Telus shares promising brownfield Open RAN transition

Canadian telco Telus stood out as a meaningful example of a macro brownfield Open RAN deployment at this year’s FYUZ event in Dublin. While the authenticity of AT&T’s Open RAN network is often called into doubt, given that it is largely single vendor with Ericsson, nearby neighbor Telus provides a promising example of an open network with a diverse range of vendors, in rural and urban environments. However, just 4% of Telus’ nationwide network is operating to Open RAN specifications. Telus had something of a push into the arms of Open RAN in 2022, when the Canadian government decided to banish Huawei from national networks by 2027. At the time, Huawei was Telus’ primary vendor. “Given the innovation in Open…