Massive MIMO is both one of the biggest revenue opportunities for Open RAN vendors, and one of the biggest challenges facing the platform as it aims to match traditional macrocell architectures in performance and cost. Strengthening its position as a key radio provider and integrator for Open RAN, Japan’s NEC has acquired a US Massive MIMO innovator called Blue Danube. Operators have been far more reliant on higher orders of MIMO to boost 5G capacity and coverage, than was expected prior to large-scale 5G deployments. The accelerated uptake of antenna arrays with at least 16 transmit and 16 receive (16T16R) elements has thrown a spotlight on innovators in this area (see separate item on SK Telecom trial), but has also…