VOD Vodafone Group PLC

Mobile World Congress 2024 — Today, VMware, recently acquired by Broadcom Inc., announced a compelling proof of concept (POC) to be demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, highlighting a new technical collaboration with Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD). The joint effort showcases the benefits of applying network programmability and intelligence into the Radio Access Network (RAN), enhancing overall performance for customers.

The emergence and rapid expansion of short-form video content is placing greater capacity demands on Communication Service Provider (CSP) networks globally. Adapting them to cater to the demands of these data-intensive services requires a new methodology and approach for organizing traditional wireless networks.

To address these network challenges, Vodafone is implementing innovative solutions aimed at continuously enhancing the network performance for its customers. This involves the development of Network Application Programming Interfaces (API’s), and harnessing the power and programmability of VMware’s RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC).

​​“Vodafone continues to innovate and lead in RAN technology as shown by its development of Network APIs to address the capacity demands of data intensive services like short-form video,” said Padma Sudarsan, chief of architecture, Telco, Software-Defined Edge Division, Broadcom. “We’re committed to further empowering our customers to deliver new services on a software-defined programmable network enabled by the VMware RAN Intelligent Controller.”

These initiatives are at the forefront of shaping wireless network software programmability and intelligence. They enable the optimization of traffic by leveraging the technical network information exchange between Vodafone and application providers who are dependent on it.

The results of this technical collaboration will reduce congestion caused by short-form video content and improve overall quality (higher rate encoding) on transferred videos. This improved capacity utilization and reduced packet discards will deliver new efficiencies in data center compute and transmission.

“Vodafone continues to collaborate with VMware, and now Broadcom, to drive greater interoperability, innovation, and improvements in the RAN with VMware RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC),” said Santiago Tenorio, Vodafone’s Director of Network Architecture. “The two companies have worked together on the integration of network intelligence and programmability to provide real-time control over our network APIs with the aim of improving the overall customer experience for all customers, including those wishing to consume short-form videos.”

To enable near-real time and predictive packet delivery solutions while making sure efficient utilization of network resources, it is necessary to adopt a Network-Aware-Service Delivery approach. This requires granular metrics to be exchanged between the Application endpoints and the network entities. Application endpoints include the server side and user device side software functions. Network entities include measurement and control functions or platforms of a cellular network.

VMware’s software-defined edge solutions are on display at Mobile World Congress – Hall 3 Stand 3M11. The Network Programmability PoC will be showcased in both the VMware stand as well as Vodafone’s located in Hall 3 Stand 3E11.

About BroadcomBroadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology leader that designs, develops, and supplies a broad range of semiconductor, enterprise software and security solutions. Broadcom's category-leading product portfolio serves critical markets including cloud, data center, networking, broadband, wireless, storage, industrial, and enterprise software. Our solutions include service provider and enterprise networking and storage, mobile device and broadband connectivity, mainframe, cybersecurity, and private and hybrid cloud infrastructure. Broadcom is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.

Media ContactEloy OntiverosBroadcom Global Communications+1 650-427-6145eloy.ontiveros@broadcom.com