London & Tokyo, January 27, 2014 – NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) is showcasing its portfolio of solutions to help telecom carriers increase service agility, improve revenues and affordably meet rising mobile capacity demands at Mobile World Congress 2014.

NEC’s portfolio of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) solutions will be a key focus of the show, including demonstrations of the world’s first commercially available virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) (*) and virtualized Customer Premises Equipment (vCPE).

The EPC is likely to be one of the first network elements operators virtualize to meet the high growth in data demand and traffic as they roll out LTE services. NEC’s vEPC is already being implemented in Myanmar – one of Asia’s most promising growth markets – as part of a national project to support LTE and fixed-line telephone services through a high speed fibre optic broadband backbone. 

NEC’s vCPE solution enables IP functions to be shifted from a customer’s on-premises equipment to a telecom operator’s network. This allows operators to rapidly deploy services as well as improve network operations and maintenance. This also will enable operators to provide new services – such as High Definition IPTV, telepresence and high speed fibre optic broadband – in a more cost effective manner with less dependency on CPE. Additionally, it increases the capability to remotely fix technical problems, thereby reducing the capital and operational costs of launching new services, while accelerating the time-to-market.

Furthermore, NEC will highlight its Traffic Management Systems (TMS) and NetCracker’s Telecom Operation and Management Systems (TOMS) that provide centralized control over carriers’ end-to-end networks and optimize traffic flows in highly congested environments to meet stringent Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This enables telecom carriers to differentiate themselves on a Quality of Service (QoS) basis, service providers to gain bandwidth assurance and the option of fair usage charging, while consumers will benefit from increased security and a more consistent Quality of Experience (QoE).

Other solutions NEC is showcasing at Mobile World Congress 2014 include:

· Carrier Data Centre Infrastructure

NEC will present specialized solutions that reduce the electricity consumption of data centres and significantly reduce centres’ physical footprints by combining newly developed, power conserving, highly integrated servers and a “phase-change cooling system” that removes heat generated from the vaporization and liquefaction of coolants. NEC will also display its Programmable Flow Controller (PFC) and Programmable Flow Switch (PFS) technologies, the world’s first commercialized products based on the OpenFlow standard.

· Virtual Data Centre (vDC) Solution

NEC’s vDC simplifies the design and operations of networks, in addition to providing network visualization and flexible configuration. This central management of multiple data centre resources helps to significantly reduce lead time, expand revenue and cut down on operating expenses for carriers and service providers.

· Enterprise-RAN (E-RAN) Solutions

NEC will showcase a pioneering Enterprise-RAN (E-RAN) multi-access communication system, providing cost-effective indoor mobile connectivity for large enterprises.

· Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

NEC’s smart power meter with an embedded communication module will be introduced as an M2M application.

· Big Data Analysis Solution

NEC will introduce a wide range of independently developed big data technologies that include churn rate management solutions using big data analytics for telecom carriers to better understand their customers.

· Image Recognition Service, “GAZIRU”

The NEC GAZIRU service is an image recognition service for smartphones and mobile devices. It can provide detailed information on a wide range of subjects that appear in photos taken with smartphone cameras. The service uses NEC's independently developed, highly accurate image recognition engine to match pictures with image data that was previously registered on the cloud or within a device.

Mr. Takayuki Morita, executive vice president at NEC, commented, “Mobile World Congress provides an ideal opportunity for NEC to showcase its ability to help telecom operators cost-effectively anticipate and meet the coverage and capacity demands of consumers in a mobile data era. By using our innovative SDN, NFV and related carrier solutions, operators can gain unprecedented control over the scale, scope and speed of their networks today and in the future.”

NEC will be welcoming visitors at Mobile World Congress at the Fira Gran Via, Barcelona

February 24-27, 2014 in Hall 3, Stand 3N10.