TELECOMS AND EDGE COMPUTING

BLESSING MAKUMBE

TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF CLOUD SOFTWARE & SERVICES FOR THE UK AND IRELAND

COMPANY: ERICSSON

When asked about mobile speed disparities in the UK , Blessing points to density versus rollout strategy as a key factor . “ When operators deploy radio technology , performance depends on how many users are in that area ,” he explains . “ If too many people connect at once , the resources are divided and performance suffers .” Strategic deployment decisions play a role . “ Some areas have excellent capacity , while others face gaps because of how rollout priorities are set ,” Blessing adds .

“Without cloudnative , we would still be stuck in a one-sizefits-all world”

He stresses the significance of 5G standalone ( SA ) and mid-band spectrum as viable solutions : “ Mid-band delivers both coverage and penetration . It ’ s ideal for dense urban areas . Most performance challenges originate in the radio access network , not the core or transport layers . Once radio capacity is optimised , through technologies like massive MIMO , we can scale the core network accordingly .”

VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF CLOUD SOFTWARE & SERVICES FOR THE UK AND IRELAND, ERICSSON

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The cloud-native shift: flexibility and efficiency

On the commercial side, cloudnative networks offer unprecedented flexibility. “Previously, one network had to serve everything from video calls and streaming to gaming. Now, with 5G SA and cloud-native capabilities, we can offer tailored network slices optimised for specific needs,” Blessing says.

Blessing describes cloud-native architecture as “transformative” for the telecommunications industry. It has overhauled both operational stability and service delivery.

“With legacy virtual networks, 80% of outages occurred during traffic offloading or node upgrades,” he explains. “Cloudnative networks eliminate the need to offload traffic. We can perform upgrades in-service, massively reducing risk and improving uptime.”

Customisation is a key leap forward, he adds: “Without cloud-native, we would still be stuck in a one-size-fits-all world. Now, a Zoom call, an online game or a live stream can each run on parameters suited to their requirements.”

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