Moving forward, the adoption of new VoLTE (Voice over LTE)-based services is expected to accelerate, enabling high-quality voice and video services to be applied to fields such as education, healthcare, and entertainment, thereby providing valuable experiences to customers.

LG Uplus (Vice Chairman Lee Sang-chul / www.uplus.co.kr) announced on the 2nd that it has successfully demonstrated the application of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology to a commercial VoLTE network for the first time in Korea to accelerate the adoption of new VoLTE services.

The commercialization test involves integrating NFV-based vCSCF (virtualization Call Session Control Function) and vSPGW (virtualization Serving and PDN Gateway) technologies with existing commercial network equipment to provide services that were previously provided in existing networks, such as VoLTE and HD video calls, in a virtualized environment.

NFV is a core next-generation network technology that separates the hardware and software of network equipment, allowing various software to be freely virtualized and run on a general-purpose hardware platform.

When this virtualization technology is applied to the network, individual network equipment that previously operated as separate hardware can be run on a large-capacity virtualization server, enabling the implementation of new services with just a simple software installation.

NFV-based CSCF configures a network to provide All-IP services, including VoLTE, and SPGW is a core device that controls traffic processing, packet billing generation, and QoS (Quality of Service) in LTE networks.

The company explained that the commercialization of NFV-based VoLTE is significant because it has established a network infrastructure capable of providing new services to customers more quickly, in line with the purpose of introducing a virtualization environment as well as existing services.

In particular, NFV is evaluated as an infrastructure capable of most appropriately accommodating data traffic and devices through flexible network resource allocation, so LG Uplus’s successful demonstration is the result of securing 5G technology leadership ahead of competitors.

LG Uplus has introduced virtualization technology early on to efficiently accommodate traffic as data traffic has surged since the commercialization of LTE and data-based pricing plans have been launched.

LG Uplus plans to sequentially expand the VoLTE interoperability service with the three mobile carriers to general subscribers starting from the 4th.

Cho Chang-gil, Head of Network Development Center (Senior Vice President) at LG Uplus, said, “Virtualization technology is an optimized technology that can rapidly apply newly developed technologies, such as VoLTE, 5G, and IoT, in the future,” adding, “Following the world’s first interoperability of VoLTE, the successful application of NFV technology to the VoLTE commercial network proves our advanced technological capabilities for 5G.”