Virtualised Packet Gateways: The Future of Scalable IoT Infrastructure

For years, Mobile Network Operators supported IoT through hardware-based packet gateways deployed in central data centres. However, this model has reached a “feature ceiling”. Traditional hardware is expensive, slow to scale, and often becomes “legacy” shortly after deployment because it cannot be easily updated or repurposed. To bridge the gap between maturing customer needs and rigid infrastructure, the industry is moving towards virtualised packet gateways and cloud-native solutions.

The foundation of this new approach is a software-defined architecture that decouples network functions from the underlying hardware. This shift provides three critical benefits:

Elastic Scalability: Cloud-native virtualised packet gateways allow capacity to scale up or down based on actual business demand. This transforms massive upfront Capex into manageable Opex and eliminates the risk of “sunk costs” from underutilised data centres.

Technological Currency: Because these assets are software-driven, they can be updated continuously. This ensures that MNOs can offer cutting-edge features throughout the asset’s lifecycle without needing to replace physical hardware.

Real-Time Visibility: Advanced virtualised packet gateways offer real-time network layer visibility. Instead of waiting for asynchronous Call Data Records (CDRs), operators can monitor network events as they happen, allowing for much faster detection of anomalous device behaviour.

While the benefits are clear, deploying virtualised packet gateways in-house can be a burden in terms of configuration and maintenance. For many MNOs, the most viable path is a managed service model that eliminates the resource burden while providing the “fine-grained capabilities” that modern enterprises demand. By moving to the edge with virtualised infrastructure, operators can finally offer the security, sovereignty, and performance that IoT requires.