ZTE is working with Telefónica, to jointly build a large-scale virtual IP Multimedia Subsystem (vIMS) network in Latin America. This network will cover seven countries in Latin America – Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador and Uruguay, providing voice over LTE (VoLTE) and voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) services for Telefónica customers.

ZTE’s vIMS solution offers carrier-grade commercial capability for product performance, as well as security and reliability, the vendor says. It enables seamless integration with Telefónica’s legacy networks, and is the first step within Telefónica’s UNICA virtualisation programme, where a smooth migration to UNICA’s infra cloud capabilities will be reached following extensive tests. ZTE is already working with Telefónica as a key network function virtualisation (NFV) supplier and has already reached on-boarding capabilities over the UNICA infra solution.

“vIMS is part of ZTE’s Cloud UniCore solution, providing Telefónica with cutting-edge and practical virtualisation solutions,” said Ziyang Xu, the president of ZTE’s telecom cloud and core network products. “We are cooperating with Telefónica in ensuring a smooth integration of our IMS NFV towards UNICA infra cloud platform. ZTE will gradually create a simpler, more flexible and more open network for operators.”