Hotspot Network, a network-as-a-service (NWaaS) provider, is working with telco MTN and open RAN vendor Parallel Wireless to roll out cellular networks to 2,000 villages in Nigeria. Morenikeji Aniye, CEO of Hotspot, said the aim was to establish 500 open RAN sites in the first year, primarily supporting 2G and 3G at first, with some 4G. Parallel has a ‘AllG’ platform that, unlike some open RAN platforms like Samsung’s, has support for pre-4G cellular networks. Hotspot Network provides managed services to operators, including building, operating and managing towers and infrastructure, and it will also be the systems integrator for the open RAN roll-out. About 25% of the funding for the 2,000 sites will be provided by Nigeria’s Universal Service Provision…