The progress in deploying virtualized networks based on NFV (Network Functions Virtualization) has been slower than hoped for many reasons, not least the technical and cultural challenges of this huge architectural transition. Another key factor has been the misalignment between traditional standards processes and the increasingly influential open source community. Operators are looking for the improved economics of a fully open platform, but there is a wait before they will trust these untried systems with their main commercial networks, and also while they wait for a new generation of solutions based on fully cloud-native principles rather than first generation virtualization. An important step forward has been taken to bring old-style and new communities together in enhancing the NFV platform. This…