Red Hat Pursues Telcos, Equipment Makers with Linux

Published: July 25, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

In an effort to try to get more into the systems used by service providers and telecommunications companies and the network equipment providers who build specialized servers for these companies, Red Hat has announced a telecommunications partner program.

Like a number of other Linux suppliers, Red Hat is interested in fostering so-called carrier-grade Linux, which means an implementation of Linux that is streamlined, runs on specialized network gear, and offers the very high reliability that telecommunications companies are mandated by law to provide in most countries. (Think about it: If the operating system crashes, there is no dial tone. How do you call the police or fire department, or screen calls from your in-laws?) Red Hat has been dabbling in carrier-grade Linux for a while, but is now working with IBM and Hewlett-Packard to create a carrier-grade variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Sun Microsystems, you will remember, is the darling of the service provider and telco space, with its Sparc/Solaris platform. All three of these vendors, for their own reasons, want to steal that business from Sun.

As part of the program, Red Hat is not just creating a carrier-grade Linux variant out of its eponymous distribution, but is also working with the key independent software vendors that create the applications used by telecommunications companies and service providers. These include applications to deliver telephone, cell phone, and multimedia services, among other things that go into making up a service. Red Hat says that its Linux is the Linux of choice at more than 100 telecom suppliers, and that eight out of 10 of the network equipment providers are using Red Hat Linux in their products, too.