Open RAN (O-RAN) technology added two more firsts last week. Telefónica became the first to turn on O-RAN technology in Germany, choosing the technology for the 4G small cells it deployed in Munich, and Airspan Networks Gogo turned on a seven-tower O-RAN 5G testbed as part of the deployment of nationwide 5G Air-to-Ground (ATG) network.
In the coming weeks, installations will occur in Munich’s city center with two 4G radio cells at Gärtnerplatz and “pure 5G O-RAN mini radio cells” (5G Standalone) in Kaufinger Straße. A year ago, 02 / Telefónica executed an O-RAN trial in the U.K., using NEC as system integrator and Altiostar’s vRAN software.
The wide open skies will be home for Gogo’s 5G ATG network powered powered by Airspan’s OpenRANGE Air5G Sub-6 GHZ Radio Unit macros, fully virtualized OpenRANGE vCU and vDU software, and massive MIMO antennas.
“These seven sites will serve as a testbed for our 150-tower nationwide network,” said Mike Rupert, Vice President of Network Operations for Gogo Business Aviation. “The testbed includes sites in both remote and populated locations to validate the network is operating as designed in all – and many – challenging environments.”
Gogo’s plans call for “rapid” deployment of additional sites throughout the first half of 2022. The 5G ATG network will be launched in the second half of the year, using Airspan’s portfolio of 5G advanced 5G infrastructure, O-RAN virtualized software and hardware, and 5G antennas.
Earlier in January, Vodafone switched on the U.K.’s first 5G O-RAN site in Bath, England. It was the first of 2,500 5G and 4G Open RAN sites that Vodafone plans to deploy as the carrier accelerates the development of its O-RAN plans.
Last September, market analyst Dell’Oro Group revised its O-RAN radio and baseband projections upward to approach $10 billion to $15 billion between 2020 and 2025.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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