5G, satellites, edge cloud and inter-provider automation will drive Amartus growth in 2022

We have just said goodbye to 2021, which was in many ways a breakthrough year for Amartus. We launched a new version of our nBrace™ inter-provider service automation software, strengthened our cooperation with standard body MEF by becoming their authorized partner for MEF LSO Sonata API Onboarding & Interop Test (OIT) Service, and significantly extended direct cooperation with service providers in areas such as 5G, satellites, edge cloud, and inter-provider service automation. These are also the technologies in which we anticipate the highest customer interest in the coming year.

Amartus 2021 in review

Our upgraded nBrace™ enables providers to negotiate services with suppliers and customers in near real-time. Using nBrace™, providers can extend and evolve their existing business support systems and processes with the latest industry standards (MEF LSO Sonata APIs and TM Forum) compliant API-driven automation support. The software makes it significantly easier for wholesale and retail service providers to adopt a standards-based approach for negotiating network and cloud services with ecosystem partners. The new features added support for automated end-to-end routing and orchestration of all necessary business communication with third-party suppliers to fulfill end customer services orders successfully. We are supporting a growing number of customers on this latest release.

We were appointed by MEF as their exclusive Authorized Test and Certification Partner for MEF’s LSO API Onboarding & Interop Test (OIT) Service. This new testing service provided by Amartus aims to accelerate service providers adoption of LSO Sonata APIs for faster automation of business functions between their B2B business partners. The service uses our nBrace™ product to introduce Buyer and Seller emulators providers can use to quickly and efficiently test the compatibility of their implementation with the standard and perform interoperability testing with partners for a faster time to market. The service was launched in Q4 and we already have several subscribers who are using it.

We have also significantly expanded direct cooperation with service providers in terrestrial and non-terrestrial infrastructure, including SES, for whom we provide an automation bridge between their telco and satellite networks. The areas where we saw the greatest interest in our services included 5G, LEO satellite connectivity, edge cloud, and inter-provider automation. And we expect to see a continuation of this interest in the coming year.

Why these areas?

Global 5G subscriptions are expected to pass one billion in 2022, reaching that milestone two years earlier than 4G did after its introduction, according to Ericsson Mobility Report. Enterprises need to adapt fast to this change and try to take advantage of several opportunities the technology offers with its fast data transfer and minimal latency. Highly innovative products and services based on 5G include Fixed Wireless Access, Private 5G, and Network Slicing. And we are here to help service providers and enterprises roll them out.

The trend of terrestrial service providers trying to expand their footprint by tying up with LEO/MEO players is another one that will be able to leverage our expertise. 2021 has brought several examples of such partnerships, including the agreements between AT&T and OneWeb, Verizon and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, or Deutsche Telekom and Eutelsat. We expect to see more and more such partnerships. And we are very excited that our nBrace inter-provider service automation software and unique expertise in the field support this trend remarkably.

We have also managed to build on our expertise in edge cloud computing-related projects. This is the market that is expected to grow from $36.5 billion in 2021 to $87.3 billion by 2026, according to a report by MarketsandMarket.

And finally, we think the time for inter-provider services disruption is now. Enterprises expect global access to on-demand ICT services. The combination of breakthrough technologies in Networking (SD-WAN, SASE, 5G Private Networks, 5G Access, LEO Satellite), Cloud (MultiCloud, Edge, Hybrid), and Application delivery (CloudNative, Containerization, SaaS) combined with the maturing of global standards for provider inter-operability and the drive to automate are converging to create major disruption of traditional inter-provider ICT service supply chains. This will certainly lead to increasing the need for modern, standard-based inter-provider automation, which is at the core of our competencies.