As with most radical new platforms that have emerged in the IT or telecoms worlds over the years, Open RAN has had its share of grand visions, as well as hype. But like those other platforms, it will only succeed in delivering on its promise if it can be deployable and affordable for a large number of operators. The pioneers are important for showing what can be done, and kickstarting the ecosystem, but the challenge for the mid-2020s is to make Open RAN attractive and realistic for a wider base, especially in the macro network, where its challenges are most obvious. Deutsche Telekom, as soon as it publicly declared its interest in Open RAN, has taken a pragmatic approach.…