To keep up with the relentless data traffic growth experienced by mobile networks worldwide, operators have turned to two approaches to meet these demands: virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN.
Both are seeing an uptake, with operators realizing benefits in the flexibility and capabilities of their networks wherever they are installed. Service providers who are deploying vRAN in their 5G networks are poised for a competitive edge through far greater flexibility, automation and the rise of a broad ecosystem of supporting products—ranging from cloud solutions to servers to chipsets. Similarly, Open RAN compatible network elements, which make it easier for vendors to deploy and manage multi-vendor architectures, will enable operators to leverage the best components for every piece of their network.
Today, as Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 kicks off in Barcelona, Samsung is proud to be leading the way in building vRAN and Open RAN networks across the globe. As the first company to deliver on commercial wide-scale vRAN across North America, Europe and Asia – and as one of the top vendors in Open RAN market share – Samsung is accelerating next-gen networks with commercial deployments and new technologies that will usher in vRAN’s next era. While some network infrastructure providers are just beginning to introduce virtualization into their RAN portfolio, Samsung is set to introduce their vRAN 3.0—their next release of features and capabilities in their fully-virtualized RAN solution.
As we head into MWC, here are some or our latest Samsung vRAN and Open RAN milestones, along with some new developments being announced around MWC.
Going Live in the U.S.
vRAN and Open RAN is making strong progress in the United States, with the North America region projected to be one of the world’s primary growth vehicles for Open RAN approaches. Samsung is proud to be continuing its vRAN and Open RAN leadership in the country, with large-scale 5G network buildouts that leverage these approaches to help operators drive more flexible, agile deployments. Recent developments include:
- Samsung continues its support of a pioneering Tier 1 U.S. mobile operator and leader in the virtualization of its network, which has deployed, with Samsung’s assistance, over 10,000 vRAN cell sites—with a goal of 20,000 by 2025.
- Samsung is collaborating with a major operator on the deployment of a greenfield cloud-based nationwide 5G network—a key milestone in commercial 5G Open RAN. Recently, the companies announced that 24,000 O-RAN compliant 5G radios have been delivered and the first initial cell sites deployed in their cloud-ready virtualized Open RAN network. In support of this operator’s network approach, Samsung works with other vendors in an Open RAN ecosystem to deliver vRAN software on a CaaS and COTS server platform as well as integration between Samsung’s vRAN software and another vendors radios.
Deep vRAN/Open RAN Expansion in Japan
The Asia Pacific region is projected to be a growth area for Open RAN, with Japan serving as a hub of 5G Open RAN and vRAN activity. Samsung is leading the growth in Japan through its collaboration with leading mobile operators in the region. Key advancements are:
- In 2022, Samsung first joined with a top Japanese mobile operator to turn on the world’s first Standalone Open RAN site with vRAN. This year, the companies announced deployment of O-RAN compliant vRAN in Osaka, with the world’s first commercial MU-MIMO technology implementation. For this deployment, Samsung’s 5G vCU and vDU, and third-party radio units interconnected with an open interface. In addition, using Samsung’s vRAN, the operator constructed a Zero Touch Provisioning system to increase network automation with plans for full-scale deployment of Open vRAN sites in 2024.
- Last year, Samsung announced its work with another leading Japanese operator, supplying its O-RAN compliant 5G radios covering comprehensive set of the operator’s 5G spectrum holdings—including mid-band and mmWave. This supports the leading operator’s Open RAN 5G expansion with high scalability and flexibility, enabling quick responses to the evolving customer demands.
Advancing vRAN and Open RAN in Europe
Open RAN is making significant gains in Europe – expected to top $1B by 2027 – while vRAN is being embraced by the largest global operators in the region. This attests to the critical role these approaches have in advancing 5G, and Samsung has recently expanded its initiatives here:
- A leading U.K. operator first switched on the first Open RAN site in the U.K. with Samsung in 2022—and is now expanding its use of Samsung’s vRAN in its commercial network. Newly deployed 64T64R O-RAN compliant Massive MIMO radios—fully integrated into the vRAN—will set the foundation for further open 5G expansion. Elsewhere on the continent, the two companies began multiple trials using vRAN and Open RAN across Germany and Spain, where Samsung joined the testbed for Open RAN research in Ciudad Real, Spain, deploying O-RAN compliant Massive MIMO radios in urban environments.
Ushering in vRAN 3.0
As 5G virtualization continues to advance amongst leading global operators, Samsung is innovating with the next release of its vRAN software – introducing new capabilities that will allow operators to deploy, manage and scale their networks to stay in front of their competitors and be poised for the future.
Samsung’s vRAN 3.0, announced at MWC Barcelona include new capabilities like widened bandwidth support (60 MHz to 200 MHZ) for three cell configurations using 64T64R Massive MIMO radios, new energy saving features that put CPUs into ‘sleep mode’ to save on power. It is “smart” software-driven features like these—which help operators reach energy conservation goals and enhance capacity and performance—that are ushering in the age of vRAN 3.0. For more information on these new vRAN features, please see our announcement here.
