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Open Source Telecom: Risks and Rewards
Open source has always promised flexibility and innovation, but in the telco sector adoption is not without its challenges. Telcos need carrier-grade reliability, clear documentation, and long term support. Traditionally, open source hasn’t offered that, but with the right strategy and technology partner, telcos can turn open source from a potential risk into a key asset that drives automation, innovation and resilience in their environments.
Open source offers a decentralised model of software development and distribution where the source code is made publicly available for anyone to use. Despite the vast majority of enterprises saying that open source is important to their organisation’s infrastructure (The State of Enterprise Open Source report, Red Hat, 2022), there are three key challenges that have been traditionally hard for telcos to overcome.
Open Source can be a key asset that drives automation, innovation and resilience
Why open source is traditionally hard for Telcos
- Telcos need mission-critical reliability
Telecommunications provide 24/7 critical infrastructures where even the smallest margins of downtime can have far-reaching consequences, not to mention regulatory issues. Just consider the impact of even five minutes of downtime on the ability of the emergency services to respond to 999 calls, or financial institutions to trade on the international stock markets.
It’s therefore important that all technologies that underpin a telco’s infrastructure are robust at all times. Telcos have been moving away from proprietary software in favour of enterprise open source software as well as community-based open source software (source: Red Hat), with varying levels of success as telcos navigate uncertain support and patch cycles.
- Telcos have complex integration needs
Telecommunications infrastructure consists of a conglomeration of legacy systems, proprietary platforms, and standards-based protocols, accumulated over years of tech investment, mergers & acquisitions, and add-ons.
Open source software often lacks the connectors, APIs or compliance certifications needed for the seamless integration of technologies as required by the relevant project or programme.
- Telcos face a knowledge gap
Telcos can expect higher levels of documentation and support for enterprise open source software provided by traditional telco vendors, but that might not be the case for other vendors.
Support from non-telco open source software vendors for troubleshooting, upgrades and performance can be limited or not tailored enough to complex telco environments. Community-based open source software on the other hand, relies on volunteers and users for updates; documentation is often insufficient or outdated, which can leave in-house tech teams in the lurch.
EGA Tech Telco clients already run over 150 custom-developed Open Source modules in production
How EGA Tech removes open source barriers
Despite the challenges, open source software provides the flexibility telcos need when customising products that meet their needs. At EGA Tech, we are well positioned to help telcos make the most of open source software:
- Production-grade engineering
Open source is a jumping off point. We don’t just deploy ‘as is’, but we strengthen, extend and optimise each module for the telco environment ensuring carrier-grade performance.
- Full lifecycle support
A module isn’t complete without full and comprehensive documentation, version management and 24/7 enterprise support where needed. Beyond delivery, EGA Tech trains telco teams and provides clear documentation so that in-house engineers can extend and manage modules with confidence at any point in the future.
- Custom-built for telco needs
With over 60 years of collective sector experience, we understand Telco’s needs. Our Telco clients are already running over 150 custom-developed open source modules in production, powering operations at scale. Each module solves a telco challenge such as network automation, service orchestration, monitoring, legal or compliance requirements.
With the right strategy and technology partner, telcos can turn open source from a potential risk into a key asset – reliable, documented, scalable and supported. It gives telcos peace of mind that open source drives automation, innovation and resilience without compromising stability and accountability.
For more information on how EGA Tech can help your organisation make the most of open source, please email info@ega-tech.co or leave your details below.
