India, April 8 -- NFV has been called up and sent to fight COVID-19 despite its advancing years as the telecom industry scouts for any resource it can find in the war against the pandemic.

The old-age technology was getting ready to enjoy its dotage alongside other senior citizens of the networks sector, such as ATM, Frame Relay and 3G, when it received its marching orders from VMware.

It has been deployed in the network of Vodafone, where VMware hopes its experience in automation will pay off.

Eight years since it was first conceived, NFV has turned out to be one of the industry's biggest disappointments, failing to provide the revolutionary breakthrough it originally promised. These days it usually keeps a low profile, snoozing in th...