FREQUENTLY AKED QUESTIONS

OPENRAN VRAN

WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATE OF THE vRAN – an implementation of the RAN in a more
OPENRAN VRAN MARKET? open and flexible architecture which virtualizes
network functions in software platforms based on
OpenRAN vRAN technology has arrived. The
general purpose processors.
specifications were released a little under a year ago
and commercial products are now coming to the 5. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF OPENRAN
market. The ecosystem is ready for this technology VRAN?
to begin scaling.
COST SAVINGS. A virtualized network that is
2. WHAT IS THE MAVENIR DIFFERENTIATOR? containerized can break down each of the elements.
Mavenir will continue to deliver vRAN as well as This modern network can scale to support either
Packet Core and of course, IMS for voice, video and tens of subscribers to millions of subscribers
messaging. Globally, we already compete depending on how many instances and
successfully against the traditional vendors substantiations of the VNFs are running on a single
Ericsson, Nokia, and Huawei in ripping and platform. TCO studies have revealed expected
replacing their core elements in major Tier 1 savings of close to 40%, consistent with the savings
experience and expertise in virtualizing networks that Rakuten has seen with their newly launched
over the past decade. OpenRAN network.
3. WHAT EFFECT WILL SOFTWARE- MULTIPLE OPERATORS & NETWORK SHARING.
DEFINED/VIRTUAL RAN PLAYERS SUCH AS OpenRAN vRAN supports multiple operators using
MAVENIR HAVE ON THE MARKET AS A multiple VNFs sitting side-by-side on the same
WHOLE? platform but on segregated networks. Another
benefit is network sharing in the future through
What Mavenir can do through virtualized software
software.
with our 3,300 employees, takes Nokia and Ericsson
over 100,000 people to accomplish. Mavenir has a ELIMINATE VENDOR LOCK-IN. OpenRAN breaks
lower cost structure through the use of software and open the interface between the remote radio head
intends to disrupt the market on OpenRAN. The and the DU. Those traditional vendors only offer a
Vodafone and Telefonica announcements about walled garden with proprietary hardware. Through
partnering with Mavenir have started to destabilize the O-RAN Alliance, a fully open interface on Split
Nokia and Ericsson’s perceived duopoly and 7.2 has been defined to include all the OEM.
Huawei’s supply base.
3rd PARTY TESTING BENEFITS. Radios with
4. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE 3GPPP specs on one side and O-RAN specs on the
BETWEEN OPENRAN, O-RAN AND VRAN? other will work with different vendors' baseband.
Because there is a defined specification with 3GPPP
OpenRAN – disaggregated RAN functionality built
interfaces, the elements can be tested independently
using open interface specifications between which reduces cost and takes pressure off operators
elements, which can be implemented in vendor- to test in their own labs. Radios can be purchased
neutral hardware and software-defined technology from any vendor and tested independently by a 3rd
based on open interfaces and community-developed party for validation purposes. Radios are now being
standards. produced at such low costs that any operator can
O-RAN – refers to the O-RAN Alliance or designated purchase them and not get locked into a specific
specification. O-RAN Alliance is a specification system integrator. For example, Telecom Infra Project
group defining next generation RAN infrastructures, (TIP) has launched the Evenstar project with radios
empowered by principles of intelligence and priced around $1,000 in collaboration with Mavenir,
openness. Facebook Connectivity, MTI, Deutsche Telekom and
other partners – see related press release from
February 25, 2020.

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 6. WHAT ARE BARRIERS TO ADOPTION OF 9. HOW IS THE BAN ON CHINA ESSENTIAL
OPENRAN vRAN? COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AFFECTING
The operators have been beholden to buying RAN THE US?
from one vendor which has restricted the ability to
5G deployments are rapidly progressing. The rip and
modernize without having to rip all the hardware as
replace of Huawei and ZTE in the US and
well. If the interface had been open between the
restrictions and considerations in other countries are
radio and baseband unit, the radio could have
presenting an opportunity for US vendors.
stayed in the tower and a tremendous amount of
money saved. If the interfaces were open to the 10. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE LIKES OF
radio, another vendor’s baseband processing could ERICSSON AND NOKIA HAVE SO MUCH
have been integrated for a better solution rather than MINDSHARE AS THE LEADING VIABLE
ripping out everything. The whole vendor ecosystem ALTERNATIVES TO HUAWEI?
has been held hostage to this duopoly. Operators
Nokia and Ericsson are perceived as the safe bet.
won’t improve the economics of their network unless
The result is that operators are left with a
fundamental changes are made in the procurement
monopolistic vendor duopoly delivering closed
process to take advantage of these newer
systems with no option to mix-and-match RAN
technologies.
technology.
7. IS OPENRAN VRAN TECHNOLOGY MATURE
11. WHICH ARE THE US ALTERNATIVES THAT
FOR SCALING AND PERFORMANCE?
ARE BEING IGNORED?
OpenRAN vRAN started by virtualizing bare metal
Emerging players with advanced technology
platforms. The next step has been to containerize
solutions that are geared for 5G. Mavenir is one of
the network. Web-scale platforms will continue to
the alternatives currently being overlooked by the
evolve in a cloud-native containerized Kubernetes-
US government, which is still relying on Ericsson
style.
and Huawei despite having strong options at home.
8. CAN OPENRAN VRAN SCALE TO COMPETE While Mavenir is the only end-to-end vendor in the
WITH THE INCUMBENT VENDORS? US, there are other US companies, niche players
such as Altiostar and Parallel Wireless in the mix.
The traditional vendors (Huawei, Ericsson and
Nokia) will go to great lengths to stop/slow 12. HOW ARE THE US ALTERNATIVE VENDORS
OpenRAN vRAN. Fortunately, the large operators ABLE TO COMPETE ON COST WITH THE
are now requiring OpenRAN compliance in their ESTABLISHED LEGACY VENDORS?
bids. The new OpenRAN vRAN ecosystem is
Mavenir, Altiostar and Parallel Wireless are focused
continuing to expand.
on bringing OpenRAN technology to market with no
More so in 5G than in 4G, the incumbent traditional overhead. This can be accomplished with far less
vendor radios will deliberately have difficulty people at far lower costs to disrupt the marketplace.
achieving integration between different radios and Operator involvement will determine how fast the
basebands from different vendors. Much work has technology evolves. As any new technology has
been done in building new interfaces and validating proven historically, it will take a few years to roll
designs. Chipsets are also starting to become through deployment cycles in networks around the
available. Labs are setting themselves up for testing, world.
and O-RAN has proven that the basic technology is
13. HOW MUCH FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR US
sound and ready.
VENDORS TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE RAN
The challenge for any network deployment is delays MARKET?
in the zoning, planning and physical aspects of
US vendors aren’t receiving the support needed
deployments. Once things are working in a small
from the government unlike other industries such as
number of cells from a software perspective, then it
the energy sector. The US government is still
is easy to scale and grow across the network.
promoting Swedish Ericsson and Finnish Nokia as
the alternatives to Huawei. Newer vendors can only
scale if given the opportunity.

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 14. WHAT ABOUT FEDERAL FUNDING? The other main challenge in the RAN is the X2
interface which allows local handoff between
There are various funding sources being
vendors. 3GPP has fully defined that interface, but
appropriated for telecommunications in the US
the incumbent vendors won't open it up and allow it
government. The challenge is how companies like
to work. This is a political mandate issue more than
Mavenir can access those funds. There needs to be
a specification issue with those two interfaces.
an effort to focus on US companies.
Operators can now mix and match RAN vendors,
15. WHAT EFFECT DOES UK GOVERNMENT’S mix and match RAN technology and take their
35% LIMIT, BUT NOT BAN OF HUAWEI IN THE network to the next step.
RADIO NETWORK MEAN FOR THE GLOBAL
O-RAN has also been focused on the radio interface
BUSINESS?
controller (RIC). In a software state, there is more
The UK government’s decision is more about dynamic control of the elements and the scheduler is
protecting their investments, not just in mobile probably the most important part of the RAN in terms
technology but in the underlying core switching of slicing and scheduling all the traffic onto various
fabric required for 5G. However, there is still data channels. Networks can deploy one scheduler
pressure from the US government on international per user and deliver QoS that will never be possible
partners to use trusted technologies for sharing in the hardware-based solutions.
information.
17. CAN O-RAN, 3GPP AND TIP WORK
16. IS THE O-RAN ALLIANCE STANDARDIZING TOGETHER GOING FORWARD?
THE INDUSTRY ON INTERFACES AND
More cohesion is needed between O-RAN, 3GPP,
OPENNESS?
and the TIP. TIP is aligning with O-RAN and Mavenir
O-RAN is the group fixing the mistakes of 3GPP, is a member and doing projects with both. The
which is heavily influenced by the legacy vendors. In question mark is how fast 3GPP can shed
terms of the fronthaul group, O-RAN is the team that incumbent control and become a proper standards
took down the walled garden around the RAN forum again.
through one interface spec to change the world from
a RAN perspective. All of the other interfaces are
essentially through 3GPP.

About Mavenir
Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the
vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's
only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is transforming the way the
world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications
Service Providers in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the world’s subscribers.

For more on Mavenir Solutions please visit our website at www.mavenir.com

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