Telefonica, NEC launch Open RAN small cells in Munich

Telefonica Deutschland (O2) and NEC Corporation have announced their successful collaboration in launching the first Open and virtual RAN architecture-based small cells in Germany. The service has initially been launched in the centre of Munich to enhance the customer experience by providing increased capacity to the existing mobile network in dense urban areas. NEC integrated a multi-vendor architecture that includes Airspan Networks’ Airspeed plug-and-play solution and Rakuten Symphony’s Open vRAN software for O2 small cells to complement the existing multi-vendor based macro cells in its network. The adoption of Open RAN small cells combined with macro cells will pave the way for 5G densification.

‘We are proud to have launched Germany’s first small cells built on innovative Open RAN technologies that help to complete the delivery of granular, high-quality connectivity in dense urban areas,’ said Matthias Sauder, Director of Mobile Access and Transport at Telefonica Deutschland, adding: ‘NEC became our partner in this innovative project, with its underlying technological background and experiences of Open RAN technologies.’