Christian Laqué: “We Are the First in the World to Have Fully Virtualized Core Network”

Last year, Belarusian mobile operator velcom implemented a revolutionary project to create a fully virtualized core network, a bold undertaking that has resulted in a major breakthrough in the industry. This large-scale transformation would not be possible without such reliable and sound partner as ZTE Corporation. Christian Laqué, CTO at velcom, has shared his thoughts about the future of Belarus' telecom market, successful partnership with ZTE and the role of fixed lines in a mobile operator's business.

How would you characterize Belarus' telecom market and its potential?

It has been always perceived that Belarus is lagging behind, because 2G, 3G and especially 4G were coming late compared to other European countries. However, if we look at the fixed line market, for instance, GPON, Belarus has a really big advantage in this area. The country is on quite a good track and the capability to grow and to be innovative is extraordinary high. As to the upcoming market of IoT, a combination of telecom and IT capabilities, Belarus would be well positioned. The IT capabilities are recognized by such countries as South Korea and Japan, which have recently signed development contracts for ICT, or companies like EPAM that is doing business worldwide and is one of top ten IT companies in the world. So, I see a lot of potential for the future.

What are velcom's latest networking developments?

First, jointly with our partner ZTE we have swapped the entire radio access to a fully software defined radio network which has all the capabilities for launching 4G, narrowband IoT and further technologies just by software. Second, we have fully virtualized our core network, which is already prepared to go for 5G. We are the first in the world to have done the full migration from legacy core network to NFV-based one. With this we made a big jump to the edge of technology. Now, we are doing something similar in fixed lines with GPON/XPON and the core components. This will open the way to the gigabit society. It's much easier to do it here than in most Western countries because the cost to bring infrastructure into buildings is low. Cooperation with partners in China is quite common in Belarus due to very good connections with China.

Have you encountered any challenges while implementing this project and how did you solve them?

Competition is the driver for innovation and developments. Hurdles are the obstacles to develop technologies with freedom, i.e. technology neutrality for frequencies. This has to be liberalized in Belarus. Other markets with open policy have proven the huge positive value to end users and to the entire country because infrastructure is such a huge driver for development of an economy. A hundred years ago it was about having a proper railway system; fifty years ago we had to have a very good motorway system. Today it's the infrastructure of the telecommunication and IT world. This is fiber, advanced mobile network and broadband data. If someone is investing, he is checking the infrastructure including mobile and internet availability and competitiveness of the price.

You've completed the construction of the core network in a very short term. What are the results of introducing ZTE's vEPC solution?

It's an amazing journey that we have made. A little more than a year ago, we discussed what we were doing next with the core network, and it was clear that we had to opt for a fully virtualized version as key enabler for the future, reducing dramatically complexity. ZTE offered the most convincing package including a commitment to deliver the full migration till end of 2016. Mind that we decided to team up with them in the first quarter, the migration to the fully virtualized platform took place within just 9 months without any negative impact for customers. This is only possible with one of the best teams you can think of.

What is the average time needed for such a project?

Other market players are saying "I am happy to do it in three years" or "I'll do one component in one year". We have done it within less than one year. You have to have a belief and a very strong team. Luckily there are plenty of very experienced guys in our company and we could get such top experts also from the partner. There was also a willingness to work at night or on weekends sometimes. We have shown what is possible—with the right partner, the right set-up, and the true belief. The major factor is that we have done it with one partner and with the right one. The headache of interoperability was minimized by having one consistent SW suite and ZTE have had the same setup in its labs.

What do you think of ZTE as a partner?

We are lucky to have such partner as ZTE. One point is that they are delivering what they have promised. Another point is that they are able to take risk and manage it. We had one common game to win and done it together. It is a huge thing to have a partner who is taking your journey as his own one. Our promise that we will not cause any negative impact on our five million customers was fulfilled.

Do you intend to continue cooperation with ZTE in future?

We have already decided to do it for minimum the next five years together. I am open for any cooperation if it is successful as this one.

What are the goals for velcom's sustainable development?

The growth in data and supporting the customer demand are our basic duties as a mobile operator. And the same is in the fixed line part of our business: there will be a huge increase in demand and we will meet it. We are also developing services such as TV, OTT and IPTV.
Another dimension for development is to grow with applications for IoT. Mobile data is not only to provide a tube. It should also be made tangible for the customer. This year we will launch our data center to provide a cloud for the customer. It is a challenging target for this year but with the success of 2016 I am very happy to step in.

Could you expound on Telekom Austria Group's convergence strategy? How will that influence velcom's growth path?

Convergence means that wherever you are you get broadband access with the best suitable for the situation. To achieve this, we have to go deeper into houses providing access.
Fixed line is good in a situation when you need a huge bandwidth because you are consuming TV/video mostly at home, not on the road. It is not sufficient to do all broadband just with a mobile network. Wi-Fi will become a seamless access. Most of your devices will be used everywhere.

What do you think about the upcoming XPON deployment?

We have started to step into the XPON technology. We have just bought a company that has done it with Ethernet and we are going more and more into fiber to the home. XPON is the enabler to go with a huge bandwidth over the last mile and then provide final access inside apartments or offices over the last meter in the most cases wireless with Wi-Fi. Everything is going wireless even recharging.

Bobruisk is our first rollout of GPON in Belarus. We will launch it very soon. The most common fixed broadband service in Belarus is in the range of 30 Mbps, which is sufficient for the majority of content today, but 100 Mbps and beyond is becoming more and more popular.