In a major technology push to check the dominance of top telecom technology providers including Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia, mobile and broadband operator Vodafone has announced plans to finalize six partners to build Europe’s first commercial open RAN (radio access network).
According to Vodafone, Dell Technologies, NEC Samsung, Wind River, Capgemini Engineering, and Keysight Technologies, the new technology partners will help in building one of the largest Open RAN networks in the world.
Vodafone said the partnerships would build on its new Open RAN lab in Newbury, southern England, and its planned digital skills hubs in Malaga, Spain, and Dresden, Germany.
The new venture is also viewed as the Union government’s push to bring more technology players on board with a 5G technology rollout likely soon. Mobile operators and governments want to encourage the development of Open RAN technology to help more vendors enter the telecom space.
