Many IT players see the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) as their best point of entry to the RAN market, because it builds on skills in software and automation, where they have expertise already, but does not require them to take on alien skills in radio. Juniper has taken a lead in bringing a credible proposition to market, having acquired strong intellectual property from Argela/Netsia of Turkey. Now HPE has shown its hand, challenging Dell and Juniper, in particular, with the unveiling of its RAN Automation software suite, which has many goals in common with the new Nephio project (see separate item), including a focus on zero-touch management of 5G/edge networks, and some elements of open source. This will be offered,…