SoftBank invests in Aryaka for international SD-WAN service, SD-core

As part of its need to have a flexible and highly secure network that will enable it to offer customers the high-speed and stable data communications they increasingly demand, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has selected Aryaka to supply it with software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and software-defined core (SD-core) technology.

SoftBank provides telecommunications services combined with advanced technologies to develop and operate new businesses in Japan and globally. In the year to 31 March 2021, SoftBank registered ¥5.2tn of revenue, ¥970.8bn of operating income, and had 335 group companies, comprising 255 subsidiaries and 80 affiliates, in Japan and abroad.

SoftBank also has 56 million mobile and broadband subscribers in Japan, and, through its group companies Yahoo Corporation, PayPay Corporation and LINE Corporation, boasts 80 million online media users, 45 million smartphone payment users and 88 million communications app users.

With its business foundation and customer touchpoints, SoftBank is now expanding into non-telecoms fields in line with what it calls a “beyond carrier” growth strategy, while further growing its telecoms business. It is also harnessing 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and digital twin, non-terrestrial network (NTN) solutions, including High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS)-based stratospheric telecommunications, and other key technologies, to realise the implementation of digitisation into society.

“SoftBank’s selection of our SD-WAN and SASE technology is a great real-world example of how our flexible platform can be adopted by service providers looking to cost-effectively enhance and expand their global customer base”

In addition to creating a portal site that can centrally manage devices and networks, SoftBank is to provide its customers with one-stop support for maintenance and operation after installation. Furthermore, SoftBank wants to allow users to build a more secure network as it can be linked with numerous cloud-based security services, including those provided by other security companies. 

In the technology deployment, SoftBank is tapping into Aryaka’s new FlexCore, a global L3 private architecture that can supplement its best-in-class global L2 private core, both of which are interconnected to the company’s nearly 40 high-performance points of presence (POPs) that are strategically located around the world. This allows SoftBank to map customer sites to the private core of their choice, whether it’s based on performance or cost considerations, or on the criticality of sites and applications. The company is said to appreciate Aryaka’s hybrid enterprise and cloud-friendly alignment that’s able to map where enterprises are going with their traffic, connectivity, applications and investment.

The SD-core enables high-speed and stable long-distance communication between Japan, Europe and the US, with centralised management of equipment and networks. SoftBank and Aryaka have worked to make centralised management possible by visualising the communication status and setting information of routers and core networks installed in the customer’s office from the dedicated portal.

By installing dedicated software on a PC or smartphone, customers can access the network from anywhere, such as at home or outdoors, and there is a one-stop service for maintenance and operation support. Post-installation maintenance and operation services and various support windows are provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in Japanese and English. Customers can also build a secure access service edge (SASE) environment on a global scale by linking with various cloud-type security services.

“SoftBank truly stands above the pack in the world of telecommunications,” said Hugo Vliegen, senior vice-president of product management at Aryaka. “SoftBank’s selection of our SD-WAN and SASE technology is a great real-world example of how our flexible platform can be easily adopted by service providers around the world looking to cost-effectively enhance and expand their global customer base. We’re pleased to welcome SoftBank into the Aryaka family.”