Although it will take some time to see 5G networks in the Indian market, the telecom operators have begun to test their 5G solutions to ascertain that a quicker and efficient rollout of the next-generation network is possible. In India, 5G will be primarily based on O-RAN or Open-Radio Access Network. O-RAN will allow the operators to source network elements from various companies, both hardware, and software. If the ORAN is not present, the operators will have to depend on buying everything from single vendors, which have assisted companies like Ericsson and Nokia, to offer their solutions globally.
According to the VP of Qualcomm India and President of SAARC, Rajen Vagadia, the 5G networks in the country will essentially depend on O-RAN. While O-RAN technology is under development and will take more time before it releases, he believes that a big part of the Indian 5G network will rely on O-RAN.
India Will Not Have to Depend On Chinese Companies
Vagadia said that India doesn’t have to rely on Chinese companies to facilitate5G. Even if there are certain political tensions with other countries, the operators will be able to deploy various aspects of a network from numerous companies through O-RAN. It will assist the operators in eliminating the companies from the nations that don’t have a good tie-up with India.
According to Vagadia, O-RAN will be highly compelling for the Indian operators as it will be less costly and would enable great flexibility with regards to operations. One of the important statements from Vagadia was regarding the 5Gi. For those of you who don’t know 5Gi, it is the 5G standard developed by India, and it does not have global standards. He said that for 5Gi to be successful, the concept will need standardization, as per some industry insiders.
What Is an Open-Radio Access Network?
Open-Radio Access Network (O-RAN) is an architecture that enables the use of virtualization, software-defined networking, and network function virtualization in radio access networks.
The O-RAN Architecture describes a new way to build Radio Access Networks by decoupling data from control plane functions which are implemented as individual Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) in a distributed manner.
The O-RAN Architecture lays out the requirements for Virtualized Radio Access Networks that are elastic, programmable, and virtualized. It covers all key functional areas of radio access networks, including transport network aspects. The centralized control plane is responsible for orchestrating VNF instances located at any point in the network towards a common goal.
Introduce New Innovation Models
Open RAN paves the way for service innovation and effectiveness of telcos by dividing the RAN into component parts, and each of them can be reconfigured separately. O-RAN standards can be easily accessed by third-party software developers who can further create new services and innovate on the RIC. It allows telcos to make their networks a more relevant resource for consumer applications and enterprises.
Lower The Overall Ownership Cost
Automation will be prominent in managing the lifecycle of cloud-native RAN operations. It can reduce the network’s ownership costs such as resource distribution, energy use, operations. This can be done by evolving the network in a regular integration manner instead of using generational investment cycles. A single APAC operator’s automation and a DevOps approach are important to their capability to release a greenfield openRAN network and boost the 4G site commission to 8 minutes, which earlier took 3 to 4 days.
Unlock New Revenue Opportunities
CBRS shared spectrum auction advocates that private LTE networks for the company will advance in 2021. Telcos will be able to customize RAN software and hardware within an open-RAN deployment to extend personalized features based on the application and deployment condition of the enterprise. For example, they may integrate additional security with a management segment. Since the network architecture is based on software, operators can prioritize certain locations with targeted upgrades.
Expand the Supplier Ecosystem
Open Ran claims to have the potential to allow telcos to eliminate vendor lock-in by putting disaggregated RAN based on open standards instead of vendor-proprietary interfaces. The Open-Ran allows the functions to remain proprietary. It is used on a larger scale in macro networks, so the benefits of white-box solutions tend to be offset by complex processes on integrating O-RAN elements.
