Assessment of Open Ran: Difference between revisions

Open Ran eliminates reliance on one vendor. This was common in single vendor deployments; hence fixing issues were prone to take a long time. With multi-vendor deployments, an issue affecting the network falls on all parties involved<ref name=":3">https://www.parallelwireless.com/wp-content/uploads/Parallel-Wireless-e-Book-Everything-You-Need-to-Know-about-Open-RAN.pdf</ref>. This protects the operator's investment and reduces adverse impact on the end-user.  

An issue within the network affects all parties involved. Since each vendor would want to protect their reputation, teamwork is created. This allows for automation such as continuous integrations(CI) and continuous deployments(CD), making deployment and fixing errors fast and reliable<ref name=":32">https://www.parallelwireless.com/wp-content/uploads/Parallel-Wireless-e-Book-Everything-You-Need-to-Know-about-Open-RAN.pdf</ref>. Also, CI/CD will foster innovations in that many individuals will work on Open Ran.

As already mentioned, integration is the main issue facing Open Ran. The challenge is even bigger in bluefield deployments since the operator has to integrate the legacy Ran with Open Ran. That is why bluefield operators are transitioning into Open Ran gradually instead of going into it at full speed. Indeed, it's not surprising that greenfield operators such as Rakuten and Dish have led the way in deploying Open Ran<ref name=":02">https://senzafili.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SenzaFili_DD_ORAN_Ecosystem.pdf</ref>.

Multiple vendors can only be used in the network if their hardware and software solutions are compatible. Although O-Rance Alliance provides a platform for interoperability testing, such testing is not enough to ensure compatibility between different vendor solutions<ref name=":02" />. Also, interoperability is a continuous process which is time consuming and expensive. For instance, interoperability testing should be done everytime there is a software update.

Although COTs hardware is cheap to acquire and enables faster deployments, it can result in higher OPEX costs. This is because, unlike proprietary solutions, COTs hardware is not optimized. As such, they end up consuming a lot of power. But the industry is now moving towards alternative solutions which use optimized silicon<ref name=":02" />.

Open Ran players such as Rakuten and Dish have yet to prove whether Open Ran is better than the traditional Ran<ref name=":02" />. It's one way to forecast and another way to achieve.

Rakuten was the first greenfield operator to launch Open Ran at scale in its commercial network in Japan. It began building its network in 2018. However, it was in 2020 that it started constructing its 4G network. Six months later, it launched 5G in its network. It is currently creating massive MIMOs for its Open Ran architecture<ref name=":4" />. The interesting thing about Rakuten's network is that it's visualized, automated, and based on cloud-native architecture. This means it can reap all the benefits associated with Open Ran. For instance, Rakuten said that by integrating antenna and radio heads, it was able to reduce the length of cables, hence achieving 30% more coverage per site compared to traditional RAN<ref>https://rakuten.today/blog/rakuten-mobile-technology-two-years-since-launch.html</ref>. As of June 2022, Rakuten's 4G network had 97.6% coverage, with the number of base stations reaching 47,556<ref>https://rakuten.today/blog/fy2022-q2-results.html</ref>. It aims to attain 99% 4G coverage in 2023 with more than 60,000 base stations.   

NTT Docomo is one of the cheerleaders supporting the deployment of Open Ran architecture. In fact, it has a lab in its research and development(R&D) center dedicated to testing and verification of Open Ran systems<ref>https://www.fiercewireless.com/5g/ntt-docomo-shares-open-vran-lab-global-carriers</ref>. The lab is shared with thirteen other global vendors, which include Vmware, Red Hat, Intel, NEC, Fujitsu, etc. Docomo started deploying multi-vendor Open Ran in its 4G and 5G networks in September 2019<ref>https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/0918_00.html</ref>. Its goal was to have 10,000 base stations by June 2021, 20,000 base stations by March 2022, and 90% coverage by March 2024<ref>https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/docomo-takes-open-ran-expertise-to-the-world/#:~:text=Abeta%20said%20Docomo%20plans%20to,nearly%2084%20million%20mobile%20customers.</ref>. According to its vice president Sadayuki Abeta, Docomo's multi-vendor network is currently at the commercial stage<ref name=":42">https://senzafili.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SenzaFili_DD_ORAN_Ecosystem.pdf<!-- Page 48 --></ref>.   

Dish is the only operator in the US that has deployed Open Ran in its network. It is a greenfield operator with no 4G or legacy network. As such, its network is purely 5G. Dish's network also leverages cloud-native architecture. It was launched in May 2022 in Las Vegas, and by June 2022, Dish had expanded it to more than 120 cities in the US, hence offering more than 20% coverage to the US population<ref>https://about.dish.com/2022-06-15-DISHs-Smart-5G-TM-Wireless-Network-is-Now-Available-to-Over-20-Percent-of-the-U-S-Population</ref>. The company plans to meet its 70% coverage for the US population by 2023. Its Vice President of Technology Development, Sidd Chenumolu, acknowledged in an interview that Open Ran is a gateway to many untapped opportunities. He said, "Open RAN is our gateway in terms of programmability, flexibility, openness and disaggregation to try out new things, and to offer and deliver the services envisioned by 5G." However, he also confirmed that integration is the biggest challenge impacting Open Ran.<ref>https://about.dish.com/2022-06-15-DISHs-Smart-5G-TM-Wireless-Network-is-Now-Available-to-Over-20-Percent-of-the-U-S-Population</ref>