Verizon Joins Linux Foundation's Open Network Automation Platform Project as Platinum Member

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Verizon and The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, announced today that Verizon has joined the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) project as a Platinum member. ONAP brings together the majority of global carriers and vendors to build an automation and orchestration platform to transform the service delivery lifecycle for network, cable and cloud providers. ONAP enables nearly 60 percent of the world's mobile subscribers.

Participating in ONAP demonstrates Verizon's commitment to open platforms and open source to drive innovation and transformation, especially in the areas of SDN and NFV. By working closely with the ONAP community, Verizon expects to:

• Simplify and accelerate onboarding of network functions while expanding interoperability with other SDN ecosystems
• Gain greater agility in network management, service creation and provisioning to best meet customer needs
• Drive reference standards to vendors and partners for consistent deployment of their network services in the Verizon network

As an early leader in virtualization and cloud technologies, Verizon has driven the adoption of SDN and NFV across its network with a focus on transformation. With its scale and experience, Verizon is well-positioned to help drive the ONAP initiative across the industry with global partners and suppliers. The collaboration with ONAP underscores Verizon's leadership in delivering new network services, while simplifying onboarding and operational functions.

"Future experiences powered by intelligent and automated networks is one of the biggest opportunity areas for carrier networks," said Ed Chan, senior vice president and Chief Technology Architect at Verizon. "Verizon is working together with partners to accelerate virtualization and automation across the industry through ONAP."

"We are thrilled Verizon is joining ONAP," said Arpit Joshipura, General Manager of Networking and Orchestration, The Linux Foundation. "By participating in ONAP development, the world's most influential carriers will greatly accelerate SDN/NFV services, virtual functions, and edge computing and 5G applications. Open standards and technologies like ONAP are advancing data networking faster and more economically than ever before."

About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York City, has a diverse workforce of 163,400 and generated nearly $126 billion in 2016 revenues. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network and the nation's premier all-fiber network, and delivers integrated solutions to businesses worldwide. Its Oath subsidiary houses more than 50 media and technology brands that engage about 1 billion people around the world.

About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contacts:
Sarah Conway
The Linux Foundation
(978) 578-5300
[email protected]

Karen Schulz
Verizon                                                                                     
Mobile (864) 561-1527
[email protected] 
@VZWKarenS

SOURCE The Linux Foundation