Open RAN can support the gradual commercial deployment of fifth-generation (5G), connectivity expansion and coverage with the infrastructure and services to support it in Africa.
This was one of the key messages to emerge from custom information and communications technology and related integration services provider NEC XON’s 5G Open RAN event held in Johannesburg this month.
“Open RAN frees customers from vendor lock-in and provides cost-effective roadmaps to 5G adoption for Africa’s first- and second-tier mobile network operators (MNOs) and communications service providers (CSPs),” says NEC XON communications solutions executive Wally Beelders.
In addition, 5G Open RAN further enables new network and business models by leveraging low latency, high throughput, high connection capacity benefits that help MNOs and CSPs prepare for emerging use cases, as well as those that cannot yet be predicted.
A key success of Open RAN is breaking vendor lock-in, says NEC XON head of wireless Willem Wentzel.
“It shatters the traditional expense associated with building these networks, dropping the costs by 30% to 40%, according to the analysts and the proofs that have been deployed internationally,” he says, adding that with the standards-based integration and interoperability, multivendor solutions are more cost-effective and, in some cases, enable networks to double their footprint for the same costs of a proprietary network.
University of the Witwatersrand Digital Business chairperson Professor Brian Armstrong highlights that personal computing and the Internet established the foundation for the digital revolution, followed by third-generation technologies and the applications that were built upon it.
“Now 5G, with the Internet of Things (IoT), data science and distributed intelligence, will establish the next phase of innovation.
“The clusters of interrelated technological innovation, through pervasive next-generation connectivity that uses 5G Open RAN, are central to the next surge of the industrial revolution,” he says.
Beelders comments that the complexity and interrelated nature of open carrier-grade technology requires collaboration.
“We have long-term relationships with the world’s leading names in 5G, Open RAN and related technologies,” he says, citing companies such as Rakuten Symphony, Juniper Networks and Red Hat, which were the conference’s platinum sponsors, as well as NEC and ADVA, which were the gold sponsors, and Airspan, Cradlepoint, Fortinet, Polarium and Veritas, which were silver sponsors.
Rakuten launched full-scale commercial services on its world-first virtualised cloud-native Open RAN mobile network in Japan in 2020.
“We are thrilled to team up with NEC XON in South Africa to empower greenfield and brownfield telecommunications operators, enterprises and governments across Africa to easily build and deploy quality 5G Open RAN cloud-native network services at speed and low cost, generate new revenue streams and offer customers innovative and immersive experiences,” says Rakuten Symphony chief business officer Rabih Dabboussi.
Juniper Networks service provider marketing senior director Jai Thattil adds that an open ecosystem approach to network expansion is at the heart of Open RAN’s culture, with the goal of democratising the network and allowing 5G network operators to speed up innovation and give customers a unique experience.
“Juniper’s role in Open RAN reflects its commitment to bringing an experience-first network to customers through automation, intelligent control and assurance of experience. Juniper is engaged in expanding integrations with key partners and constantly exploring new areas of collaboration,” says Thattil.
“As service providers focus on growth, innovation and reducing risk, they are looking to Open RAN together with cloud-native technologies and processes to deliver greater flexibility and agility,” says Red Hat Europe, Middle East and Africa telecom, media and entertainment chief technologist Timo Jokiaho.