AT&T Advances Open RAN Readiness

AT&T continues to make steady progress on its path toward a more open, programmable network and over the past year, we’ve advanced key elements that support Open RAN readiness.

One of the biggest building blocks is getting the underlying network infrastructure modernized and ready to support more open interfaces and cloud-native architectures. We’ve completed more than 50% of our radio replacement (“swap”) program, reflecting continued execution at scale and ongoing progress toward a more Open capable RAN footprint. We’ve successfully completed an Open RAN call on our commercial network using Ericsson basebands and 1Finity radios and we’re the first CSP globally to deploy a third-party rApp to optimize our live production network.

In parallel, more than 50% of our network traffic is now carried on open-capable hardware (infrastructure designed to support open architectures over time), marking a meaningful shift in the foundation we’re building on.

Cloud RAN is a key enabler of a more software-centric RAN—allowing network functions to be deployed with cloud principles, improving flexibility and accelerating how we introduce innovation. We are live with Cloud RAN in two cities and on track to complete system integrations and start scaling by the end of first quarter. We continue to work with the ecosystem to advance open architecture solution readiness in the Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialization for Open RAN Deployments Consortium (ACCoRD) lab. We’ve also enhanced Could RAN performance by reaching an AI milestone by successfully testing Ericsson’s AI-native Link Adaptation.

Open RAN readiness also depends on the software platforms that orchestrate, automate, and extend the network. In that area, we’ve made great progress in deploying Ericsson’s Intelligent Automation Platform, which includes key Open RAN components for cloud orchestration and a new layer of network programmability referred to as the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). This positions us not only to deploy modern infrastructure, but to operate the RAN in a more programmable way, with a clearer framework for automation and policy-driven behavior.

We’re advancing multiple fronts at once—modernization, open-capable hardware at scale, Cloud RAN execution, and the software platform layers that turn openness into operational agility. The next phase is about continuing to execute, expand coverage, and translate programmability into measurable network outcomes.