Vodafone has activated the UK’s first live 5G Open RAN site, marking the start of a nationwide rollout that will include thousands of sites.
The pioneering site was developed in collaboration with Samsung, Wind River, Dell, Intel, Keysight Technologies, and Capgemini Engineering, demonstrating the interoperability advantages offered by Open RAN technology.
Each partner contributed the following:
- Samsung: Virtualised Radio Access Network (vRAN) solutions, plus technical, product, and integration support.
- Dell: Common off-the-shelf (COTS) servers to host software-defined network functions.
- Intel: Optimised platforms featuring Intel Xeon processors, workload acceleration and connectivity enhancements.
- Wind River: Studio platform for managing containerised Open RAN CU/DU workloads, providing automation, orchestration, and lifecycle management for network functions.
- Capgemini and Keysight Technologies: Testing and integration services to validate multi-vendor interoperability across the ecosystem.
Vodafone’s first Open RAN site is in the historic city of Bath. The operator has committed to deploying 2,500 Open RAN sites across the UK by 2027 to accelerate network diversity and modernisation.
Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone UK, said:
“This is the beginning of a new chapter for the mobile industry.
Our team has worked intensively to move Open RAN from theory into a live commercial environment – it’s remarkable how much progress has been made in a short time.
Open RAN as a concept is only five years old, and we’re already changing how connectivity infrastructure is deployed. This is a watershed moment for telecoms and a catalyst for further change and innovation.”
The launch was marked by the UK’s first 5G video call over Open RAN infrastructure, made on 11 January 2021 by Vodafone UK’s Chief Network Officer Andrea Dona to Julia Lopez, Minister for Digital Infrastructure.
The UK Government supports Open RAN as a way to increase supplier diversity, strengthen supply chain resilience, boost competition and reduce costs — a strategy that gained traction following decisions to restrict certain vendors from national networks.
Last month the government set a target for 35 percent of the UK’s mobile network traffic to run over Open RAN architectures by 2030.
Julia Lopez, Digital Infrastructure Minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, commented:
“This phone call, the first in the UK to be made using 5G Open RAN infrastructure, represents a significant step forward for telecoms innovation in the UK.
Open RAN will play an important role in the future of mobile networks and I congratulate Vodafone for delivering this milestone.
The government is investing in the technology through a £250 million diversification strategy so that people and businesses can benefit from more diverse, resilient and secure 5G networks.”
Vodafone plans to deploy Open RAN-compatible 4G and 5G radio units from Samsung and NEC from mid-2022. These radio units are designed to be installed in a plug-and-play fashion on the existing Open RAN infrastructure, simplifying upgrades and expansion.
Thomas Riedel, Head of Samsung Networks Europe at Samsung Electronics, said: “As a global leader, we are proud to begin the UK’s first wide-scale Open RAN commercial deployment, delivering carrier-grade 5G vRAN solutions to Vodafone. Based on our vRAN experience with tier-1 operators around the world, this is another meaningful milestone and we look forward to continuing our work with Vodafone.”
Related: Germany has warned that Open RAN could present security challenges, underscoring the need for rigorous testing and robust security practices.
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