Colt and Proximus trial new Proof of Concept
The companies tested API collaboration and End-to-End Network as a Service automation
Colt Technology Services, the digital infrastructure company, and Proximus, Belgium’s leading telecommunication and digital services company, today announced a joint Proof of Concept (PoC) based on MEF LSO Sonata APIs, designed to streamline and enhance carrier-to-carrier automation. MEF is a non-profit industry forum of network, cloud, and technology providers collaborating to define new Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offerings. Together, the members develop standards, certifications, and APIs that accelerate automation and empower enterprise digital transformation throughout the ecosystem.
The PoC – the first such collaboration between Colt and Proximus - has scoped and tested inter-carrier APIs aiming to make it easier and faster for Colt to integrate and automate their end-to-end services so they can deliver a frictionless, connected customer experience and reduce delivery times.
For Proximus, MEF E-access is a key step towards a digital ecosystem enabling effortless national connectivity (End-to-End Network as a service). Through co-creation with partner like Colt, Proximus is developing customer-centric and innovative solutions. As a next step in its digital transformation towards wholesale customers, Proximus will turn into a full digital service provider by adding extra features such as Universal CPE (uCPE) and Virtual Network Functions (VNF).
During the trial, network services were successfully provisioned between the UK and Belgium, enabled by Proximus' new Wholesale E-Access service and Colt's On Demand NaaS platform. This allowed NaaS-to-Naas control using a programmatic API-to-API interface between the separate network architectures, proving that SDN-managed services can be set up across multiple networks in a fully automated way. They can also be managed and flexed in near-real time.
This exciting Proof of Concept with Proximus has explored ways to introduce a greater level of digitalisation and automation in global network access sourcing. It means that our NaaS platform can now expand seamlessly across carrier boundaries. Ultimately our Enterprise and Carrier customers benefit from a faster, simpler and fully-automated quoting, ordering and delivery experience helping them to stay connected and benefit from the enormous potential and power of the digital universe.
This Proof of Concept together with Colt reflects our ambition to embrace innovation through open ecosystems. At Proximus, we are proud to introduce E-Access, a new wholesale MEF-standardized solution, unique in Belgium, that redefines connectivity and allows telecom companies to establish seamless connectivity with their end-users at the click of a button. Such automated connection is only the beginning and a step towards a more efficient, sustainable and digitalized world.