Meet the new phone tech that might make it a truly worldwide web
Vodafone is now publicly trialing a new technology which it hopes will open up high-quality networks to more of the world’s population - and, as a happy side-effect, reduce operators’ reliance on a small number of infrastructure providers.
In conjunction with partners including US tech giant Intel, has been working for several years on a technology called Open Radio Access Network (OpenRAN). After trials in various countries worldwide, the system will now be tested in 120 rural UK areas from Monday.
The idea behind OpenRAN is to standardize the software and hardware used in the infrastructure that carries mobile calls and data. The effect for consumers should be to improve the reach and resilience of networks, particularly into those hard-to-reach rural areas - which can be underserved by existing provision due to the imbalance between set-up cost and financial returns.
Rising resilience, reduced reliance
Speaking of financial returns, there is a further consideration in Vodafone hoping the technology works. At the moment, if a phone operator wishes to buy telecoms equipment, it can usually only pick from a tiny handful of big companies: the overwhelmingly dominant three suppliers are Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei.
Operators tend to buy kit from at least two of the big three, in order to reduce their reliance on one supplier, but it is evidently a far from competitive market. As the world’s second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone suffers from this more than most.
But while Vodafone has a lot of skin in this game, the point of OpenRAN is to open up the market, increasing the number of companies which can supply different components, by creating general-purpose, vendor-neutral hardware along with software-defined technology for masts, antennae and other infrastructure.
It’s being described as a completely open-source mobile hardware set which can be built by anyone, reducing reliance upon the big tech providers. Think of it as being similar in some ways to Apple and Google making the app platforms for iOS and Android open-source, thus encouraging more participation and innovation.
Coloring in the network map
Despite these noble aims, OpenRAN wasn’t exactly developed by rebellious outsiders: the two co-chairs are Vodafone’s Devang Solanky and Intel’s Adnan Boustany. They have been working with various companies including U.S.-based Parallel Wireless and Mavenir, UK-based Lime Microsystems, ASOCS (Israel) and Comba (Hong Kong).
“The traditional RAN - proprietary, embedded and integrated - is the most difficult part of the network to disaggregate,” said Natasha Tamaskar of Radisys, another company helping out. “But the RAN is being unbundled and disaggregated, while becoming more flexible to address real-world network conditions. The traditional RAN is now becoming the Open RAN – moving from distributed and integrated towards virtualized and centralized.”
Vodafone has tested OpenRAN privately in South Africa, and has deployed the technology in Turkey, where it runs both 2G and 4G networks; OpenRAN should also be able to boost the spread of 5G. Now the trials have moved for the first time to Western Europe, with 120 rural UK areas, but Vodafone is also setting up tests in Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Interconnected world
Now, Vodafone is preparing to fast-track the system into Europe. OpenRAN isn’t expected to be utilized in high-density, high-usage areas, which are usually already well catered for. Instead, the system should bring down the cost of filling in the blanks around the edges of the network maps, with more sparsely populated areas benefiting from extended or improved coverage.
“OpenRAN improves the network economics enabling us to reach more people in rural communities,” said CEO Nick Read, “and that supports our goal to build digital societies in which no one is left behind.”
Reading between the lines of the CEO’s quotes is the ghost of one final question: Will it make bills cheaper? The two-part answer to that is probably: theoretically yes, but effectively probably not.
True, any new technology designed to reduce companies’ capital expenditure should bring down the cost to the consumer; however, the nature of OpenRAN’s intention and application suggests the savings will be specific and targeted. Instead of having to pay a premium to fill in their coverage, operators should find network extension increasingly viable. If that gets more of the planet’s population reliably connected, then perhaps the benefits may be more important than mere cost savings.
“With most networks now focused on the roll-out of 5G, many people seem to forget that there are areas that still struggle to get a reliable 3G signal,” said tech journalist Tom Wiggins. “With 5G's shorter range meaning masts will need to be closer together, OpenRAN should help to prevent more isolated areas from getting left behind again.”
