Some see what Rakuten Mobile achieved with Open RAN as a special case that can’t be easily repeated, especially in brownfield deployments. Do they have a point?

Greenfield: A common conversation is that Open RAN is only applicable in completely new builds and not to existing operations or operators. We disagree with that. Open RAN is the application of new modern technologies into a business and an operation.

Brownfield: One view is to see this existing operations and operators as not what’s commonly termed a Brownfield but rather as a collection of Greenfield opportunities and existing businesses, all of those that are available for modernization. Now, do you do all of those at the same time? No, you do not.

I fully predict that some of the existing infrastructure and operations will be here in 10 or 15 years. However, we should change the ones we want to change as quickly as possible and create a new operating model and growth. So it’s a different landscape, a different business, and a different challenge. And it’s finding the right tools to meet those needs.

Related Shorts and Episodes

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The Open RAN challenges can broadly be categorized into System Integration and Operation Model challenges, per Petr Ledl, Vice President and Head of Network Trials and Integration Lab, Deutsche Telekom.
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The Open RAN challenges can broadly be categorized into System Integration and Operation Model challenges, per Petr Ledl, Vice President and Head of Network Trials and Integration Lab, Deutsche Telekom.
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Deutsche Telekom introduced a vendor-independent Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) component based on ONAP open source to automate services on all network domains, to manage disaggregated RAN complexity.
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Deutsche Telekom introduced a vendor-independent Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) component based on ONAP open source to automate services on all network domains, to manage disaggregated RAN complexity.
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The main learnings from DT’s open and virtualized RAN deployment are related to more responsbility for operators and performance and operational evaluation.
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The main learnings from DT’s open and virtualized RAN deployment are related to more responsbility for operators and performance and operational evaluation.
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The key components Deutsche Telekom’s Open RAN Journey include O-RAN town, automation, industry ecosystem, skills development, new operating model, and vendor selection.
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The key components Deutsche Telekom’s Open RAN Journey include O-RAN town, automation, industry ecosystem, skills development, new operating model, and vendor selection.

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