Swedish telecom vendor Ericsson and Spanish telecommunications service provider Telefonica have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate the adoption of Ericsson's Cloud RAN architecture. Under the MoU, Telefonica and Ericsson will also explore how to deploy Cloud RAN sites with a high degree of automation, following approaches in line with best practices in cloud ecosystems.
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Ericsson and Telefonica's shared vision
Ericsson said this includes leveraging rApps in the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and service management and orchestration (SMO) architecture to enhance radio access network (RAN) solutions. The rApps are software applications designed to run on the Non-Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller to realise various RAN management and optimization use cases in an automated manner.
Telefonica stated, "The network's transition to software-based operations and the evolution toward open and disaggregated network architectures will increase flexibility, enable new network architectures and models, and boost innovation."
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Ericsson said its Cloud RAN offers the capability to build macro networks and expand into enterprise applications.
Ericsson says, "This collaboration with Telefonica aims to accelerate the development and deployment of cloud-native open networks. This will enable an open ecosystem of innovation and reshape our perception of network value by exposing new capabilities through standardized APIs. The latest developments in the O-RAN Alliance allow us to build high-performance networks based on Open RAN standards, at scale."
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Ericsson's Cloud RAN and Radio System integration
Ericsson Cloud RAN is based on an open, standardized architecture and is fully compatible with the deployed Ericsson Radio System portfolio, assisting operators in evolving their networks according to their preferred architecture.
Leveraging the existing 5G infrastructure as a foundation, the collaboration will accelerate RAN evolution as both Telefonica and Ericsson agree to jointly test, deploy, and advance Cloud RAN technology, including trial deployments in Europe.
