Latin America Must Adopt Cloud-Native 5G Networks: Whitestack

Latin America is at a crucial moment to modernize its telecommunications infrastructure. Despite regional advances in speed and coverage, the evolution toward cloud-native networks and 5G Stand Alone is indispensable to respond to the demands of new digital services and critical use cases.

"The cloud, specifically the Telco Cloud, has become the key piece of that evolution," writes Jose Miguel Guzmán, Co-Founder, Whitestack, in a press release. "This transformation will enable the operation of flexible, scalable, and secure networks, as well as enable services that impact sectors such as healthcare, education, transportation, and entertainment."

The impetus for this transformation is rooted in the growing need for networks that support low latency, high capacity, and operational flexibility. Latin America presents disparate connectivity figures. While Chile leads with an average speed of 240.43 Mbps, countries such as Costa Rica, Argentina, and Mexico register average speeds of 51.85 Mbps, 42.14 Mbps, and 41.46 Mbps, respectively, according to Statista. These differences reflect the need to modernize infrastructures, migrate to open architectures, and strengthen specialized technical talent to close gaps.

5G deployment in the region has been mostly based on Non-Standalone architectures, which rely on existing 4G infrastructures. However, the migration to 5G Stand Alone requires a cloud-native infrastructure that supports new functionalities such as low latency, network partitioning, and massive Internet of Things (IoT). About 55% of operators have already announced the transition to Stand Alone, according to the GSMA's Mobile Economy in Latin America report. 

This change implies a technical and commercial redesign, where the Telco Cloud plays a central role. By enabling the operation of automated and scalable networks, this technology not only improves operational efficiency, but also enables the creation of new digital services for critical industries. This is useful in sectors such as digital hospitality, automated industry, and education, where the demand for high-quality, low-latency connectivity is growing.

Regional experiences confirm the feasibility of this transformation. In Peru, the Internet For All project allows the main operators to share mobile infrastructure based on Telco Cloud technology. In Chile, the HyperNET network, recognized as the fastest in Latin America in 2022 and 2023, exemplifies how modernization can be successful and replicable.

However, achieving a comprehensive digital transformation in Latin America requires multi-sector coordination, investment in local talent, and regional collaboration. Initiatives such as interoperability labs and specialized training programs, along with technical competitions such as the Whitestack Challenge, seek to consolidate a technical community capable of driving innovation from within, without relying exclusively on external solutions.

While the region has the technical capacity, the main challenge is to scale these models so that Latin America positions itself as a leader in the adoption of Telco Cloud and 5G Stand Alone networks, says Guzmán.