The software challengers in Open RAN are facing a potentially daunting new competitor in the shape of NEC, which has introduced a software suite encompassing the virtualized CU and DU. The Japanese firm has already achieved a strong position in the fledgling Open RAN market through its high performance radio units, which it supplies to Rakuten and NTT Docomo; its systems integration capabilities; and the 5G core it is co-developing with Rakuten Symphony. Now it appears to have an end-to-end solution, though its credentials on the virtualized network functions side are less well-established than its generations of expertise in radio and wireless xHaul. NEC was keen to emphasize that it would still work in multivendor environments and keep its RU…