HPE and Ericsson Establish Joint Validation Lab to Accelerate 5G and AI Innovation

HPE  and Ericsson  announced the establishment of a joint validation lab to tackle critical challenges faced by telecommunications (telco) service providers while deploying a multi-vendor infrastructure stack. By enabling the validation of a cloud-native, AI-enabled, dual-mode 5G core solution, this collaboration addresses the growing need to deploy high-performing, scalable, and efficient networks while managing the complexity of introducing new services. This initiative empowers telco service providers to streamline operations, accelerate innovation, and meet the demands of an increasingly connected world.

By enabling the validation of a cloud-native, AI-enabled, dual-mode 5G core solution, this collaboration addresses the growing need to deploy high-performing, scalable, and efficient networks while managing the complexity of introducing new services.

The joint validation lab will serve as a test environment for interoperability testing, and to ensure the validated solution meets telco requirements. The stack combines Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core solution with the HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers, HPE Juniper Networking fabric managed by Apstra Data Center Director, and Red Hat OpenShift.

“Building on our strategic partnership with Ericsson, this collaboration reflects HPE’s commitment to empowering telco service providers with innovative technology solutions to thrive in the 5G and AI-driven economy. By integrating Ericsson’s cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core and Red Hat OpenShift with our proven next-gen HPE compute infrastructure and HPE Juniper Networking fabric, we are developing a new integrated offering that will provide telco service providers with the flexibility to deploy rapidly, scale on demand, adapt to unpredictable traffic, provide predictable lifecycle management, and keep pace with emerging technologies.”

– Fernando Castro Cristin, Vice President and General Manager, Telco Infrastructure Business, HPE

The integrated solution under development at the lab will include:

• Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core, the industry leading solution, enables support for both 5G and 4G networks, reducing complexity and operational costs for operators looking to scale efficiently and future-proof networks.
• HPE ProLiant Compute DL360 and DL380 Gen12 servers, powered by Intel Xeon 6 processors, deliver optimized performance for network intensive telco Containerized Core Network Functions (CNFs) such as AMF, UPF and SMF. The servers deliver built-in protection at every layer with the HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) 7, the industry’s first and only security from the chip-to-cloud1.
• HPE Juniper Networking high-performance fabric, powered by QFX Series switches and Apstra Data Center Director, enhances operational efficiency and reduces operating costs with intent-based automation and AIOps driven assurance.
• Red Hat OpenShift acts as the common cloud-native telco platform enabling telco service providers with the agility to rapidly develop, deploy, and scale new services, accelerating time to market and reducing traditional deployment cycles. By offering a consistent, automated operational experience from the core to the edge, the platform simplifies the complexity inherent in deploying and managing advanced network functions.

“As the world’s leader in 5G and core networks, Ericsson is committed to drive innovation and openness, simplifying the journey to cloud-native networks for telco service providers. Our partnership with HPE and the establishment of this joint validation lab further advances the creation of cloud-native solutions for 5G Core on multi-vendor infrastructure.”

– Krishna Prasad Kalluri, Head of Solution and Portfolio, Ericsson Core Networks

The validation lab, located near Ericsson’s headquarters in Sweden, will be operational by the end of 2025 and will enable customers for real-world testing and feedback. In the first half of 2026, the focus will shift to validating the integrated solution to ensure faster time-to-market and simplified lifecycle management.