Calnex and VIAVI expand partnership for next-gen network validation

Calnex and VIAVI are combining emulation and traffic-generation portfolios to offer end-to-end pre-deployment validation across AI, data centre and defence markets.

By The Datatech Times Editorial Team AI level 2 of 5
AI level 2 of 5: drafted by our AI editorial assistant from the company's announcement; fact-checked, edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean
A brightly lit data center aisle features two rows of black server racks filled with network equipment connected by organized colorful cables, leading to blurred windows in the background.

Calnex Solutions (LSE: CLX) and VIAVI Solutions (NASDAQ: VIAV) have announced an expansion of their strategic partnership, combining Calnex's network emulation portfolio with VIAVI's layered test and traffic-generation tooling to offer what the companies describe as a unified pre-deployment validation architecture. The deal targets customers in AI infrastructure, data centres, defence, satellite communications and enterprise networking.

The combined offering pairs Calnex's SNE, SNE-X and SNE-Ignite network emulation products with VIAVI's L0-7 ONE LabPro, TestCenter and CyberFlood platforms. Together, the companies say the architecture allows engineering teams to generate realistic application and user traffic, recreate real-world network impairments, and measure their impact on performance before any system goes live.

The deal

Graeme Urquhart, VP of Sales at Calnex, said the growing complexity of modern network topologies places increasing demands on pre-deployment testing, while many validation environments still fall short of mirroring real-world conditions. "Combining our resources enables us to build on our strong industry relationships, drive sustainable growth, and deliver exceptional value to our customers by offering access to these leading technologies globally," he added.

Mark Bateman, Vice President of Sales and Channel for Lab and Production at VIAVI, framed the partnership's value proposition around moving customers "beyond lab simulations to confidently validate how applications, services and networks will perform in production environments."

The expanded agreement builds on an existing collaboration between the two companies focused specifically on Open RAN testing. That earlier work spanned protocol, signal and timing domains, using VIAVI's TM500, TeraVM and XEdge platforms alongside Calnex's Paragon-neo, SNE-Ignite and SNE-X. Neither company disclosed the commercial terms of the expanded arrangement, nor named specific customers who have already adopted the joint architecture.

Market context

Pre-deployment network testing has become a busier category as operators and hyperscalers face the dual pressure of accelerating AI workloads and increasingly heterogeneous infrastructure. The push toward Open RAN, disaggregated core networks and satellite-terrestrial integration has fragmented the protocol stack, making single-vendor test environments inadequate for many programmes. Partnership models of the kind announced here, where specialist emulation and traffic-generation capabilities are bundled into a joint architecture, are a common response from mid-tier vendors competing against the broader portfolios of larger test-and-measurement players.

Calnex has an established roster of customers that includes BT, China Mobile, NTT, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, Qualcomm, IBM and Meta, giving the partnership reach into both carrier and hyperscaler procurement cycles. VIAVI's existing position in defence and aerospace testing adds a second lane, particularly relevant given stated interest in the defence and satellite-communications markets.

Regulatory and standards read-across

Open RAN deployments in particular are subject to interoperability testing requirements set by the O-RAN Alliance, whose test and integration focus has grown as operators in Europe and Asia commit to disaggregated RAN roadmaps. The UK government's investment in domestic Open RAN capability, partly channelled through the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce, has kept validation tooling in the procurement spotlight for British operators. Calnex, headquartered in Linlithgow with additional sites in Belfast and Stevenage, is well-positioned to participate in UK-funded test programmes.

For enterprise and data-centre buyers, the relevant compliance backdrop includes network performance baselines demanded by FedRAMP for US government cloud deployments and latency and reliability thresholds embedded in emerging AI-infrastructure procurement frameworks. Whether the joint Calnex-VIAVI architecture will be positioned for formal certification testing in those contexts has not yet been stated. Named customer wins and benchmark results from joint deployments will be the key indicators of commercial traction as the partnership matures.

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