IBM has partnered with Airspan Networks to accelerate the adoption of 5G-enabled Open RAN technologies across Europe.
Open RAN delivers hardware and software based on interoperable, open standards—providing operators with greater choice, lower costs, reduced vendor lock-in, and opportunities for innovative new vendors to challenge the established players.
One emerging vendor in this space is Florida-based Airspan Networks.
Together, IBM and Airspan are launching a 5G-enabled Open RAN testbed spanning the IBM Watson IoT Center in Munich, Germany, and IBM’s Global Industry Solution Center (GISC) in Nice, France. The testbed will demonstrate long-distance control using 5G-enabled edge computing and showcase multi-site orchestration of Open RAN components.
Marisa Viveros, Vice President of Strategy and Offerings for the Telecom, Media and Entertainment industry at IBM, said:
“Open approaches and standards-based technologies are vital to help unleash the full potential of 5G and edge computing. That’s why, in collaboration with Airspan, we hope to advance emerging use cases that harness Open RAN and bring new value to telecom clients. The planned expansion of the Open RAN testbed will allow us to demonstrate these capabilities as we accelerate 5G and edge computing innovation.”
The primary aim of the testbed is to help the European telecommunications industry speed the development of multi-vendor solutions tailored to specific customer requirements.
“Through critical collaboration with leaders like IBM and testing in these labs, which can accelerate development of Open RAN and 5G solutions and broaden the open architecture ecosystem, Airspan can remain at the forefront of innovation and industry disruption with end-to-end Open RAN offerings,” said Henrik Smith-Petersen, Airspan’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer.
As part of the collaboration, Airspan will contribute its Open RAN AirVelocity 2700 indoor radio unit along with its virtualized Open RAN Centralized Unit (vCU) and Distributed Unit (vDU) software, OpenRANGE.
IBM will provide Global Business Services technology integration, Cloud Pak for Network Automation, and Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps to help operators more efficiently manage and orchestrate edge cloud deployments and the applications that run on them.
Earlier this year, Airspan also announced plans for a 5G Innovation Lab at its Slough, UK offices. That lab will host a full end-to-end 5G Open RAN solution, supporting technology development and serving as a showcase and demonstration facility for partners, customers, and government bodies.
The UK has stepped up support for Open RAN development following its decision to remove Huawei from national networks, a move that opened space for alternative suppliers.
“We’re investing £450 million to explore how 5G can boost the economy while also building confidence and competition in this revolutionary technology,” said Matt Warman, UK Minister for Digital Infrastructure.
“Airspan’s new lab of telecoms innovators will develop cutting-edge 5G networks and help create jobs and a more secure and diverse UK telecoms supply chain.”
(Photo by USGS on Unsplash)
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