By Juan Pedro Tomás

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced that a Japanese telecommunications provider, Optage has selected HPE 5G Core Stack for its trial of a private 5G network, the former firm said in a release.

Optage is testing the viability of “Local 5G” networks to meet business customer demands for use cases such as manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and education.

Local 5G is a Japanese Government initiative that enables organizations, such as enterprises, local government and universities, to deploy private 5G networks in a limited area using spectrum which is different from that used by mobile operators. HPE noted that Local 5G testing is taking place across Japan as organizations seek guaranteed bandwidth, low latency, and support for thousands of devices. With dedicated bandwidth and infrastructure, Local 5G networks are expected to be particularly well suited for the specific connectivity needs within manufacturing and industrial use cases.

Optage is testing a secure private 5G network to explore the possibility of offering Local 5G services for business customers. As part of this initiative, Optage selected HPE 5G Core Stack for their private 5G testing. HPE 5G Core Stack is an open, cloud-native, container-based 5G core network software stack that helps customers accelerate the deployment of 5G.

“HPE 5G Core Stack has been developed to increase speed, agility, and scalability in 5G deployments and enables operators like OPTAGE to quickly validate network operations and see the business benefits,” said general manager, Communications Technology Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Japan, Hiroshi Miki. “We’re honoured to support Optage with their Local 5G testing and to help them accelerate the launch of their service.”

HPE 5G Core Stack is available as a pre-integrated software and hardware platform via the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform. By deploying HPE 5G Core Stack on a pay-as-you-use basis with the HPE GreenLake platform, operators can deploy a 5G core network with reduced risk and little upfront investment by aligning costs to the number of subscribers, HPE said.

Optage provides telecommunications services based on its independent optical fiber network distributed throughout the Kansai region.

HPE’s portfolio includes Cloud Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & AI, Intelligent Edge, Software, and Storage.

In July 2021, Samsung Electronics said it will implement a dedicated private 5G network at Optage’s plant facility. The network will support 4K Ultra HD-based live-streaming videos, transmitted from multiple devices, including cameras located throughout the plant, establishing a real-time video monitoring system.

With the new video system, site inspections can be conducted remotely from a control center, allowing for early failure detection, eliminating the need for technicians to visit hard-to-reach locations, as well as improving the facility’s productivity, efficiency and safety.

The network will include Samsung’s radios, baseband unit and Compact Core, a cloud-native and fully containerized solution that is built to provide enterprises an advanced 5G core solution.