Vodafone and the i2CAT Foundation – a leading technological research centre – announced that they will use the improved automation offered by Open Radio Access Networks (RAN) to jointly build a highly responsive multi-vendor management system to fix faults and respond to cyber threats faster and more cheaply.

Read the full announcement here.

The Open6G Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) at the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at Northeastern University announces the general availability of testing and integration solutions for Open RAN, including conformance, interoperability, and end-to-end testing based on the O-RAN ALLIANCE specifications.

Read the full announcement here.

O2 Telefónica and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced that the companies have launched their first virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN commercial site in Germany.

Read the full announcement here.

USA's Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $42 millionto fund a project by a consortium of U.S. carriers, foreign carriers, universities and equipment suppliers.

Read the full announcement here.

The Ericsson membership aims to accelerate 5G development and the way to 6G.

Read the full announcement here.

The $1.5 billion Wireless Innovation Fund supports the development of open and interoperable wireless networks. Open and interoperable wireless equipment will help drive competition, strengthen global supply chain resilience and lower costs for consumers and network operators.

• New deal will see companies partner to deploy a commercial Open RAN network in Germany; realization of MoU signed at MWC 2023
• Deal marks a significant return for Nokia into Deutsche Telekom’s network
• Nokia to provide high-performance Open RAN compliant AirScale solution; Fujitsu will partner with Nokia in the deal with open-fronthaul compliant Radio Units
• Deal highlights the maturity and performance of Nokia’s O-RAN CU/DU; Confirms Nokia’s industry leadership through its anyRAN approach which offers mobile operators more choice in building 5G networks

With “1&1 O-RAN”, the German mobile network provider 1&1 operates Europe’s first fully virtualized 5G network based on the new Open RAN technology.

TTA announced that Korea OTIC is responsible for issuing three types of international certifications for the performance of open RAN equipment itself, compatibility with other manufacturers' equipment, and operational performance within the entire network environment.

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AT&T plans to lead the U.S. in commercial scale open radio access network (Open RAN) deployment to further telecom industry efforts and drive innovation.

Ericsson says it is now ready to take leadership in industrialising Open RAN.

Mavenir recently published their mapping of O-RAN Ecosystem.

See this LinkedIn post by John Baker.

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• Partners trialed non-real time RAN Intelligent Controller (Non-RT RIC) technology based on O-RAN specifications
• The Non-RT RIC brings intelligence and programmability to RAN by enabling third-party applications (rApps) to manage and optimize radio resources
• Multi-vendor collaboration assessed integration complexity of the Non-RT RIC, rApps and Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework - and summarized in whitepaper.

Read the full announcement here.

Open RAN to provide much needed diversity to the telecommunications supply chain to act as a catalyst for innovation and to offer new opportunities for specialist providers across the technology ecosystem.

Read the full announcement here.

• Summit strengthens collaboration among Open Testing and Integration Centers and members of the global Open RAN ecosystem
• Summit workshop identifies the need for high quality O-RAN Certificates and Badges
• Keysight demonstrates leadership in 5G and Open RAN security, energy savings, RAN intelligent controller optimization, and non-terrestrial networks

Read the full press release here.

Mapping of the O-RAN Ecosystem by Mavenir currently shows 108 suppliers.

Learn more in this LinkedIn post.

NEC Corporation has obtained O-RAN Certification from Japan OTIC (Open Testing & Integration Centre) for its MB5450 5G base station radio unit (RU), certifying that the RU conforms with the O-RAN Fronthaul Interface Specifications.

This is the first certification issued by Japan OTIC since its establishment, making NEC the first major global vendor to obtain this certification.

Read the full announcement here.

USA Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded nearly $5.5 million in the first round of grants.

This first round of funding will support R&D and testing activities related to evaluating energy efficiency, measuring performance of interoperable equipment and testing methods for sharing spectrum.

Read the full announcement here.

By automating the end-to-end process of extracting optimal test scenarios, generating parameters, and determining acceptability of test results, the two companies have succeeded in significantly improving efficiency.

Read the full announcement here.

In the USA, the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at Northeastern University has established an Open Testing and Integration Center (OTIC) in Burlington, MA, to promote research, development, and testing of next-generation Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN).

NTT Docomo says it will have a competitive open RAN (O-RAN) solution on the market by the end of the year.

Read the full article here.

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• Use of Open RAN does not fundamentally alter the security risk landscape for telecommunications, compared to traditional RAN, given the objective analysis of the advantages, challenges and possibilities of overcoming challenges.
• As a response to the growing interest in the security of Open RAN, this 160-page report analyzes the advantages, challenges and possibilities of overcoming challenges of Open RAN compared to traditional RAN through objective research and analysis including technical demonstration.
• Released as one of the outcomes of the Quad on May 2023, based on the“Memorandum of Cooperation on 5G Supplier Diversification and Open RAN” of the Quad Critical and Emerging Technology Working Group

• Keysight announced it is launching its first complete Open RAN (O-RAN) testing laboratory for Europe at the company’s Milan office in Italy

• Aira Technologies’ AI-based High Fidelity MIMO Channel Estimation and Prediction application (xApp) utilizes cutting-edge proprietary machine learning algorithms to dramatically improve channel estimation, prediction and beam management delivering better throughput, resulting in better energy efficiency and lower total cost of ownership

• Pegatron’s E2E Systems Integration Badge earned through the O-RAN ALLIANCE’s Certification and Badging program
• Keysight´s O-RAN solutions confirms Pegatron’s O-RAN Central Unit and Distributed Unit using O-RAN ALLIANCE’s end-to-end test specifications
• Tests assess functionality, performance, service, and security by emulating real network traffic
• Awarding of end-to-end systems integration badge enables the kickstart of O-RAN base station qualification process

Smart has successfully deployed a fully functional Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) Proof of Concept (PoC), a first in the Philippines.

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• Sites consist of general-purpose server equipment and can be used with all 5G smartphones. Full scale development planned to start in 2024.

• Two O-RAN demonstrations were presented at MWC Shanghai 2021.
• Five more virtual demos for MWC Shanghai 2021 have enriched the O-RAN Virtual Exhibition.

• The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance and the O-RAN ALLIANCE have announced to strengthen their relationship and to foster a closer co-operation in the area of Radio Access Network (RAN) decomposition of 4G and 5G networks. Read the full press release from NGMN.

• The O-RAN ALLIANCE, represented by its member companies, participates at the event to bring insights and answers to the summit’s main theme: ‘Open RAN: What is it good for?‘

• The collaboration aims to accelerate industry-wide consensus on the adoption of open, interoperable interfaces and Radio Access Network virtualization.