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Most telecommunications executives interviewed by Senza Fili believe that Open Ran is the greatest disruptions in the industry<ref name=":0">https://senzafili.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SenzaFili_DD_ORAN_Ecosystem.pdf</ref>. Patrick Lopez, Global VP of Product Management for 5G at NEC said, “If we look at how fast Open RAN has emerged and reached a level of maturity that allows deployments at scale, we may conclude that it is one of the fastest-moving technologies in the telecom market ever.” His views were echoed by others who believe that Open Ran would help them solve vendor-lock ins and other issues that were common in the traditional RAN. However, they also noted that Open Ran comes with its own challenges, which need the cooperation of the whole industry to overcome them. The greatest challenge being integration. The good news is that integration is easier in greenfield deployments when compared to brownfield deployments. That is why most deployments have been in rural areas where the operators have to start from scratch. Deloitte estimates that as of December 2020, there were 35 Open Ran deployments in the world. Around 85% of the deployments were in developing markets, with the majority being done in rural areas.  But what exactly is Open Ran? Can it replace the traditional RAN? Does it reduce costs as argued by most experts? Let’s have a look!
Most telecommunications executives interviewed by Senza Fili believe that Open Ran is the greatest disruptions in the industry<ref name=":0">https://senzafili.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SenzaFili_DD_ORAN_Ecosystem.pdf</ref>. Patrick Lopez, Global VP of Product Management for 5G at NEC said, “If we look at how fast Open RAN has emerged and reached a level of maturity that allows deployments at scale, we may conclude that it is one of the fastest-moving technologies in the telecom market ever.” His views were echoed by others who believe that Open Ran would help them solve vendor-lock ins and other issues that were common in the traditional RAN. However, they also noted that Open Ran comes with its own challenges, which need the cooperation of the whole industry to overcome them. The greatest challenge being integration. The good news is that integration is easier in greenfield deployments when compared to brownfield deployments. That is why most deployments have been in rural areas where the operators have to start from scratch. Deloitte estimates that as of December 2020, there were 35 Open Ran deployments in the world. Around 85% of the deployments were in developing markets, with the majority being done in rural areas.  But what exactly is Open Ran? Can it replace the traditional RAN? Does it reduce costs as argued by most experts? Let’s have a look!                              
                       
                                              What’s Open RAN?       
                                           
Radio Access Network (RAN) is a telecommunications network component that links your mobile phone or laptop to the core network<ref name=":1">https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/velliet_open_ran_2022_us.pdf</ref>. It comprises radio units (RUs), antenna and baseband units (BBUs) in the case of a 4G network. The BBU consists of centralized units (CUs) and distributed units (DUs). The RUs are responsible for sending and receiving data, whereas the BBUs process that data. In a traditional RAN architecture, the interface between the BBU and the RU is closed while all other interfaces are open. The Open RAN architecture aims to solve this, as shown by the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) figures below.     
* What’s Open RAN?       
As shown in figure 2, the Open Ran architecture disaggregates the BBU into DU and CU using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards and creates open interfaces between them. The open interfaces enable the operator to incorporate many vendors into its network, as we will discuss further in this report. However, it should be noted that this is not the only work of the Open Ran architecture. With Open Ran deployment, the operator benefits from its many other features.   
*  Radio Access Network (RAN) is a telecommunications network component that links your mobile phone or laptop to the core network<ref name=":1">https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/velliet_open_ran_2022_us.pdf</ref>. It comprises radio units (RUs), antenna and baseband units (BBUs) in the case of a 4G network. The BBU consists of centralized units (CUs) and distributed units (DUs). The RUs are responsible for sending and receiving data, whereas the BBUs process that data. In a traditional RAN architecture, the interface between the BBU and the RU is closed while all other interfaces are open. The Open RAN architecture aims to solve this, as shown by the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) figures below.     
                                          Benefits of Open Ran   
*  As shown in figure 2, the Open Ran architecture disaggregates the BBU into DU and CU using the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards and creates open interfaces between them. The open interfaces enable the operator to incorporate many vendors into its network, as we will discuss further in this report. However, it should be noted that this is not the only work of the Open Ran architecture. With Open Ran deployment, the operator benefits from its many other features.   
  Open Ran has received a lot of interest from telcos due to its many expected benefits. Its ability to expand into other areas, such as automation and virtualization, makes industry players want to deploy it as soon as possible. Below are its main benefits.   
*                                          Benefits of Open Ran   
                                          1.It eliminates vendor lock-ins   
* Open Ran has received a lot of interest from telcos due to its many expected benefits. Its ability to expand into other areas, such as automation and virtualization, makes industry players want to deploy it as soon as possible. Below are its main benefits.   
Vendor lock-in is when the network operator is restricted to only one vendor. For instance, in vendor lock-in, the player supplying the hardware should be the same one supplying the software. As illustrated by the Parallel Wireless chart below, Open Ran removes such vendor lock-ins<ref name=":0" />. With Open Ran, an operator can add software from vendor B to hardware from vendor A and vice versa being true.  
*                                        1.It eliminates vendor lock-ins   
 
*  Vendor lock-in is when the network operator is restricted to only one vendor. For instance, in vendor lock-in, the player supplying the hardware should be the same one supplying the software. As illustrated by the Parallel Wireless chart below, Open Ran removes such vendor lock-ins<ref name=":0" />. With Open Ran, an operator can add software from vendor B to hardware from vendor A and vice versa being true.  
* 
                                         2. It provides flexibility
                                         2. It provides flexibility
   Open Ran provides flexibility in many ways<ref name=":0" />. First, it enables the vendor to choose its hardware and software supplier. This improves the quality of the network. Secondly, it enables the vendor to choose the timeline of various deployments within the Open Ran architecture. For example, the operator can start with a single vendor and then initiate multi-vendor deployments later. Similarly, the operator can choose whether to deploy visualization and automation immediately or wait until the first phase pays off first. Thirdly, Open Ran enables the operator to optimize the network to meet their needs, unlike when the vendor provided a single optimized solution.
   Open Ran provides flexibility in many ways<ref name=":0" />. First, it enables the vendor to choose its hardware and software supplier. This improves the quality of the network. Secondly, it enables the vendor to choose the timeline of various deployments within the Open Ran architecture. For example, the operator can start with a single vendor and then initiate multi-vendor deployments later. Similarly, the operator can choose whether to deploy visualization and automation immediately or wait until the first phase pays off first. Thirdly, Open Ran enables the operator to optimize the network to meet their needs, unlike when the vendor provided a single optimized solution.
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