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Huawei’s ‘NFV Solution’ awarded ‘Best Enabler’
MUMBAI: At Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Huawei’s NFV solution was awarded Best Technology Enabler. This award points to the recognition within the industry of Huawei’s leading capabilities and outstanding performance in NFV architecture, technology, commercial application, and the evolution toward Cloud Native. Organised by the GSMA, Mobile World Congress is the world’s most influential event in the mobile communications sector, and the GSMA Global Mobile Awards are considered the highest honor within the industry.
Huawei hit the ground running by developing NFV solutions using the Cloud Native concept. Moving beyond basic virtualization, Cloud Native enables telecom networks to become fully distributed and automated, giving them greater elasticity, robustness and agility. This helps operators enhance network efficient and deliver inspired user experiences, and enable agile innovation in services for better digital transformation.
Elastic: The Cloud Native network has a distributed architecture, so resources can be dynamically deployed wherever they are needed to support applications. It is a “sensing” network that recognizes the services deployed, and an elastic network that can adapt to support those services. There are two types of elasticity: capacity elasticity and topology elasticity. Capacity elasticity means that all network resources are pooled. Network software can orchestrate any part of the fabric across multiple data centers and capacity is no longer the bottleneck. Topology elasticity means the ability to deploy resources to any required geographical location, enabled by control/user plane separation and service orchestration.
Robust: An intelligent network builds in robustness at the network and service levels. The network is decentralized, with stateless elements, N-way redundancy and inter-DC service provisioning. Active fault injection, monitoring and self-healing processes are combined with big data analysis and management of services, enabling fault prediction and automated controls. Ultimately, an intelligent network delivers carrier-class service reliability even over unreliable infrastructure.
Agile: Agility means service orchestration + programmability + ISSU (in service software upgrade). Flexible service assembly, service autonomy, and distributed deployment are achieved by decomposing network functions into microservices, and applying a service governance framework, data model and a programmable user interface. Services and new functions can be delivered as needed, so the network can instantly respond to the needs of very different services required by different industries.
Using key Cloud Native technologies, Huawei has already rolled out its Cloud Native VNF solution, which has been widely adopted on core networks. Huawei remarked at MWC 2017 that the company will continue to optimize solutions revolving around service needs and through such efforts will help to build 5G and better connected agile networks.
As of January 2017, Huawei had won over 170 contracts for cloud core networks. In addition, Huawei is a strategic partner and co-innovator with Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and other global leading operators on their Cloud Native strategies. At MWC 2017, Huawei presented a Cloud Native demonstration developed with Vodafone. Looking to the future, Huawei will continue to help operators build more open, more innovative, more sustainable ecosystems around their Cloud Native networks, with the aim of creating more new services and more value.
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Kwality Wall’s reports standalone losses following strategic HUL demerger
Ice cream major faces Rs 64 crore Ebitda loss amid commodity inflation and muted Q3 sales
MUMBAI: Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited (KWIL) has released its first set of financial results as a standalone entity, revealing a challenging start to its independent journey. Following its successful demerger from Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on 1st December 2025 and its subsequent listing on 16th February 2026, the company is navigating a transition period marked by structural changes and high input costs.
For the quarter ended 31st December 2025, the company reported revenue of Rs 222 crores. Despite the revenue base, the bottom line was impacted by several factors, resulting in an Ebitda loss of Rs 64.2 crores. When calculated on a Pre-IND AS 116 basis, the Ebitda loss stood at Rs 83.8 crores.
Organic Sales Growth (OSG) declined by 6.5 per cent year-on-year during the quarter. Volume growth, however, saw a marginal increase of 1.2 per cent. The company reported a gross margin of 41.5 per cent. Additionally, exceptional expenses amounting to Rs 94 crores were recorded, primarily linked to non-recurring costs during the transition phase.
Performance across portfolios and channels was mixed. Within the impulse portfolio, brands such as Magnum and Cornetto recorded mid-single digit volume growth, indicating steady demand in on-the-go consumption. However, the in-home portfolio, which includes take-home packs, experienced muted consumption. The company is planning a relaunch of this category with improved offerings ahead of the 2026 season.
Quick commerce (Q-Com) continued to emerge as a strong growth driver, delivering robust double-digit growth during the quarter. Meanwhile, the company also expanded its physical distribution network by increasing the number of company-owned cabinets across markets.
Margin pressure during the quarter was driven by a combination of one-off factors and broader cost inflation. Gross margins were impacted by around 600 basis points due to trade investments made for stock liquidation. Additionally, cocoa price inflation contributed to another 400 basis points of pressure on margins.
Deputy managing director Chitrank Goel attributed the muted performance partly to prolonged monsoons and transitional challenges linked to the GST framework. Operating expenses also increased as the company invested in establishing its standalone supply chain, operational systems and corporate infrastructure following the demerger.
Looking ahead, the management remains focused on a volume-driven growth strategy. To restore profitability, the company has initiated a cost productivity programme aimed at reducing non-consumer-facing costs. It is also working on building regional manufacturing networks to optimise logistics expenses and improve operational efficiency.
The commodity outlook for the near term remains mixed. Dairy prices are expected to remain firm due to tight supply conditions and rising fodder costs. Sugar prices may also move higher following increases in the Minimum Selling Price (MSP). While cocoa prices have moderated recently, currency depreciation has offset some of the potential cost relief for the company.
