Telefónica sees first Open RAN deployments starting in 2023-24

Open RAN is not in Telefónica's short-term plans in Hispanic America and it is just envisioning the first deployments of open technology for 2023-24.

The company is testing the technology in Argentina with IBM and plans to start other pilots in Brazil, led by NEC. In the case of Argentina, it is testing Open RAN 4G.

The plan is to be able to verify that the new architecture, open and with multiple pieces from different vendors, works with all the reliability and availability requirements that telecom operators require. "We cannot afford to lower the platform or the networks to do maintenance," Andrea Folgueiras, CTIO of Telefónica Hispanoamérica, told BNamericas.

Folgueiras said that the Open RAN architecture has multiple advantages for operators, but it remains to be ensured that when it is implemented in the network it works correctly and without fissures.

With the deployment of the wholesale Internet for All (IpT) network in Peru, Telefónica started the path towards Open RAN. Although technically the IpT infrastructure does not meet all Open RAN specifications, it is the group's first approach to new ways of implementing mobile networks. "What we did with IpT helped us think outside the box," Folgueiras said.

She said one of the challenges when setting up a network of these characteristics is maintenance. And that's why you have to work with the integrators to ensure that, once the network is deployed, there are no problems and that it complies with the availability standards of the five nines (99.999%).

"It is very difficult to give a specific date of when we’re going to implement Open RAN because we still have to go through this testing process," Folgueiras said. The recently announced tests with NEC for 2022 will be part of this process.

In Chile, where the Spanish company recently acquired 5G spectrum, Telefónica is deploying the new mobile generation in the traditional way, with proprietary infrastructure.

In any case, Folgueira is confident about the future of open technologies, and Open RAN in particular, and hopes that the technology can be deployed on a widespread basis. "Due to its characteristics, I see a massive deployment as much more efficient than a limited one," she said.

In addition, she pointed out that the technology can be useful for both 4G and 5G networks.

Telefónica is one of the operators that is promoting the deployment of Open RAN and participates in the international O-RAN alliance.