By Bevin Fletcher
Vodafone has turned on the first live 5G open RAN site in the UK, as the operator plans to deploy 2,500 across 4G and 5G technologies by 2027.
Vodafone on Wednesday claimed a few firsts including the start of the first scaled open RAN project in Europe and the first time O-RAN technology has been deployed on a macro site in the UK to carry live customer traffic.
“This is the beginning of a new chapter for the mobile industry. Our team has been working tirelessly to take OpenRAN technology from a theory in our lab to our customers in the real world – it’s remarkable how much has been achieved in such a short period of time,” said Vodafone chief network officer Andrea Dona, in a press release. “OpenRAN as a concept is only five years old, and we’re already fundamentally changing how we deploy connectivity infrastructure.”
