For decades, networks have been built on the same fundamental principle: dedicated hardware appliances for each network function. Need a firewall? Buy a box. Need load balancing? Purchase another ...

Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) represents a paradigm shift in the design and deployment of network services, decoupling software implementations of network functions from specialised hardware.

AT&T says it virtualized another 6% of its network functions during the last year and has virtualized 71% of its network to date. That’s a change from what the company said last week. AT&T’s ongoing ...