Telcos flag hurdles to open RAN adoption

EVEN AS TELECOM operators in the country have been testing open radio access network (RAN) technology for some years now, they have flagged factors like higher cost, issues in performance and no clarity over service support among key reasons that are restricting the commercial deployment of technology.

- JATIN GROVER

This assumes significance in the sense that open RAN technology, which was expected to reduce the cost for network deployment by about 30% for telcos, instead has shown an over two-times increase in the cost compared to current traditional RAN solutions, executives said.

RAN constitutes a major portion of the capital expenditure (capex) of telecom operators.

Open RAN is a new way of connecting mobile devices to the core network. Instead of using equipment from just one company like in the case of traditional radio access networks, open technology lets service providers mix and match pieces from different companies, thereby reducing dependence on a few vendors.

Globally, US telecom operator AT&T is expected to spend roughly $14 billion over the next five years to deploy the open RAN technology.

The company has partnered with Ericsson to deploy 70% of its wireless network traffic across open-capable platforms by 2026.