Samsung and O2 Telefónica Germany Launch vRAN and Open RAN

Samsung and O2 Telefónica have launched their first virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN commercial site in Germany. It is the first time that Samsung’s 5G vRAN solution is being used in a commercial network in Germany.

The site is now operating in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, providing high-performance and reliable 4G and 5G services to customers. In the coming months, the companies will expand the vRAN and Open RAN network to seven additional sites in the region, aiming to further extend the Open RAN footprint.

This milestone builds on the companies’ joint initiative, announced in October 2023, where they agreed to develop a roadmap for several tests of vRAN and Open RAN technologies. Following the extensive trials, O2 Telefónica and Samsung are now progressing from lab to field with the launch of this first commercial site.

Software-centric vRAN helps the adoption of cloud-native architecture, allowing network operators to better automate functions, and introduce new technologies and services to their networks quickly and efficiently. This is important for accelerating network buildouts and adopting new 5G applications, including use cases that require low response speeds, such as VR/AR or latency-critical applications for enterprises.

As the next step, the companies will introduce Samsung’s intelligent network automation solutions to control life cycle management — from deployment and operation to maintenance. This O-RAN-compliant automation solution offers the ability to accelerate innovative software-based network rollouts by enabling the automated deployment of thousands of network sites simultaneously.