Orange has unveiled its vision of “the network of the future”, applying to the French regulator, ARCEP, for permission to trial an experimental cloud-based network that would provide “ambient connectivity”. The operator wants to run the two-year trial, which it calls Project Pikeo, initially in Lannion, Brittany, where it has a major R&D center. It needs ARCEP approval because it will sign up real business and consumer customers to use the network. It says the system will be “Europe’s first 5G standalone (SA) end-to-end network operating in a cloud-native mode,” according to group CTIO Michaël Trabbia. “This is an experimental network, but it is a network with real users. The technology is maturing fast but it is still not carrier-grade.”…