The telecom giant Vodafone clubs with Samsung, Dell, NEC, Wind River, Capgemini Engineering and Keysight Technologies for open RAN (Open Radio Access Network) development in Europe.
Vodafone and the other major EU telco signatories of the Open RAN MoU believe this will help build a European ecosystem around these novel network architectures and boost the EU’s global technology leadership in digital infrastructure.
The company’s initial focus will be on the 2,500 sites in the UK that it committed to Open RAN in October 2020. It is one of the largest deployments in the world and will be built jointly with Dell, NEC, Samsung and Wind River.
Beginning this year the vendors will work with Vodafone to extend 4G and 5G coverage to more rural places across the South West of England and most of Wales, moving into urban areas in a later phase.
Vodafone is also working to launch Open RAN in other countries within both Europe and Africa, enabling the digital society to be accessible to all, with no one left behind.
Vodafone also expects to use new radio equipment defined under the Evenstar programme, a joint initiative it contributes to.
Capgemini Engineering and Keysight Technologies are providing support to ensure interoperability between all the components.
Johan Wibergh, Vodafone Chief Technology Officer, said:
“Open RAN provides huge advantages for customers. Our network will become highly programmable and automated meaning we can release new features simultaneously across multiple sites, add or direct capacity more quickly, resolve outages instantly and provide businesses with on-demand connectivity.
“Open RAN is also reinvigorating our industry. It will boost the digital economy by stimulating greater tech innovation from a wider pool of vendors, bringing much needed diversity to the supply chain.”
