Community-Based Innovation Advantages
PRESENTED BY
• Potentially Large Developer Base
- academics, hobbyists, developers from many different companies
• Code Quality and Security
- bugs identified quickly, governance rules
• No Upfront Licensing Costs
- free download for experimentation, research, and use
• Speed of Innovation
- easily modified; frequent releases
Is open source delivering on its promise in telecom networking?

4. David Hughes, PCCW
PRESENTED BY

5. New Methodology for Industry Innovation
PRESENTED BY
Source: Linux Foundation

6. Is there still a role for standards bodies?
PRESENTED BY
vs
vs

7. Patrick Lopez, Telefonica
PRESENTED BY

8. Audience question poll
PRESENTED BY
Will operators become reliant on systems integrators to
support highly customized OS implementations?
• The tier 1s will develop the skills to self-manage and
the smaller operators will buy off the shelf solutions
• Tier 1s will outsource opensource maintenance to
systems integrators but still achieve cost savings
• Tier 1s will develop in house expertise in open source
and tier 2s will be able to benefit from the community
expertise
To vote please go to:
pollev.com/cosmicbee491

9. Open Source Networking Landscape
PRESENTED BY

10. Audience question poll
PRESENTED BY
Which of the following open source areas are seeing
most progress?
• Cloud management (OpenStack, OpenShift)
• Network management (ONAP, OSM, CORD)
• SDN control (ODL, ONOS, Tungstenfabric)
• IO abstraction & data path (FD.io, OvS, DPDK)
To vote please go to:
pollev.com/cosmicbee491

11. Is ONAP too Unwieldly?
PRESENTED BY
• Can ONAP be productized or will it just be a
framework for interface definitions used in
proprietary solutions?
• There is strong support for ONAP from AT&T, China
Mobile, Orange and Bell Canada.
• But not every operator has the internal resources to
contribute code.
• Instead they are looking to the vendor community
to provide “hardened” versions of ONAP modules.
• However, if these modules must be heavily
customized to meet each operator’s specific IT
architecture, there will be no economies of scale.

12. John Isch, Orange Business Services
PRESENTED BY

13. Analyze This
PRESENTED BY
• Will reliance on SIs for OS support lead to a new
form of vendor lock in?
• Are there viable commercial models for networking
vendors in supporting open-source projects or is it
just a forum for agreeing APIs and interfaces (not
actual code)?
• Should we encourage open-source project
consolidation (e.g. ECOMP + Open-O) or should
we support competition (ONAP vs OSM)?
• What are operators’ actual deployment plans for
open source implementation?

14. Audience question poll
PRESENTED BY
Have open source efforts have made good on the
promise to speed up innovation and reduce cost for
telco networks?
• Yes
• No
• Maybe / Don’t know / Too soon to say
To vote please go to:
pollev.com/cosmicbee491