Virgin Media O2, NEC, and Rakuten have switched on their first commercial Open RAN sites as part of a multi-vendor partnership in the UK.
Open RAN (Open Radio Access Network) promotes interoperability and vendor diversity in mobile networks, helping reduce dependence on a small number of equipment suppliers and increasing resilience and choice for national infrastructure.
“The successful activation of Virgin Media O2’s first UK macro-sites demonstrates the potential of the multi-vendor Open RAN model,” said Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2. She added that the operator believes strongly in the benefits of diverse Open RAN ecosystems and that NEC’s system integration expertise is a key enabler for building next-generation mobile networks.
This deployment is the first multi-vendor Open RAN rollout on Virgin Media O2’s commercial network, following thorough laboratory testing at NEC’s Global Open RAN Centre of Excellence in Ruislip, London.
Mayuko Tatewaki, Senior Vice President at NEC, said the company remains committed to delivering open Open RAN solutions to telecom and mobile operators. She highlighted the strong alignment between NEC and Virgin Media O2 in advancing Open RAN in the UK and praised the collaborative deployment involving Rakuten Symphony and other industry partners as an important step toward a fully open network.
“NEC is true to its mission to deliver the most open Open RAN solutions to the telecoms and mobile industries. We have great synergy with Virgin Media O2 in this respect and the company is a true leader in progressing Open RAN in the UK. The activation of the UK macro-sites together, in partnership with Rakuten Symphony and an ecosystem of industry leaders, showcases the potential of a fully open network. We’re excited to be driving this innovative project that brings us a step closer to realising our multi-vendor Open RAN vision.”
In this deployment NEC served as system integrator, while Rakuten Symphony supplied Open RAN software, edge cloud infrastructure, and the radio management and operations system.
Rabih Dabboussi, Chief Business Officer at Rakuten Symphony, said the companies’ complementary capabilities—Rakuten Symphony’s software and edge solutions combined with NEC’s radios and systems integration—demonstrate the innovation and automation possible with Open RAN and validate its transformative potential for mobile operators.
This collaborative deployment underscores several Open RAN advantages: increased vendor choice, greater flexibility in network design, potential cost efficiencies through software-driven architectures, and improved capacity to innovate by combining best-of-breed components from multiple suppliers.
The activation of these macro-sites is an early commercial milestone for Virgin Media O2 and its partners, following lab-based validation. Continued testing and phased rollouts will be important to scale Open RAN across wider geographic areas while ensuring performance, security, and operational maturity match existing network expectations.
(Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash)
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