In June 2021 it was announced that Vodafone UK chose Samsung for Europe’s first wide-scale 5G commercial line-up based on an Open RAN architecture powered by vRAN.
However, the companies have already switched on the UK’s first 5G Open RAN site which is carrying live customer traffic. This site, which is located in Bath, UK, is the beginning of Vodafone’s scaled Open RAN network architecture in Europe. Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer, Vodafone UK:
“Open RAN can radically evolve the telecoms industry, and we are excited to champion the technology in the UK.”
He also added:
“This is an ecosystem which is only a few years old but the progress we have made so far is quite remarkable. Not only have we begun the first scaled deployment in the UK, but we have also installed the first 5G Open RAN site. Open RAN is now a real-world technology and it is truly exciting to see this technology flourish.”
Thomas Riedal, Head of Samsung Networks Europe at Samsung Electronics, said:
“Samsung is proud to collaborate with Vodafone UK to switch on the UK’s first 5G Open RAN site”.
According to him, this will help deliver the benefits of their carrier-grade 5G vRAN solutions to millions of Vodafone UK customers.
