Orange and Vodafone announced extension of their open RAN network pilot project in rural Romania to boost coverage and integrate 2G virtualised RAN (vRAN) technology, a vital step towards cloud migration.
In a translated statement, companies said this move enables operators to move their legacy network to fully virtualised RAN and have it in line with European standards. This also removes the obligation of operators to maintain their legacy 2G networks, while operating virtualised 4G and 5G networks as an overlay.
The two operators used Samsung’s vRAN software and open RAN compliant radios, additionally they used Wind River’s cloud platform and Dell Technologies' hardware.
It was noted the operators observed open RAN and traditional RAN networks showcased similar performances, but the newer technology enabled automation, remote mast upgrades and reduced deployment time.
The operators said: “With RAN sharing, operators get more freedom and autonomy in managing their own virtualised RAN software on a shared cloud infrastructure, while network operating costs are shared.”
