The decision by five key vendors to forge common software interface standards for Open RAN begs more questions than it answers. The first question is why another Open RAN standards initiative is necessary at all. It prompts the suggestion that the standards bodies themselves are failing to do their job properly if these new interfaces are as essential as the O-RAN Alliance itself acknowledges. Alternatively, it suggests that Open RAN is still very much work in progress and remains in a fluid state, where the areas for standardization are still being identified. In either case, it appears that Open RAN is not yet mature or stable enough for deployment by operators in public macro infrastructures, even if it can be…