(Telecompaper) NTT Docomo said it has completed proof-of-concept (PoC) trials that verified the feasibility of network functions virtualization (NFV) using the software and equipment of six major ICT companies, namely Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, NEC, and Nokia Networks. The trials will help leverage technologies for next-generation virtualized mobile networks. Using the virtualized Evolved Packet Core (EPC), the core network of LTE systems, the trials successfully verified the interoperability of each vendor's EPC software with a different vendor's equipment, such as scalable data processing capability for congested data traffic and immediate network recovery in the event of hardware failure. The verified technologies will allow communication software designed originally for dedicated hardware to run on multipurpose hardware. In the future, such technologies will allow mobile operators to combine network hardware and software components of any vendor for deployment of network systems.