Charting the rise of Open RAN with Amdocs

This interview first appeared on Silverlinings.

In this interview, Nir Hollander, GM & Division President of Amdocs Mobile Network Solutions, is in the Cloud 9 hotseat to discuss all things Open RAN.

Open RAN is short for Open Radio Access Networks and represents a new approach to building the mobile networks that are needed to connect devices such as smartphones to the internet and other users.

Traditional RAN solutions typically require telecoms operators to work with individual suppliers across an entire mobile site. The key difference with Open RAN, Nir says, is that it disaggregates the network and enables customers to build a more diverse platform with multiple suppliers. This, he adds, encourages greater innovation and competition within the sector, and over time can lead to reduced costs and faster lead times.

Nir goes on to discuss the role of AI in Open RAN, as well as how highly bespoke private networks and smart cities are prime examples of Open RAN in action.

Want to hear more from Nir, including a rundown of some of Amdocs’ activities in the Open RAN planned for 2024? Tune into the full conversation today.

Steve Saunders:

Hi, I am Steve Saunders on Cloud 9. And my guest today is Nir Hollander, GM and division president at Amdocs for Mobile Network Solutions. Nir, hi, welcome to the show.

Nir Hollander:

Thank you for having me, Steve. Happy to be here.

Steve Saunders:

We're going to be talking about Open RAN. I mean, first of all, give us the quick definition of Open RAN and then also, Nir, if you can share with us, why is it so important to your customers right now?

Nir Hollander:

Well, Open RAN is kind of an evolution of the traditional RAN network. It's a disaggregation of the network from the RAN itself to the hardware as well as the software. And it's allowing our CSPs, our customers, to implement a more dynamic and flexible and programmable network as a platform with a diverse or multiple suppliers. So if in the past it was mainly dependent on one supplier, now the network is disaggregation in a way that it's more software driven and it's allowing multiple vendors to be part of the network implementation.

Steve Saunders:

And it sounds like really it's sort of creating this type of technology meritocracy in RAN, isn't it? Because as a service provider I should be able to go out and choose the best product for any particular part of the network now rather than being locked into a single vendor solution. What's actually defined under Open RAN and if I wanted to make changes to my Open RAN network, how do I do that? Do I just do that with a software upload or is it a truck roll or how does that work?

Nir Hollander:

It is software driven. So software upgrades, different software upgrades path to different vendors. And the entire, I would say deployment should be easier and faster. And it's also using off the shelf, COTS hardware, which is completely different than it is today.

Steve Saunders:

And what's the state of the state with Open RAN right now? I know it's been conceptualized for quite a while. It really seems to be getting more traction at the moment. Is that true and why is that?

Nir Hollander:

We can see that in the past, I would say six, seven years, the traffic has significantly increased with our CSPs. From the other hand, the cost per bit has not reduced and this is one of the reasons that there is a need now for an immediate TCO reduction from our customers from the CSPs and that's one of the reasons it's gaining traction. It's reducing the risk because as you mentioned, you are not locked in with one vendor. It's more flexible on service implementation and the competition is higher because you have many more that, or partners or ecosystems, that are part of this implementation.

Another thing is that the maturity of the Open RAN technology is getting better and you see more customers that are engaged in the Open RAN journey and we hear customers like AT&T that would like to have around 70% of the wireless traffic over a network that is Open RAN capable by somewhere in '26. We see DISH that is in a way a pioneering this and. Also Vodafone that is planning to have at least 30% of its network in Europe with Open RAN by 2030. So we see that these companies would like to become more software companies. They would like to do things much faster to provide a much better experience. This is the reason why we see also others that are now joining this journey and starting this evolution of Open RAN.

Steve Saunders:

Does Amdocs have a specific role to play in the Open RAN market? Because obviously it is Open RAN, you could take part in all of that ecosystem, but is there a specialty? What is Amdocs role in Open RAN?

Nir Hollander:

So first on the software side, we provide the SMO that is needed now for the Open RAN in order to orchestrate RAN automation as well as the service assurance. The SMO is an evolution of the current portfolio that we have, which is around the orchestration, the inventory, and the assurance. And we are coming to the market with an SMO solution that is built on approved tools and capabilities that we had so far. On the RAN automation software, it's mainly related to the X-apps and the R-apps and it's based as well on proven vendor agnostic automation capabilities that we have that are already deployed in more than 90 operators around the world.

On the services side, we have a full set of services around Open RAN, which where we want to integrate the Open RAN ecosystem from one hand. Test and deploy for our customers from the lab to production. We have a tier one customer that we do network rollout integration and management expertise for around the ORAN domain and partnership with leading RAN vendors. So we are trying to help to accelerate, help the CSPs accelerate the rollout for Open RAN and provide a variety of services around this domain.

Steve Saunders:

We've got a big show coming up, don't we, in Barcelona? I know Amdocs is going to be there. Will you be demonstrating any of these capabilities at the event?

Nir Hollander:

Yes, we will demonstrate on the event we'll have a demo of Open RAN. We also have a demo of private networks. We also have a demo of Smart Cities. So we have multiple demos to our capabilities and I also believe that 2024 will be a pivotal year in whatever is related to Open RAN and I hope that and want to be a big part of it.

Steve Saunders:

Well I tell you what, Nir, if you're going to be at the show and you've got all these demos, I'll swing by and you can give me the tour.

Nir Hollander:

Thank you Steve. Appreciate the time.

Steve Saunders:

Anytime. Thank you sir.