4iG, a growing regional telecoms/IT group in Hungary and the Western Balkans, has joined the O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) Alliance as a full mobile network operator (MNO) member. The O-RAN industry association provides an open platform for the development and operation of 5G RAN infrastructure, aiming to make radio communications systems more efficient by creating a freely accessible, open development platform, and 4iG says that with O-RAN Allianceā€™s global network of contacts and knowledge base, the Hungarian ICT group ā€˜can become the frontrunner of IT telecom convergence and 5G technology innovation, using the capabilities it already has at its disposal.ā€™ O-RAN is a software-centric approach in which vendors supply vendor-neutral tools to system operators, and a common, open platform provides access to any independent development. O-RAN is also aimed at efficiently implementing increasingly widespread IoT/Industry 4.0 solutions.

4iGĀ CEOĀ Peter Fekete commented: ā€˜We see the technological convergence of IT and telecommunications as an obvious opportunity. IT-telco convergence is a key element of 4iGā€™s growth strategy ā€¦The O-RAN initiative is a technological umbrella over 4iGā€™s capabilities, as this open innovation platform and shared expertise are applicable and leverageable across all three of our business areas, i.e. IT, telecommunications and defence, together or separately.ā€™

The O-RANĀ Alliance was established in February 2018 by Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, China Mobile,Ā NTTĀ DOCOMOĀ and Orange Group, and has grown into a global community of MNOs, such as Vodafone Group, Bell Canada, Verizon, US Cellular, China Telecom, Rakuten Mobile, T-Mobile, Dish and 1&1, manufacturers, research and academic institutions working in theĀ RANĀ field.

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