One of the biggest questions surrounding Open RAN is who will do the integration of the many moving parts, if an operator goes for a true multivendor approach?
Some operators, particularly smaller ones, are placing their hopes on initiatives such as Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP – see separate item) to provide a large measure of pre-integration, a step on the way to a plug-and-play network. However, that remains a distant dream for macro networks that will be charged with shouldering the considerable traffic and reliability burdens of 5G use cases.
In this case, systems integration (SI) is likely to be a large part of the effort of deploying an Open RAN – a Rethink study found that on average, operators expect it to be almost 40% of total cost if they deploy Open RAN in its early phases (before 2025). The large network equipment vendors argue that multivendor integration requires very detailed expertise in the radio itself, and so they will be best placed to act as SIs. But many Open RAN promoters on the operator side aim for a platform that can be integrated by RAN-neutral providers, and here IT players such as IBM, HPE, Accenture and TechMahindra see an opportunity to expand their telco business into the mobile network.
IBM’s participation was the most interesting aspect of Telefónica’s latest Open RAN deployment in Latin America. The Spanish giant has gone live with a commercial Open RAN proof of concept (PoC) in Puerto Madryn in Argentina, a city of 81,000 people. IBM led the SI effort, which had to integrate vRAN software from Altiostar, cloud infrastructure from Red Hat, radios from Gigatera (KWM), and cloud hardware from Quanta and Kontron.
Some of the pre-validation had already been done for some of these elements, since all the suppliers except Kontron (and IBM) were also involved in Rakuten’s roll-out. While the RCP blueprints are not complete for off-the-shelf use, Rakuten partners such as Telefónica will be able to tap into the Japanese firm’s experience and expertise. But IBM will have worked on integrating Kontron into the mix, and on optimizing the whole end-to-end system for the needs of the particular location and use cases.
The deployment is also noteworthy because, as well as being commercial, it is not in the rural environment where many of Telefónica’s initial Latin American projects, in countries like Peru and Ecuador, have been focused. Experience of urban experiences on Open RAN will help operators take the important next step towards large-scale platforms that can handle high density of traffic and users.
Adrian Di Meo, technology director of Movistar (Telefónica’s commercial mobile brand in many markets) said in a statement: “For Movistar, it is essential to evolve the network architecture towards an open telco cloud model based on an open ecosystem of providers, which allows generating a solid base to develop, in the future, the deployment of 5G and, at the same time, incorporate innovative services hand-in-hand with small companies that can use the greater accessibility of open technology.”
Telefónica’s group CTIO, Enrique Blanco, recently told TelecomTV that the Spanish operator has been “working for the past few years or so building a credible Open RAN program… We are extremely close with the final solution. Telefónica will be deploying Open RAN as a new vendor ecosystem. In the period of 2022 to 2025, up to 50% of the total 5G deployment capabilities will be done using this technology, at least.”
IBM recently opened an Open RAN Center of Excellence in Spain, where it will hire a team of 500 over the next three years, including cloud and RF/antenna engineers plus Open RAN delivery groups. Altiostar and Juniper have already signed up to contribute technology to the center, clearly with Telefónica in mind.
The operator, together with Vodafone, has taken the most prominent role in support of Open RAN among the European majors, issuing a string of RFIs and RFPs to identify promising partners, running trials in its European and Latin American markets, and recently joining Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and TIM in a memorandum of understanding to promote Open RAN technology in Europe, along with a local ecosystem.