The European operators have been the most vocal in warning major vendors that their entrenched position will be under threat from open platforms and start-ups in the 5G era. Orange’s deputy CEO Gervais Pellissier has made the warning even more explicit, telling a press briefing in London last week: “We need to keep freedom vis-à-vis suppliers and introduce new ones with 5G ideas. I’m not sure we will order 100% of 5G infrastructure needs from existing suppliers.” He, along with allies like BT, Deutsche Telekom, plus AT&T in the US and Japan’s Softbank, have said that operators learned their lesson from previous lock-ins, and have made it their business to seize control of how future platforms develop. Their argument goes…