One year ago, we announced plans with Ericsson to lead the United States in commercial scale open radio access network (Open RAN) deployment to further the telecommunications industry efforts and help build a more robust ecosystem of network infrastructure providers and suppliers.
To help accomplish our goal of achieving an open, multi-vendor, programmable wireless network, we have signed new agreements with Fujitsu and Mavenir to develop radios specifically for crowded urban areas. This will help us improve our network’s performance and coverage in busy cities.
These radios will be open C-band radios (TDD 4T4R) and dual band radios (B25/B66 FDD 4T4R) which can be attached to existing utility and light poles. They can often be hidden, making them virtually unseen from street level. We are continuing to look for opportunities to bring additional third-party radios into the network when needed.
All open radios will be managed by Ericsson’s Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP) via open management interfaces. EIAP is Ericsson’s open network management and service orchestration platform. It supports replacing the old legacy equipment and installing the new radios without missing a beat.
When Open RAN architectures are combined with innovative applications called 'rApps' from either the operator or third parties, they can greatly improve the customer experience. This is achieved through better network performance, wider coverage, cost efficiency, and fosters innovation. ‘rAPPs’ are expected to play a critical role in managing and sustaining third party radio innovation opportunities.
While our teams are busy behind the scenes moving 70% of our 5G network traffic to flow across open hardware by late 2026 – our customers can relax and enjoy a better wireless experience.
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