Successful 5G Deployments

Successful
5G Deployments

With the global expansion of 5G networks growing at
a rapid rate, businesses are often forced to select their
5G transition journey through a trial-and-error method.

O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) has emerged
as a leading candidate to help streamline these
transformation pathways, while enabling organizations
to derive significant cost savings and other productivity
gains in the process.

Towards O-RAN: Understanding the Key Enablers

On the other hand, the multiple benefits of O-RAN systems are evident to even the most casual observer. Inter-carrier and vendor interoperability are standard features, enabling the rapid deployment of a connected network leveraging different components from diverse suppliers. The innovation roadmap is entirely software-based, enabling deep-rooted virtualization capabilities from the very start.

It is this ability to drive virtualization which sets apart O-RAN from other approaches, enabling businesses to standardize their application interface design. They can also leverage the freedom of operations in an O-RAN setting to create open interfaces for their hardware and software resources to support a diverse and extensive range of applications.

The major enablers for a smooth implementation of O-RAN include

O-RAN

Exchange to Exchange (E2E) interoperability testing

E2E system integration

Component and product level system design capabilities

Comprehensive Network Lifecycle Management

O-RAN: Towards Successful 5G Deployments

As global businesses accelerate their 5G journeys, O-RAN has emerged as a leading driver of the implementation process. O-RAN represents a disaggregated approach to deploying mobile front- and mid-haul networks developed entirely by leveraging cloud-native principles.

A review of the technology landscape reveals that companies that are not leveraging O-RAN capabilities are restricted in terms of flexibility in their implementation journeys. The often stringent terms of using proprietary equipment and network functions have slowed the speed of their network transition roadmaps, and network virtualization has taken a backseat. This has restricted network interoperability, defeating the very foundational benefits of transitioning to a 5G network.

Shift towards O-RAN

The growing worldwide shift in favor of O-RAN appears to be driven by a combination
of emerging market dynamics and evolving internal stimulators. Companies are looking
to expand their vendor ecosystems for scaling their existing range of applications and
expanding their operations.

The resultant demand for enhanced interoperability across existing devices and
components to reach new markets and evaluate emerging solutions has accelerated
the speed of internal innovation journeys. And as innovation cycles continue to shorten,
this translates into a growing need for a faster development and deployment of
5G products and solutions, and streamlined practices to help teams leverage
the full potential of these offerings.

The process, therefore, becoming self-fulfilling, as the subsequent cost optimizations
from avoiding the use of proprietary hardware and reduction in overall outlays through
better vendor management start outweighing the initial budgetary allocations for the
O-RAN implementation .

We feel that the following factors will play a key role in driving the pace of global O-RAN implementations:

Increased flexibility among vendor partners for driving an optimized network ecosystem.

Enhanced scope for driving co-innovation between vendors, telecommunications companies, and the various standards organizations.

Augmented reliability and stability of network capabilities.

Focused disentangling of legacy systems from the new age hardware systems for ensuring smoother network deployment.

Companies are awakening to the potential of these driving factors
to drive an organization-wide transformation roadmap.

This includes:

Equipment diversification for enabling a unified network management framework

Optimizing resource utilization
Ensuring vendor flexibility

Enhancing network security
Enabling network customization