Ericsson and Telefónica to accelerate adoption of the Cloud RAN open cloud architecture

Swedish telecommunications equipment vendor Ericsson has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Spanish Telefónica to accelerate the adoption of Cloud RAN (Radio Access Network) architecture. This collaboration will include joint trial deployments of Cloud RAN sites in Europe, which will leverage automation tools and service management to enhance radio access network (RAN) solutions.

Enrique Blanco, Telefónica Global CTIO, expressed excitement about the collaboration, stated this could be the evolution to open and disaggregated network architectures. Blanco believes that this transition will increase flexibility, enable new network architectures and models, and boost innovation.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks at Ericsson, mentioned the developments in the O-RAN Alliance, which allows Ericsson to build high-performance networks on Open RAN standards at scale. The company is working with Google to bring hyperscale benefits to telco cloud through its Cloud RAN solution on Google Distributed Cloud.

Furthermore, Ericsson and O2 Telefónica demonstrated Cloud RAN technology, showcasing Europe’s first Cloud RAN 5G mmWave use case.

Why does it matter?

Radio Access Network (RAN) solutions are often seen as the alternative to the 5G high speed internet. Having a flexibility and open network architectures in the cloud sector, might bring the new innovation wave. It reflects the ongoing commitment to rethink future mobile networks, enabling fully programmable and highly adaptable infrastructure.