When you take broadband network operations into the cloud, it opens up a host of possibilities – as long as you do it right. With Altiplano, our own cloud-native network controller, we’ve put openness at the core. By opening up the platform, we’ve made network data easily accessible by network operators and application developers. Openness and cloud really must go hand in hand if operators are to truly benefit from the power of automation, programmability, and AI/ML as they get to grips with the increasing complexity and diversity of their networks.

Openness has been a key premise of Nokia Altiplano since its conception. Altiplano offers a complete suite of network management functions as well as software-defined networking (SDN) control to run a broadband network. This is how Altiplano delivers automation and intent-based networking to stay on top of network complexity. There’s a whole host of ways to automatically configure, provision, adjust, and maintain a network, resulting in greater agility and lower costs. Altiplano’s flexibility allows operators to deploy the management and control solution they need today while also providing a path to expand the platform as new requirements arise. The openness behind Altiplano minimizes integration efforts, speeds up innovation cycles, and puts operators firmly in control of both their network and their future.

The launch of the Nokia Altiplano Application Marketplace in October last year brought our commitment to cloud-native, fully open architectures, to the fore. The Marketplace is the hub for our ecosystem of partners, where anyone can develop applications to enhance broadband network operations. We invested in our software development kit (SDK), our virtual lab, and our developer portal so that operators and independent software vendors could fast-track their application development and proactively integrate their automation software with Nokia fixed networks solutions.

Alongside the seven Nokia-developed applications already available for Altiplano, we are now seeing third-party applications reach the Marketplace. The first (appropriately enough for a platform named after the South American high plateau in the Andes) is from Condor Technologies. The Network Wholesale Portal is an application that enables a network operator to become a neutral host that opens its network to multiple virtual network operators (VNO). As wholesale becomes an increasingly attractive business model or additional revenue stream for network operators, Condor’s application will make it easy to share a single instance of Altiplano across multiple VNOs, vastly simplifying network operations for both the network host and the tenants.

Endorsing Nokia’s approach to openness, Alberto Paton, founder and CEO of Condor Technologies, says, “Open platforms are great for the industry as they enable operators not to be locked into proprietary technology but, on the contrary, benefit from a broad ecosystem of companies like Condor that can help them innovate and evolve their networks in a fast and competitive way.”

We continue to cultivate our ecosystem of developers for Altiplano. Another third-party application integrated with the Altiplano platform is the QED Analyzer from OutSys, which analyses network latency to identify quality degradation segments. Fabio Giudici, System Solution Architect with OutSys, says, “Open platforms encourage innovation. It allows us to develop straightforward yet powerful products and services for telecom operators and ecosystem partners.”

So yes, there’s now a condor soaring freely above the wide open Altiplano – somewhat like they do in their natural habitat! But instead of bringing out even more of the David Attenborough in me, let me hand you over to my colleague Sireesha Kora, Head of Altiplano Controller Applications with Nokia Fixed Networks, and Alberto from Condor. Watch the video here. When you’re done, head over to our Altiplano website and let’s continue to have an open conversation about improving your network operations.