Dialog Axiata deployed an Ericsson virtual Base Station Controller (vBSC), a move opening possibilities around customer experience improvements and which the vendor pitched as the first commercial deployment of the approach.

Ericsson hailed the launch as a leap for the telecoms infrastructure sector, pointing to potential benefits in overall network modernisation stemming from improved flexibility and scalability.

It explained vBSC is a software-based version of the physical controllers of IoT and critical communications networks. The lack of hardware is said to open the door to greater flexibility in terms of management and control.

Ericsson stated Dialog is its first customer to deploy the vBSC, spurring a network modernisation initiative which will ultimately cut total cost of ownership. The operator also stands to gain from power and space savings compared with a hardware-based approach.

The vendor highlighted vBSC was a means for operators to employ virtualisation to “extend the life of critical communications over GSM”.

Dialog CTO Ranga Kariyawasam said the vBSC deployment cements its credentials as a trailblazer of the global telecoms sector and a company focused on improving customer service by modernising its network.

David Hagerbro, head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, predicted the approach would be transformational in network modernisation initiatives.