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KubeCon + CloudNativeCon is always a high point for collaboration, innovation, and progress in the CNCF ecosystem—but this year in London, the telecom and networking community took the spotlight in a big way. From deep-dives into dynamic resource allocation to panels on Kubernetes-native networking, our sessions pushed the envelope of what's possible when cloud-native principles meet the stringent demands of telecommunications.

Here’s a look back at some sessions presented and the critical themes they explored:

Keynote: Cloud Native Evolution in Telecom – 5G, 6G and Beyond!

Cloud-native technology is no longer optional in the telecom world—it’s foundational. This keynote brought together an expert panel of telco end-users and community contributors to reflect on the industry’s transformation.

The shift toward a cloud-native telco future is well underway, but the journey is complex. Beyond the tech stack, it demands changes in organizational culture, operations, and skillsets. Standardization efforts across 3GPP and open source communities like the CNCF are driving progress—but challenges remain.

The panel tackled critical questions:

  • How far have we come in adopting cloud-native?
  • What’s still holding us back?
  • How do we support each other as we aim for 6G and beyond?

Lightning Talk and Project Kiosk: Maturing Bare Metal Provisioning With Metal3

The Metal3 project has quietly matured from its sandbox roots, and it’s now on a path toward incubation. This lightning talk provided a retrospective on Metal3’s progress and a glimpse into what’s ahead as it becomes a cornerstone for bare metal provisioning in Kubernetes environments.

The future of telco infrastructure isn’t just built on virtual appliance—it's also grounded on metal. And Metal3 is ensuring that bare metal fits seamlessly into the Kubernetes-native paradigm.

Panel: Are We There Yet? Native Kubernetes Networking for Telecom Workloads

Kubernetes isn't just for web services anymore—its benefits now extend to telecom and networking workloads. But telco use cases introduce unique challenges, especially in networking. This panel brought together industry leaders shaping Kubernetes networking to answer some tough questions:

  • What networking features are still missing?
  • When should we modify Kubernetes itself vs. building add-ons?
  • Where are the hard limitations in extending Kubernetes for telco workloads?

The panel offered a candid look at the current state of native Kubernetes networking in telecom and how the community can move forward together.

Automating Kubernetes Resource Management Over GitOps for the Telco Cloud RAN Prime Time

As telco cloud infrastructure scales to tens or hundreds of thousands of clusters—especially in Cloud-RAN scenarios—manual management becomes untenable. GitOps has become the de facto standard for managing Kubernetes configurations, but the scale of telco demands next-level automation.

Enter Porch, an innovative tool that enhances human-machine collaboration in GitOps workflows. Built on ideas pioneered in the Nephio project, Porch enables “hydration”—transforming blueprints into fully deployable manifests. It’s a game-changer for managing sprawling far-edge infrastructure with clarity and control.

Uncharted Waters: Dynamic Resource Allocation for Networking

Last year’s bold attempt to modify the Pod spec for multi-network support faced resistance—but the mission wasn’t abandoned. This year, a new strategy emerged: leverage Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA), a more Kubernetes-native approach to injecting networking intelligence into the scheduler and runtime without breaching core API boundaries.

With the introduction of the DRA CNI Driver, this effort opens new possibilities for advanced network provisioning that aligns with Kubernetes best practices. It’s a fresh course plotted for telco networking—and one that could change the game entirely.

Final Thoughts

The telco industry’s cloud-native journey is evolving rapidly. These KubeCon + CloudNativeCon sessions highlight how deeply invested the ecosystem is in solving the unique challenges of networking, automation, and scale. Whether through tooling like ClusterAPI, Metal3 and Porch, or foundational discussions on Kubernetes extensibility, one thing is clear: we’re not just adapting Kubernetes to telecom—we’re reshaping the future of telecom through Kubernetes.

And while we’re not quite “there” yet, the road ahead is clearly charted—with open collaboration and continued innovation lighting the way.

This growing commitment is echoed in recent industry moves, such as Ericsson upgrading to Gold Membership in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), further solidifying its role in driving the telecom sector’s cloud-native transformation. This milestone signals more than just increased involvement—it reflects a long-term commitment to contributing upstream and building a truly open, cloud-native telco ecosystem.

As we look toward 6G and beyond, initiatives like these will play a pivotal role in uniting the community and accelerating progress. The momentum is real, the collaboration is strong—and the future of telecom is cloud-native.