Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. today pulled back the curtains on 5G Core Stack, a suite of containerized software modules that wireless carriers can use to power their next-generation 5G networks.

The offering is one of several new networking solutions that HPE announced today. The company also unveiled a budget-friendly billing model for its carrier products, while subsidiary Aruba debuted a pair of services designed to improve connectivity on corporate Wi-Fi networks.

HPE is looking to capture a bigger slice of the billions of dollars carriers are spending annually to roll out 5G. With the 5G Core Stack, the company is promising to ease the development of next-generation networks by providing the necessary software building blocks in a prepackaged form. The bundle includes network functions from HPE and partners that run inside software containers, tools for automating infrastructure administration and a shared data environment to help manage important information.

The company hopes to set the 5G Core Stack apart from the competition by making it more open. HPE will enable carriers to use the offering in conjunction network services and hardware supplied by other providers, thus eliminating the vendor lock-in that it says comes with rival solutions.

The 5G Core Stack will ship integrated with GreenLake equipment, a lineup of hardware products that HPE sells on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than billing everything upfront. The arrangement lets customers spread out the costs of major technology upgrades over time. The company will offer the 5G Core Stack under a pay-as-you-go model as well to make purchasing the solution easier  and plans to add more GreenLake-based offerings for carriers in the future.

“This way carriers can acquire a 5G core with minimal up-front investment, and scale according to demand, with an elastic software ecosystem, ready to support unpredictable growth and future-proofed for forthcoming 5G evolutions,” HPE Chief Executive Antonio Neri wrote in a blog post.

HPE’s Aruba subsidiary contributed a couple of its own product announcements to the mix. The unit unveiled Air Pass and Air Slice, two services designed to improve user experience on companies’ internal Wi-Fi networks.

Air Pass is designed to address the fact that cellular reception can be choppy inside offices since walls interfere with signals from phone towers. Enterprises typically address the issue by deploying indoor antenna systems, but such equipment is often expensive. HPE says Air Pass provides a lower-cost alternative by essentially turning a company’s existing Wi-Fi infrastructure into an antenna, routing calls and texts via the wireless network to the user’s carrier. 

Aruba’s other new service, Air Slice, helps improve connectivity for important applications. It’s a traffic prioritization system that allows companies to ensure apps such as videoconferencing services always have enough network resources for a jitter-free user experience.

Photo: HPE