Virgin Media O2 Selects Mavenir as Open RAN Vendor

Reported by Srikapardhi April 17th, 2023 at 06:48 pm

Virgin Media O2 has selected Mavenir as its Open RAN vendor and prime integrator to roll out a scalable Open vRAN solution as part of its network evolution plans. The cloud-native solution will feature virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW and Intel processors for scalability, while leveraging Virgin Media O2's network infrastructure assets.

Highlights

Virgin Media O2 selects Mavenir as Open RAN vendor for network evolution plan.
Mavenir's Open vRAN solution will feature virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW and Intel processors for scalability.
Intel to collaborate with Mavenir and Virgin Media O2 for sustainable network innovation.

Virgin Media O2, a British media and telecommunications company, has announced that it has chosen Mavenir, a Network Software Provider, as its Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) vendor. This partnership will allow Virgin Media O2 to adopt a more flexible and cloud-native architecture as it rolls out a scalable Open vRAN solution as part of its network evolution plans.

Also Read: Virgin Media O2 and Ericsson Extend Partnership to Enhance 4G, 5G Coverage Across UK

Mavenir's cloud-native Open vRAN solution

Mavenir's Open vRAN solution has been built from the ground up to be cloud-native, with fully containerized microservices, making it easy to deploy on any cloud. The solution works on open interfaces supporting O-RAN Split 7.2x and Split 2 and further disaggregates into Distributed Unit (DU) and Centralised Unit (CU), which function as containerized network functions running on Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) hardware containing Intel processors.

The Open vRAN solution is designed to support multiple Fronthaul splits simultaneously, providing a vendor-agnostic and future-proof architecture that leverages Virgin Media O2's network infrastructure assets.

Solution to feature virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW

The system will consist of fully virtualized L1, L2 vRAN SW and will operate on Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, along with Intel vRAN Accelerator ACC100 and Intel 800 series Ethernet adapters. The delivery will also feature Mavenir's OpenBeam Radios, including massive MIMO, 3rd party O-RAN based Radio Units, network monitoring, and optimization.

Also Read: Mavenir and Red Hat Collaborate to Launch Converged Packet Core Solution

Virgin Media O2 Infrastructure

The company is digitalizing networks by seamlessly integrating infrastructure to get value from existing assets.

According to Virgin Media O2, "Extending collaboration with Mavenir to the RAN for the first time will help O2 establish a future-proof Open vRAN architecture, unlocking the benefits of a multi-vendor open interface while allowing the telco to rapidly benefit from an end-to-end network solution."

The Mavenir OpenBeam radio portfolio fully complements Virgin Media O2's full spectrum requirements.

Overall, this partnership between Virgin Media O2 and Mavenir represents a significant step forward in the evolution of network architecture, offering a future-proof and flexible solution that can adapt to changing demands and use cases.

Reported By

Srikapardhi Telecom Analyst

Passionately following the Indian #Telecom Industry for over a decade from Business, Consumer and a Technical perspective. My primary focus area is Consumer & Digital Experience.