Vodafone continues open RAN push with Romania launch
Vodafone Group recently announced the commencement of the commercial rollout of open RAN equipment in 20 cities across Romania. This move comes as part of the company’s strategy following successful deployments in the UK and testing of the architecture in other European markets.
The deployment in Romania, which follows trials conducted in 2023, includes equipment from various vendors. Samsung Electronics is supplying radio and baseband units covering 2G, 4G, and 5G, while Dell Technologies servers are being used alongside Wind River software.
Vodafone is optimistic about the potential of open RAN in Romania, noting that it could lead to cost reductions by allowing operators to share hardware components while independently managing their own RAN software on a common cloud infrastructure. The company also believes that the flexibility of the architecture will enable customers to fully leverage standalone 5G and benefit from features like network slicing.
Vodafone has been a strong advocate for open RAN for some time and has actively participated in the Telecom Infra Project. The company claims that during trials in Europe and the commercial deployment in the UK, the performance of open RAN equipment has been on par with or even better than traditional equipment in most aspects.
Alberto Ripepi, Vodafone’s chief network officer, emphasized the importance of intelligent networks to support new technologies like generative AI. He highlighted that open RAN is designed to meet these evolving needs.
This announcement comes on the heels of Vodafone’s recent efforts to upgrade its network in Romania, including a six-year deal with Ericsson to modernize its infrastructure. The company’s continuous focus on enhancing its network capabilities reflects its commitment to delivering advanced services to customers in the region.
