UK-based Lime Microsystems epitomizes the hopes that 5G might usher in a new, open ecosystem and lower barriers for all. Its LimeSDR platform ticks many boxes for those hoping that the established supply chain of mobile networks will be broken apart in 5G – software-defined, open source, white box, even crowdfunded. Now it has secured an alliance with Vodafone to develop solutions based on LimeSDR, which follows on the heels of a similar deal with the UK’s leading MNO, BT/EE. Lime’s story has a Cinderella element which seems appropriate to the operators’ quest for a new, open industry to make 5G affordable and flexible. Founded in 2005, the start-up has toiled away in RF transceivers – hardly the rock stars…