Orange has set out its ambitions to expand its global cloud footprint after collaborating with Equinix to use its 'bare metal as a service', Equinix Metal.
The move will boost Orange's cloud model and will allow the operator to offer its business and wholesale customers with on-demand telco cloud points of presence (PoP).
By the end of the year, Orange is expecting to connect to three PoPs, with this service earmarked for deployment in Amsterdam, Madrid, and Seattle.
This will enable Orange to deliver a range of services including 5G, SD-WAN, CDN, roaming, and voice services, while latency is expected to be below 10 milliseconds.
Deployment for Orange should be simple, the operator claims, with Equinix's bare Metal service located within proximity of its existing Equinix networks.
“By embracing an ‘as a service’ infrastructure model and focusing investment in our SDN and VNF capabilities, Orange can provide a fully flexible and elastic solution to customers, speed up the deployment of our planned 100 Telco Cloud PoPs, and quickly adapt capacity to meet demand," said Orange executive vice president, international networks Jean-Luc Vuillemin.
Orange currently has 40 software-defined networks (SDN) PoPs across the world and is aiming to surpass 100 telco cloud PoPs by 2024.
IDC vice president for telecommunications research Courtney Munroe labeled the partnership a "smart move" for Orange.
“This partnership between Orange and Equinix is a smart move enabling Orange to enhance its existing platform and its ability to facilitate reliable, agile digital capabilities for its customers—all while being able to more quickly meet customer demand by using Equinix Metal."
