The latest vendor to join Rakuten Symphony’s open networks ecosystem is F5, which will make cloud-native network functions (CNFs) for wireless security and networking available via the Japanese company’s platform. Several organizations are seeking to build Open RAN vendor ecosystems around common platforms that allow for pre-integration. The aim is to simplify deployment of multivendor systems by operators, and so drive confidence and scale into the market, particularly for smaller or new vendors. But there are fears that, if Symphony (or an alternative vendor or operator platform) becomes too successful, it will be able to dictate which solutions are available to deployers and so compromise the dream of an open ecosystem in which any innovator can make its mark. F5…