Telefónica Wades Into Open RAN Across Global Footprint

Telefónica today announced that it will deploy open radio access network (RAN) technology trials for 4G LTE and 5G in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Brazil. The global operator, along with Vodafone, is leading the adoption of open RAN in Europe but many other carriers are following in kind, according to Chris Nicoll, principal analyst at ACG Research. Indeed, open RAN is gaining momentum around the world and it’s being driven further by recently increased cooperation and collaboration between the Facebook-led Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and the O-RAN Alliance. “I think that alliance was driven by the operators wanting a stable and coordinated path forward for virtual RAN and open RAN,” Nicoll said.