ODIN Roundup – Week 26: Open RAN, Open Transport, OpenWiFi, IoT
This week features a mix of announcements covered by ODIN and stories from telecoms publications Fierce Network, Light Reading, and The Mobile Network.
Table of contents:
Open RAN
Vodafone and i2CAT to jointly develop automated Open RAN management system for greater innovation and security
- New Open RAN automated management system will help improve security and innovation
- Latest in a series of joint research projects with academia and research institutions at Vodafone’s expanding Innovation Centre in Málaga, Spain.
- Previous announcements include Vodafone and Intel extending their Open RAN research collaboration in conjunction with the University of Málaga and joint research with the University of Oxford on the threats linked to developing AI
Read the full story here.
Open RAN pioneer Rakuten Mobile hits 7 Million Subscriber mark
- Largest ever three-month net increase since the launch of Rakuten UN-LIMIT VII; 500,000 subscribers added in just over two months
- High performing Open RAN network recognised by Opensignal as a leader in overall network experience, including 5G upload and download speeds
- Radio frequency testing for the 700 MHz band has started
Read the full story here.
5G Open RAN Field Trial on Japan Monorail System led by Compal Electronics
Image by Paul Brennan, Pixabay
- More enterprises are turning to Private 5G Networks to ensure they have access to the high quality connectivity they increasingly rely on to run their businesses.
- One of the key verticals set to benefit from Private 5G Networks is the transport and logistics sector.
- This trend is exemplified by a recent multi-vendor 5G Open RAN field trial conducted on a Japan Monorail system.
- The high-speed, low-latency capabilities of 5G enhance real-time data transmission between the monorail and control centres.
Read the full story here.
Open RAN Solutions Awarded Telecom Infra Project Silver Badges
- First Silver Badge awarded for an essential RIC use case goes to AirHop Communications for its Physical Cell Identity (PCI) Optimization rApp
- The rApp was tested in a multi-vendor setup at the i14y Lab
- For the testing, Deutsche Telekom, who also provided the testing requirements, partnered with AirHop Communications, Juniper Networks and Keysight Technologies.
- WNC, Greigns, and Tailyn rewarded for their Indoor Open RAN solution
- The badge was awarded by the Indoor 5G NR Small Cell sub-group which, part of the TIP OpenRAN Project Group.
- The sub group is looking to address the challenges of large scale, indoor 5G NR small cell deployments.
Read the full story here.
Open RAN proponent 1&1 blighted by network issues in Q2 from Fierce Network
- 1&1’s open RAN-based 5G network suffered a major outage in May
- The operator blamed it on a technical fault caused by a software upgrade
- It said only 4% of its total customer base was affected, but concerns over the performance of the 5G network remain
Read the full story here.
Rakuten Symphony changes RAN tune with ‘open’ licensing from Light Reading
- The technology formerly known as Altiostar is now aimed mainly at radio manufacturers and systems integrators, rather than telcos.
- Rakuten has now drawn up price plans for the licensing of its RAN software
Read the full story here.
Fierce Network and Light Reading both covered the same story, providing different insights and perspectives. Diana Goovaerts, from Fierce, gives a fair hearing to the AT&T position and offers a good critique in terms of the message this sends to new market entrants (I think funding is the other big road block). Iain Morris, from Light Reading, is more sceptical and makes some excellent points on the consequences of running with the Ericsson SMO and Non Real Time RIC (hint: it’s not so Open RAN).
AT&T Network CTO says Ericsson open RAN deal was actually a multi-vendor move from Fierce Network
- AT&T is pushing toward a future where it begins introducing third-party RAN kit from even more vendors, adding we can expect to hear more about that later this year.
- While AT&T plans to start with a “very low number,” with third party radios deployed only in certain areas of the network, the number of third party vendors could climb, over time.
- “(Announcement) sends a mixed message to startups eyeing the space” – Roy Chua, Analyst, AvidThink
Read the full story here.
AT&T’s ‘multivendor’ open RAN claims smell rotten in Denmark from Light Reading
- The CTO of AT&T turns up at the TM Forum’s big annual event to defend his deal with Ericsson, but the evidence is poor.
- AT&T’s multivendor open RAN comes with Ericsson’s infrastructure platform, Ericsson’s SMO and non-real-time RIC technologies and Ericsson’s RAN software.
- At best, it will allow some third-party app developers accounting for a minuscule share of RAN revenues to feature in AT&T’s network.
Read the full story here.
Tender is the fight for RAN innovation from The Mobile Nework
- Vodafone currently has a tender out for a refresh of its base station estate, which it has said is 170,000 base stations, across its European and African operations.
- The tender has created a stir not just because of its size, but because the operator has hooked it to its Open RAN plans.
- It says that it wants to leverage the tender to bring 30% of its base stations into compliancy with Open RAN specifications.
Read the full story here.
Open Transport
Multivendor 5G Mobile xHaul successfully demoed
- Infinera, DZS, and Calnex successfully demonstrate 5G Mobile xHaul with Open XR Point-to-Multipoint sptics in European Open Test & Integration Center in Torino, Italy
- It included fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul transport scenarios with XR-based coherent pluggable optics. These were deployed in third-party hosts supporting point-to-point and point-to-multipoint optical transmission.
- Equipment used in the interoperable xHaul testing included Infinera ICE-X intelligent coherent pluggables, the DZS Saber 2200, and Calnex Paragon-NEO.
- Results of the performance testing included successful demonstration of xHaul synchronization and timing distribution in a point-to-multipoint optical transport architecture.
Read the full story here.
IoT
Samsung and MediaTek collaborate on 5G RedCap energy efficiency testing
- Samsung and MediaTek recently announced their collaboration on an interoperability 5G RedCap test over virtualized RAN (vRAN).
- It used its versatile vRAN 3.0 software, O-RAN compliant radio. The radio connected to a MediaTek 5G RedCap test platform which was launched at MWC24 earlier this year.
- This comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement from Mavenir, Qualcomm and EchoStar earlier in June.
- Samsung’s RedCap technology will become commercially available this year for both traditional RAN (tRAN) and vRAN, with plans to apply to Tier 1 operators’ networks.
Read the full story here.
OpenWiFi
NetExperience & Actiontec Electronics Partner to Deploy Vital OpenWiFi Services to Non-Profit Community Support Center
- Enterprise Grade Wi-Fi Solution based on Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi Enables Northern California- Based Morrissey Compton to Dramatically Improve Diagnostic and Support Services to the Community
Read the full story here.
Open WiFi AP Equipment Shipments to reach $750 million by 2029- Cost Savings and Flexibility are Leading Adoption
- OpenWiFi access point equipment shipments will reach $750 million by 2029, up from only $50 million in 2024.
- OpenWiFi, a technology in its infancy at just three years old, is already showing promise.
- OpenWIFi adoption is driven by a combination of customers in price-sensitive markets, such as India, and managed service providers (MSPs) in North America and Europe eager to diversify their suppliers.
Read the full story here.
