RAN & Open RAN News
All the latest radio access network (RAN) and open RAN news involving BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone.
Network & Infrastructure
Telco CTOs warn vendors: we’re not just ‘professional buyers’ anymore
DTW24 – Ignite: CTOs of AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Telstra, and Vodafone express mix of frustration and empathy with traditional network suppliers as software-based platform models upend historical relationships.
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: ex-OpCos begin turnaround; venturing moves in Europe, Africa
Latest from Vodafone and its ecosystem as the Group completes in Spanish exit and hears news of a turnaround from another former OpCo in Hungary, while prospective new ownership in Italy makes more M&A moves. Startup incubation and acceleration is brought to the fore in Portugal and Kenya; open RAN updates with partnerships in tow; drones take flight in Germany; and plenty more…
Financial & Performance
Telefónica Q1 FY24 Spend: investments made, efficiencies gained
Continued investment in AI, automation, and sustainability highlighted . Read more…
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: cost of Ethiopian expansion laid bare; another twist in M&A tale
Latest from Vodafone, affiliates and partners: Group earns security clearance for UK merger; Ethiopia optimism reiterated despite financial reality check; and TowerCo Inwit braces for reshaped Italian market following MNO reshuffle. More from South Africa, Spain, Netherlands, elsewhere…
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: ups and downs in Group’s network-sharing tie-ups and M&A; RAN mega-tender KO
Latest from Vodafone and its ecosystem, including: commencement of massive RAN tender; regional network-sharing in Australia; and UK merger with Three competition concerns mount. Elsewhere: Vodafone Business seeks role in edge compute innovation; Vodacom Tanzania facing legal action; and more consolidation prospects in the Netherlands and Spain explored…
Network & Infrastructure
O2 Germany, Samsung switch on first ‘commercial’ ORAN site
Deployment marks first of eight planned ORAN and vRAN sites in Landsberg am Lech, as O2 seeks to enable automation, accelerate infra rollout, and enable use-cases for businesses. Move plays into Telefónica’s wider capital intensity reduction strategy. Read more…
Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone kicks off mega RAN tender for Europe and Africa
Tender puts vendors on tenterhooks as Group starts procurement process for radio networks covering its 170,000-site footprint, while trials complete in Italy with Nokia in tow.
Network & Infrastructure
Deutsche Telekom live with AI-based RAN “sleep mode” efficiency trials
FutureNet World: cost and sustainability benefits of tests flagged. Part of wider AI strategy, with other efficiency applications at various stages of testing…
Network & Infrastructure
TPG signs more regulator-friendly rural RAN-sharing deal with Optus
Australia’s TPG Telecom signs MOCN agreement with Optus in bid to present true regional challenge to Telstra, taking notes from regulator’s report on the unsucessful Telstra deal to add to optimism about green-light prospects…
M&A
Cellnex seeks co-investor to support Polish NetCo strategy
European tower group ‘actively working’ on plan for part-sale of Cellnex Poland, generating funds to fuel transformation of the business into a more fully-fledged NetCo, with both RAN assets and passive infra.
Network & Infrastructure
Blue Planet: Re-making telcos as platform heroes
Blue Planet is calling on operators to build new platforms that rise above the existing tangle of legacy technologies and unlock the revenue and innovation opportunities promised by a fully automated ‘no ops’ future.