The well-established concept of Open RAN, driven by the principles of disaggregating software from hardware components in the network and opening networks to a broader range of suppliers, has popularized the demand for open and disaggregated networks.

Now, these same principles have been extended to open up other areas of the connectivity pipeline, such as the optical transport network, and WiFi.

The move to ‘open’ across the network is touted to bolster vendor interoperability and diversity, enable cost-savings , and foster innovation. Disaggregation is also paving the way for greener telecoms: lower energy consumption and reduced emissions will enable telcos to meet sustainability targets.

Despite the myriad of benefits open networks have to offer, the industry has been slow to embrace them at a large scale and it has taken considerable time to obtain buy-in.

However, adoption has been slowly but surely growing, with major vendors Ericsson and Nokia recently publicly backing open protocols and Vodafone committing to a large Open RAN tender.

As a result, confidence in the development of open networks grew significantly in 2023.

But it can’t just stop here. To continue this positive momentum, the industry now needs to prioritize acceleration; doubling down on overcoming barriers to ensure that we see more real-world deployments and commercialization in 2024 and beyond.

Building confidence with standardized testing

Currently, the industry lacks the confidence for widespread deployment and many operators worry about the complexities involved when requiring hardware and software from multiple vendors, each with distinct interoperability requirements, to seamlessly work together.

When making large investments in a network solution, communications service providers need assurance that it will work and not disrupt current operations. If testing an alternative requires greater time investment, it’s easy to see why providers stick to the status quo. If multi-vendor solutions are to truly accelerate, they must work straight ‘out of the box’ the same as a single vendor.

As major industry vendors like Ericsson and Nokia, alongside emerging vendors, embrace an open approach, overcoming interoperability challenges must be top of the agenda.

Vendors must be able to test their solutions through a unified test and certification process to assure operators that multi-vendor technology will work straight away; seamlessly and reliably integrating with the rest of the network.

The industry is now working to establish standardized product requirements for open networks and developing a foundational testing framework applicable across different deployment scenarios. These frameworks, once tested and certified, will enable operators to maintain consistency and dependability within the ecosystem, regardless of the vendors they use.

This is proving invaluable as it enables operators to streamline system-level testing and integration when implementing open networks. This will lead to notable time, resource, and cost savings, in addition to a faster rate of deployment of open and disaggregated solutions.

Community and collaboration

We are already seeing substantial demand and encouraging signs of collaboration within the global industry to support MNOs across regions to realize the benefits of open networks.

For example, research labs like the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the UK’s SONIC Labs, Germany’s i14y Lab, and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute are collaborating to accelerate open innovation and commercialization.

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year bore witness to a renewed pledge by these global labs to collaborate; outlining their plan to share learnings from their respective labs about open innovation and challenges regarding testing and commercialization. The labs vowed to prioritize supporting global trials and deployments of open networks, including supporting smaller vendors to bring solutions to market faster and developing a common framework for test and validation, underpinned by transparent communication.

Bridging the skills gap

The way that operators build networks is changing across the entire network – everything from the RAN to the optical/IP layer to the core.

Operators are looking to bring more vendors into their supply chains, build networks using hyperscaler infrastructure, and put software at the heart of their operations.

This shift is causing the lines between IT and network teams to blur, as they must now work together and understand how software and automation will have an end-to-end impact on their businesses.

As companies develop, test, and deploy open and disaggregated solutions, the goalposts are constantly shifting. This rapid evolution necessitates a commitment to continuous learning so that IT and network teams are adequately upskilled and reskilled to adapt to this new landscape.

All telco professionals must stay abreast of emerging technologies, industry trends, and best practices through formal training and participation in development communities. By investing in education, telcos can minimize the skills gap and remain at the forefront of the industry; encouraging innovation and driving the commercialization of open and disaggregated networks.

Investing in open

Finally, while it is promising to see more operators and vendors already deploying open networks at scale, further investment is needed to incentivize wider-scale deployments.

For Open RAN, in particular, funding helps tackle the costly hurdle of ripping and replacing Huawei equipment from the network.

Initiatives such as the US Wireless Innovation Fund and the UK’s Open Networks Research and Development Fund are already helping vendors and operators to develop, test, and certify their solutions to ensure interoperability. But it shouldn’t just stop there. In addition to greater funding for all regions, the next step is to provide blueprints for how open networks can be deployed in different scenarios and use cases, to ensure that investments are maximized effectively. 

Open networks provide the opportunity to transform the way networks are built and operated; improving economics, sustainability, and performance.

An increasing number of vendors and operators are subscribing to this approach and with this broader awareness and public support, the industry now needs to focus on realizing deployments.

Testing and certification will play a critical role in accelerating the deployment of open networks: ensuring specific performance and interoperability criteria are met – vital for instilling confidence to drive widespread adoption. 

Similarly, greater international collaboration and further government investment will spur technological development and advancement.