Vodafone Group has initiated the first European trials of OpenRAN in the UK and may extend to more of its markets on the continent.
Vodafone has also initiated trials of the technology to enable more consumers in the DRC and Mozambique – which have largely rural communities and are near the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index – to make mobile calls and to access data. The trial sites across the three countries will provide 2G, 3G and 4G services, with 5G possible over OpenRAN in the future.
Vodafone has already undertaken lab trials of OpenRAN with Vodacom South Africa, and in Turkey has deployed the technology to deliver 2G and 4G services to customers in both urban and rural parts of the country.
Vodafone has started working with a number of new vendors supplying OpenRAN technology including US companies, Parallel Wireless and Mavenir, and UK-based Lime Microsystems for Open CrowdCell.
The OpenRAN approach has been in development for several years and is based in part on work Vodafone did to develop a ‘small cell’ technology for cities called Open CrowdCell, which is in use in Spain and Turkey. Open CrowdCell has a shorter range than masts and antennae and uses standardised hardware for which a range of suppliers can develop software applications.
Nick Read, CEO, Vodafone Group
OpenRAN improves the network economics enabling us to reach more people in rural communities and that supports our goal to build digital societies in which no-one is left behind.
