Soracom announced the expansion of its business with the launch of a cloud-native mobile core platform for mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
Soracom built its mobile core in software optimised for public cloud infrastructure from the company’s founding in 2014, running core network functions including the Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Packet Gateway (PGW), User Plane Function (UPF), IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core as cloud-native services rather than on traditional carrier hardware Soracom makes that core, along with other platform components, available to operators that want to run their own mobile services without building and maintaining core network infrastructure of their own. The business targets MNOs, MVNOs and enterprises serving as MVNOs for their customers globally.
Soracom has already proven this model in live commercial deployments through Misora Connect, Inc., a Soracom group company established with the Marubeni I-DIGIO Group that provides MVNO services in Japan. Soracom migrated Misora Connect’s HSS onto Soracom’s cloud-native mobile core, and that deployment serves Misora Connect’s customers today. That production experience is what enables Soracom to offer the capability to other operators.
For operators, running services on Soracom’s mobile core can reduce the infrastructure cost of standing up and maintaining a core network and enable them to expand breakout locations globally without significant upfront cost. It also gives operators more flexibility in how they design and price service plans. In addition to expanding their core network with cloud native software components, operators can offer services and functionalities that enable enterprise customers to build secure cloud integrations and leverage cloud capabilities from their connected products and IoT devices as optional add-ons.
“Soracom has spent more than ten years building and operating a mobile core as cloud-native software, first to connect our own customers’ devices and then to run a full MVNO in production through Misora Connect,” said Kenta Yasukawa, CTO and Co-Founder of Soracom. “Opening that core to other operators lets them launch and run mobile services on infrastructure proven in the field, and it extends what Soracom does from connecting devices to powering the networks those devices depend on. This is Soracom Making Things Happen for the operators building the next generation of connected services.”
This new MVNE business extends a pattern of Soracom enabling other companies to build connectivity businesses on its platform. Customers that want to resell Soracom connectivity and services to their own customers can do so through the multitenancy and downstream billing capabilities of the Soracom Billing Platform, which support tenant management, branded invoicing, and multi-tier reseller billing within a single account, and seamlessly integrates with Soracom Connectivity Management Platform. Where Soracom provides the mobile core to operators running their own networks, the Soracom Billing Platform’s capabilities let Soracom customers package and bill connectivity to downstream customers under their own brand.
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