Open RAN takes pragmatic turn on the path to innovation

Operators are taking a more pragmatic approach to Open RAN that has drifted away from the original concept of mixing and matching hardware and software from a diverse choice of vendors. And despite persistent technology and business challenges, they have not given up on the cloud-based, disaggregated RAN architecture, based on comments from several telcos at the recent FutureNet World event. 

“What we're seeing is realism. Adaptation from the original vision [is] driven by reality and the challenges,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz, Head of Mobile Access Technology Strategy and Architecture at Virgin Media O2. 

Speaking at FutureNet World, Abdelaziz was joined on a panel by peers from Telenor and Three UK for a frank discussion of the state of Open RAN and whether it has diverged from its original vision. 

The basic principles of Open RAN are virtualization, disaggregation and open interfaces for vendor-neutral interoperability, which promise to diversify supply chains and transform the RAN into a platform for innovation that is more efficient to run. 

But all this is proving to be more difficult to achieve for established telcos with legacy systems and easier for greenfield operators like 1&1 in Germany, Dish in the US and Rakuten Mobile in Japan that start from scratch. Indeed, Rakuten just deployed its own RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) platform that is expected to reduce energy consumption by 20% in its 4G and 5G Open RAN network.

Abdelaziz said the core principles of Open RAN are still valid, but there has been a shift from mix-and-match to what he called “a pre-integrated stack.”

“The original vision that you can effectively interchange any element of the O-RAN stack and it would just work … The reality is, it doesn’t, even with open interfaces…What is emerging is a pre-integrated stack, and I envision there is going to be more of this,” he said. 

A prominent example would be Ericsson’s Open RAN deal with AT&T, which also includes Fujitsu. Generally, handing integration responsibility to a traditional vendor can remove complexity and give telcos more comfort when it comes to accountability in procurement contracts. 

Afnan Ahmed, Director of Technology Strategy & Architecture at Telenor, agreed that operators are more likely to introduce open RAN with a single vendor but would then have options to bring in others in future. 

“So if you buy a pre-integrated stack from one vendor with open interfaces, then when you are happy with how it works … bring in radios or the SMO from somebody else. That's the realism of Open RAN,” he said.

Telenor is conducting field trials of Open RAN to evaluate the technology’s promises. “Hopefully on the back of successful trials, we can plan for roll out at scale,” said Ahmed.

According to Dell’Oro, Open RAN revenues are expected to grow in 2025, after declining in 2023 and coming in weaker than expected in 2024. But multi-vendor deployments will remain relatively small. By 2028, the analysts estimate that open RAN will account for 25% of the total RAN market and the multi-vendor will be less than 10%. 

“Open RAN is happening, but this vision that Open RAN will significantly change the vendor dynamics is fading,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President of RAN market research at the Dell’Oro Group in a statement.

Innovating in the RAN 

New players have emerged in the Open RAN space, but when it comes to building an ecosystem that can provide a proposition that is comparable to others, “we’re not there,” said Juan Francisco Redondo, Head of RAN, Transport Strategy and Architecture at Three UK. 

However, he is positive about open RAN because the architecture is “an enabler for innovation”. Here, he pointed to RIC and Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) components as examples.

“I expect the development of rApps in the future to be something that we really enjoy…[Open RAN is] successful from the point of view that many vendors are adopting a form of Open RAN that we can use… On top of that, there is the innovation that comes with the architecture itself,” said Redondo. 

Three UK recently deployed 18 Open RAN small cell sites in Glasgow in the UK’s first trial of the technology in an urban environment, as part of a government-backed project called SCONDA. The multi-vendor network will be expanded to 34 sites to cover more of the city centre.  

VM O2’s Abdelaziz also highlighted the benefits of the new architecture. “The prospect of moving to a software-based architecture… opens up great opportunities. The ability to optimize at a functional level with the open interfaces is huge…[and] the prospect of programmability…Open RAN enables that in a far more efficient way,” he said.

RAN transformation on the horizon

Upbeat about Open RAN’s potential, the panellists were also candid about the challenges telcos face that span business and technology. They were aligned on the point that this architectural change is a transformation and not just new technology. 

“If you deal with Open RAN as another technology upgrade, you're going to face a lot of complexity. But if you deal with it as a transformational program … this is where you start to realize some of the benefit… We're not doing the technology for the sake of the technology. We're doing it to improve performance and to unlock the potential,” said Abdelaziz, adding that removing the internal silos between cloud, software and radio engineer teams was essential. 

Telenor’s Ahmed said that the skillsets in the RAN area typically don’t include experience with cloud or orchestration. “It needs a mindset shift and more collaboration across different functions.”

“If you approach it as just a technology upgrade, you're going to struggle to justify that to your CIO. It needs to have business backing and you need to have a business case sitting behind it. Another challenge is if you take a typical three- to four-year view on return on investment, you might struggle to build the business case. You need to take a longer horizon view of the benefits,” said Redondo.