Telefónica and NEC to test open RAN in Brazil

Spain’s Telefónica and Japanese IT company NEC will jointly carry out pre-commercial open RAN network tests in their key markets Brazil, Spain, Germany and the UK.

Telefónica aims at 50% growth of the open RAN-based radio network by 2025.

Both companies had already carried out initial joint tests in Germany and the UK, and Telefónica and IBM in Argentina.

NEC will act as the lead systems integrator to implement and test multi-vendor-based open RAN solutions. The goal is to reach at least 800 sites for commercial use by 2022.

In addition, Telefónica and NEC will validate and implement open RAN technologies and use cases in Telefónica’s recently created technology and automation laboratory in Madrid.

Use cases include those built on intelligent radio controllers powered by RAN optimization artificial intelligence techniques, service lifecycle automation based on service management and orchestration, test and deployment automation within Telefónica’s continuous integration/continuous deployment framework, and energy savings, the company said in a statement.

In January, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Vodafone signed a memorandum of understanding on open RAN development in Europe. They committed to working with organizations like the O-RAN Alliance and the Telecom Infra Project.

Telefónica and Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile have also signed an MoU linked to open RAN development.