Vodafone gives OpenRAN contracts to Samsung, NEC, Dell, Wind River, and others

Vodafone has given valuable contracts to Samsung, NEC, Dell, Wind River, and others as part of its commitment to use OpenRAN in its network.

OpenRAN gives the opportunity for smaller telecoms vendors to compete against legacy players with standards-based and interoperable equipment.

Matthew O’Neill, Head of Networks at NTT DATA UK, said:

“Vodafone’s announcement will progress the development of OpenRAN technology across Europe – a positive move that...

14 June 2021 | Networks

TIM launches one of the first OTIC labs approved by the O-RAN Alliance

TIM (Telecom Italia) has launched one of the first OTIC (Open Test and Integration Center) labs in the world.

The new TIM European OTIC Lab is based at the TIM Group’s Innovation laboratories in Turin and is approved by the O-RAN Alliance.

The O-RAN ALLIANCE was established in 2018 by a global consortium of network operators with the goal of evolving radio access networks to become more open and interoperable. 

OpenRAN is increasingly being promoted by...

9 June 2021 | Networks

FCC hopes its OpenRAN showcase will encourage operators ‘to invest in network security’

FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced the US telecoms regulator will host an OpenRAN showcase next month.

OpenRAN is one of the industry’s most exciting new trends. The interoperable equipment provides greater flexibility to carriers and helps them to avoid vendor lock-in.

Governments are increasingly becoming cheerleaders of OpenRAN due to the security benefits of having many vendors in a network. This is especially true in many Western countries...

28 May 2021 | Legislation & Government

Vodafone and Qualcomm team up to boost Open RAN ecosystem

Vodafone and Qualcomm are teaming up to help more equipment suppliers enter the market through Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology.

OpenRAN is set to bring about a new paradigm for how telecoms networks are deployed. Free of vendor lock-in, operators can use the interoperable equipment which suits their particular needs for cost and performance.

Dino Flore, VP of Technology at Qualcomm Europe, said:

“Virtualisation and Open RAN offer a significant...

30 April 2021 | LTE

TIM set to become the first Italian operator to deploy OpenRAN

TIM is set to become the first Italian operator – and one of the first in Europe – to deploy OpenRAN (Open Radio Access Network) solutions.

OpenRAN enables operators to choose from a range of interoperable hardware from a variety of vendors. Free of vendor lock-in, operators can use the equipment which suits their particular needs for cost and performance.

TIM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last February with the main European operators to promote OpenRAN...

27 April 2021 | LTE

Vodafone set to Open(RAN) a pioneering new UK R&D centre

Vodafone has set out its plans to launch a pioneering new R&D centre in the UK that will focus on OpenRAN.

OpenRAN is set to bring about a new paradigm for how telecoms networks are deployed. Free of vendor lock-in, operators can use the interoperable equipment which suits their particular needs for cost and performance.

Andrea Donà, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone UK, said:

“The OpenRAN ecosystem is still in its infancy, and we want to spur its...

21 April 2021 | LTE

Nok-picky: Nokia partners with Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure

Nokia has announced a flurry of new partnerships with all three of the major cloud providers—Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft Azure.

The Finnish telecom giant’s partnership with Google Cloud will see the companies develop 5G solutions together which combine Nokia’s Radio Access Network (RAN), Open RAN, and Cloud RAN, with Google’s edge computing platform to deliver additional 5G monetisation opportunities for CSPs.

Bikash Koley, VP, Google...

15 March 2021 | Networks

Eight 5G solution providers join Ofcom and Digital Catapult-led OpenRAN initiative

Eight 5G solution providers have joined an OpenRAN initiative led by UK telecoms regulator Ofcom and innovation centre Digital Catapult called SONIC.

The vendor-neutral and interoperable equipment OpenRAN delivers is seen as being the solution to disrupting the perceived monopoly held by the large telecoms vendors—helping to drive innovation, improve security, offer flexibility, and reduce deployment costs.

SONIC (SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre) is a...

25 February 2021 | Legislation & Government

O2 and NEC conduct OpenRAN trial with multi-vendor hardware

O2 has partnered with NEC to conduct a trial of OpenRAN technology using hardware from multiple vendors.

OpenRAN provides operators with open, standards-based, and interoperable software and hardware. This gives carriers more flexibility in their deployments, reduces cost, and improves the resilience of networks.

The joint trial between O2 and NEC used virtualised RAN software from Altiostar in addition to hardware from GigaTera Communications, Supermicro, and...

1 February 2021 | Networks

Four major European operators commit to supporting OpenRAN

Four of Europe’s largest operators have committed to supporting and deploying OpenRAN solutions.

In a joint statement today, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone said they are joining forces “to support the rollout of Open Radio Access Network (OpenRAN) as the technology of choice for future mobile networks to the benefit of consumer and enterprise customers across Europe.”

OpenRAN aims to disrupt the current RAN vendor monopoly with interoperable and...

20 January 2021 | Networks