Telefonica extends Open RAN 4G and 5G partner ecosystem, to launch trials this year

News Wireless Spain 18 MAR 2020
Telefonica extends Open RAN 4G and 5G partner ecosystem, to launch trials this year
Telefonica has announced an agreement to collaborate with Altiostar, Gigatera Communications, Intel, Supermicro and Xilinx to boost the development of Open RAN technologies in 4G and 5G. The company also said it intends to launch vendor-neutral 4G and 5G Open RAN trials in UK, Germany, Spain and Brazil this year.

In a statement, the Spanish operator said this latest collaboration comprises the necessary design and developments, integration efforts, operational procedures and testing activities required to materialise Open RAN in its networks. The partners intend to focus on developing Distributed Units (DUs) that implement part of the baseband radio functions using the FlexRAN software reference platform and Intel Xeon processor-based servers, appropriate Remote Radio Units (RRUs) connected through open interfaces based on O-RAN fronthaul specification and software to manage the connectivity in an open Cloud RAN architecture.

Telefonica said DUs and RRUs will be designed with 5G-ready capabilities, meaning they can work in either 4G or 5G mode by means of a remote software upgrade. It will be testing the 4G and 5G hardware and software components in the lab and in the field this year, integrating an Open RAN model as part of its UNICA Next virtualisation programme.


 

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

Intel,  Xilinx,  Telefonica,  Altiostar

Regions:

Global

Countries:

Spain

Tags:

Technology development, Product specifications & quality, Cooperations & alliances, Network operations services, Wholesale, 4G - LTE, Research, 5G

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