Unlocking the power of 5G: How Red Hat OpenShift and Oracle’s 5G Core Control Plane streamline global deployments

As communications service providers (CSPs) embrace the shift to 5G, they’re not just adopting faster speeds, they are entering a new world of cloud-native, microservices-driven networks. But for all its promise, 5G brings challenges, especially when it comes to interoperability and  lifecycle management of the 5G control plane.

Complexities of a cloud-native and multivendor network

Unlike traditional monolithic networks of the past, 5G networks rely on microservices-based, cloud-native network functions (CNFs) that must work reliably across different vendors’ platforms, orchestration layers, and cloud infrastructures. This introduces different complexity in integration, testing, and compliance adherence with standards like 3GPP, particularly for service-based interfaces (SBIs) in the control plane.

Vendor-specific implementations can also create hidden dependencies, making automated scaling, fault management, and upgrades in a multivendor environment difficult. Additionally, ensuring end-to-end visibility, consistent security policies, and performance across a disaggregated ecosystem requires advanced observability, orchestration, and governance frameworks. Not surprising, these are areas where the industry is still maturing.

Red Hat and Oracle support CSPs in accelerating their cloud-native evolution by combining global experience and proven deployment practices.

“The shift to a 5G core demands a common cloud-native foundation to unlock agility and true multivendor flexibility. Our collaboration with Oracle delivers a pre-integrated, common telco cloud platform that helps CSPs streamline their deployments, accelerate time to market, and achieve operational efficiency in this new era," said Honoré LaBourdette, Vice President, Global Telco Ecosystem Success team, Red Hat.

Why integration matters

To help support a successful deployment, the platform requires initial setup and optimization, including establishing a reliable cluster environment, integrating essential add-ons, and applying advanced tuning to deliver predictable performance. Worker nodes will be specifically configured to maximize efficiency and provide consistent, high-quality service.

These application packages need to be securely stored in a private repository for protection and streamlined management. Using automated deployment tools, new applications can be onboarded, minimizing manual effort and supporting rapid scaling to meet business needs.

The platform’s networking setup should be designed for managing efficient control operations, with flexible options to separate traffic streams and help provide reliable, secure service delivery. Integration, automation, and observability are critical for smoothly connecting 5G core network functions with the underlying infrastructure since it paves the way for agile scaling as business needs evolve.

Red Hat and Oracle collaborate to deliver a fully cloud-native solution that enhances lifecycle management and deployment efficiency for CSPs. Red Hat OpenShift serves as the common, cloud-native telecommunications (telco) platform, optimized to run Oracle 5G Core, supporting automated onboarding, scaling, and upgrades through standardized continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. The joint solution brings together proven deployment experience and global best practices to provide consistent, reliable operations across multivendor environments.

This integration helps reduce deployment complexity, shortens time to market, and supports CSPs in achieving faster, more efficient service delivery.

The power of pre-integration experience

By building on this foundation of pre-integration knowledge, CSPs can bridge the gap between application and platform teams. Integrating the Oracle 5G Control Plane CNF with Red Hat OpenShift means CSPs can achieve better performance, automation, scalability, observability, and cost efficiency out-of-the-box, while enabling multivendor flexibility and preparing for future 5G/6G evolutions.

“Oracle Communications enables CSPs to accelerate the deployment of secure, reliable 5G networks to offer choice of deployment on public clouds such as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure as well as on-premise,” said Sally Graves, Vice President, Product Development, Oracle Communications. “Running Oracle 5G Core on Red Hat provides CSPs with agile, automated network function lifecycle management, improving operational efficiency and unlocking new, 5G-enabled revenue streams." 

Pre-integration experience is highly valuable when deploying Oracle 5G Core on Red Hat OpenShift, as it shortens the learning curve for the deployment team and helps accelerate delivery as many potential integration challenges are already addressed.

Whether you’re looking to roll out new services at scale or help provide operational excellence, tapping into Red Hat’s global deployment experience and Oracle’s 5G Core expertise is key to unlocking the full potential of your 5G journey with less effort.

For more information, visit Red Hat and Oracle.