One way in which 5G promises to be very different from its predecessors is in its focus on open platforms and interfaces above the physical layer. Several high profile events in the past weeks have shone the spotlight on the essential requirement for standard interfaces throughout the 5G network, and this work is increasingly being driven by open initiatives as well as by conventional standards bodies. The Facebook-initiated Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and Linux Foundation-hosted ORAN Alliance are both working on common ways to interface the remote radio head, in a disaggregated RAN, with the virtualized baseband. There were strong hints, at the recent TIP Summit in London, that the two might converge their efforts, which are largely complementary, driving…