ADTRAN (NASDAQ:ADTN) announced it has accepted the Open Networking Foundation's (ONF) invitation to become a new supply chain partner and strategic advisory board member.
"ADTRAN's focus on open, disaggregated architectures and disrupting the status quo in the access network has been endorsed by an unprecedented number of operator engagements," said ADTRAN Senior Vice President of Technology and Strategy Jay Wilson. "By joining ONF at the partner level, ADTRAN furthers its commitment to bring deployable solutions to market as the industry approaches a tipping point of transformation. We are encouraged by ONF's new strategy and strong operator involvement, and look forward to realizing real breakthroughs toward cost-effective, scalable broadband solutions."
ADTRAN will help develop common platforms through a reference design (RD) process intended to establish "gold standards" for operators to build and operate open networks. The new ONF strategy aligns with an ADTRAN priority to offer systems and solutions integration capabilities for all types of operators utilizing both open source components and field-proven products and solutions.
New ONF priority areas include fixed and mobile broadband access, leaf-spine data center fabrics, multi-access edge, 5G solutions at the edge and a continued push to develop software-defined networks.
Earlier this year, the ONF announced an operator-led, new strategic plan to reconstitute a supply chain aligned with a vision of white box components, open source software and disaggregation. Operators outlined their intent to seek new partners who not only say they believe in the new ecosystem but have also shown evidence of their dedication.
"The new ONF governance structure places ADTRAN in a pivotal position to help identify, steer and shape access protocols and standards for future open designed networks, as well as how these components and systems are integrated and managed," said ONF board member and Deutsche Telekom Vice President of Access Network Engineering and Cost Engineering Jochen Appel. "ADTRAN will help accelerate deployable, integrated and managed open access solutions, something they already have experience with, which is why we are excited about their partnership."
In addition to the new governance and RDs outlined in its strategic plan, the ONF is seeking to create a new open source supply chain where companies work collaboratively to deliver production-ready solutions.