The German operator group Deutsche Telekom claims the first deployment of OpenRAN in Europe in Neubrandenburg.
Specifically, DT has included several multi-provider OpenRAN sites in the city that are integrated into the existing network, so calling to Neubrandenburg and O-RAN Town seems like a bit of a stretch. Eventually, the city, which has a population of about 64,000, will have 25 OpenRAN sites.
The deployment also claims the first European integration of massive MIMO radios using open-front O-RAN interfaces to connect to virtualized RAN software. NEC provides these radios, while Mavenir takes care of the centralized container-based device and the distributed units of the disaggregated RAN as software.
“The inclusion of our O-RAN city, including massive MIMO, is a key moment in our journey to stimulate the development of OpenRAN as a competitive macro-scale solution,” said Claudia Nemat, Board Member, Technology and Innovation at DT. “This is only the beginning. Over time, we will expand O-RAN Town with a diverse set of vendor partners to further develop our operational experience as a high-performance multi-vendor OpenRAN. “
“We are honored to contribute to Deutsche Telekom’s highly strategic initiative in cooperation with Mavenir,” said Nozomu Watanabe SVP at NEC. “Building on our experience gained from contributing to the first commercial launch of OpenRAN in Japan, we are excited to expand our capabilities to accelerate the deployment of OpenRAN by best-in-class carriers worldwide.”
“We appreciate the industry-changing opportunity that Deutsche Telekom’s O-RAN Town offers and look forward to working with our partner NEC to launch one of the first Open RAN mMIMO networks,” said Pardeep CEO Kohli Mavenir. “Together with our partners, we are excited to show how open interfaces and native cloud technologies accelerate innovation in RAN infrastructure areas such as mMIMO.”
The industry has to agree in a standardized way to refer to OpenRAN, sharply, because it becomes annoying. DT should consider putting its marketing department on a shorter leash, because Neubrandenburg looks quite far from the city of O-RAN today and obviously will not become one in the near future. Apart from that, well played for everyone involved and it’s good to see some signs of life on the European 5G scene.
In this note, DT begins a tense start to the week, with the additional request being the world’s first deployment of an end-to-end (E2E) multi-retailer, cut with a commercial 5G device. This was done in partnership with Ericsson and Samsung and is positioned as great news for the nascent cloud VR streaming scene.
“5G SA Network Slicing lays the foundation for creating new service offerings for consumer and corporate customers,” said Nemat. “As an experienced focused [sic] company, it is essential to demonstrate the value of 5G slicing for the lives of our customers. As the first in the world, our unique collaboration with Ericsson and Samsung to provide slices of commercial devices highlights how we can bring these benefits to our customers. “
“Cutting the network is a key factor in securing 5G revenue,” said Eric Ekudden, Ericsson’s chief technical officer. “New digital services for consumers and businesses are becoming a reality, as technology makes it possible to create appropriate virtual networks with defined software with certain characteristics. To bring these services to market, it is vital for operators to start their own business and work with customers as well as relevant ecosystem players to demonstrate value creation and technical readiness. “
“We are very proud of what we have been able to achieve together, and we were extremely excited about what lies ahead,” said Dr. Won-Jun Choi, head of technology strategy at Samsung’s mobile communications business. “5G E2E Network Slicing will allow Samsung Galaxy users to experience games like never before.”
Image: Botaver, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons