Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (00:05):
So we are in Dublin. We're at Fyuz 24. I'm here with Paco Pignatelli, who is head of Open ran at Vodafone. Paco, great to see you again. Thanks very much for joining Us.

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (00:15):
Good to see you again.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (00:16):
I know you've had a very full day, so thanks for squeezing us in. Maybe you can just start by just giving us an update on where Vodafone is with its open ran rollouts and what you are learning now from the different markets where you've rolled out open, ran.

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (00:33):
Well, it's a journey. I think we are now at a critical moment. It's been great to roll out open run in Vodafone uk. Our performance is good. We are matching or exceeding some of the KPIs that we had in the past, so we are preparing for the next phase of rollout and getting automation on the ground that now most of the focus gets into that part after we got the radio right. Also, same thing in our network in Romania where we also introduced two G as a technology and KKPI wise, again looking good and making progress and we are preparing for the next phase for the markets.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (01:24):
Okay. Any surprises from what you've seen so far in terms of those KPIs and the feedback and the performance?

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (01:32):
No. Well I think obviously we've been building on the shoulders of giants, our selection of suppliers. They are already deploying in other markets in a big way. So Samsung, wind River, Dell, so they are already capable of companies. We also obviously had to get together, start managing the process on how you make the final product live and how you sort out problems. But I think we came a long way and in that sense it's a success story so far. So I could not say surprises. We obviously have problems and you don't have some issues, you're not going fast enough. But I think I'm very positive about where we are today.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (02:24):
Okay. Now obviously there's quite a bit of bars and excitement around the long trail plan to do the major RFQ at Vodafone and that's across your entire RAN landscape, isn't it? Where are you in that process?

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (02:43):
We are not too far from closing, so potentially days or weeks. I don't think it will take too much more time. But yeah, it's definitely not too much deviation from the initial plan, which I'm very happy about. I think we have seen good proposals from the ecosystem. It's great to see that it's a healthy conversation, healthy support around what we want to do. In that sense, I think it's well done for all suppliers and I hope we can close and announce pretty soon.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (03:22):
Okay. Now it seems in the market in general, but also here at this event that there are more conversations around the management layer of Open RAN and of RAN in general, but particularly around the SMO and the RAN intelligent controller platforms, the Rix. Where is Vodafone in terms of looking at that, maybe testing, trialing or examining what is possible?

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (03:55):
Yeah, I mean one interesting thought when you look at open run is how much you need to deliver in a new technology compared to what's been happening in the industry for decades. So you need to have two G, 3G or 4G, 5G together developing very such a short timeframe. So we have seen a lot of the initial focus on getting that right. Even integrations with Mass, IMO, all those things. So those are done pretty much. So right now, I would say already the last few months we turned our head into automation. So we've been testing solutions from various suppliers in the lab. Now we're doing that in the field, so we are reassessing our requirements going back to the suppliers and I think in the next 12 months, more or less, most of the focus will be on the automation you need for testing the automation you need for deployment and also operations to sort out problems. And we don't want to forget. Also, one of the big hopes from open run from the beginning with is applications, the degree of programmability that you have. We are doing all this not just to have a competitor to other options, but we want to build on top. So

(05:22):
We are now also turning more the focus into that area, trying to capture the opportunity. So I think that will come next, but I think we need to see first strong foundation, so more announcements from various operators and the ecosystem will continue to see that this is the way to go. I think more and more that we look at the initial assumptions for open run, we are more convinced that it is the right thing to do. Maybe the pace is than what we thought initially, but you know what, this happens I think almost with any of the big technology introductions, but I think it is looking promising, but those areas are the future wants to focus on.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (06:12):
Okay. And as we're here at Fyuz, if I can just ask or how important is the role of an organization like TIP in helping to push that forward? Because that's really all about collaboration, isn't it? I agree,

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (06:28):
It's always been about collaboration, where do you need to collaborate? It is been changing in the last few years, but I think TIP is essential in terms of playing a coordination role between the different operators when it comes to making things happen, making things ready for deployment. So we still look at TIP in that way to help us have the right conversations to help us get the right processes, develop the ecosystem, and make everything work like a good ano. So I think the role is important for that.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (07:13):
And finally, there's a lot of companies here developing a lot of different technologies and systems and software to help with this shift to the next generation networks. From your perspective and from Vodafone's perspective, what do you need most from this community right now to take your company to the next level?

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (07:36):
Yeah, I think the key word is innovation. We are in an environment that is not easy at the moment. We still have a lot of pressure to deliver better results. We want to roll out more network, but all that is only possible when we get more motivation to roll out. We need to have better hardware. I think hardware is more fundamental than we think for the future. We need to be able to have more power in our radios, have more bandwidth. We need the base band to be even more capable, more powerful. So it's all about, I think the innovation overall and particularly in the hardware space. It's good to start another cycle for everybody to get excited. I mean, we always wanted to do more. It's not just compare with traditional. So we need to prove that there can be a step change. And I think that will be the focus innovation,

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (08:37):
And I guess this is why you have the facility in Malaga where you focus very much on the chip level in terms

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (08:46):
Indeed you can disaggregate from outside going to the hardware software, but ultimately chips play a very important role. They are essential in the overall cost. They are essential also in performance, particularly in the most complex scenarios. So we want to drive technology forward in that sense and also be able to innovate, bring new architectures and it's a essential piece. Yeah, Malaga is very important for us.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (09:19):
Okay. Paco, thanks very much for joining us today, giving us an update on what Vodafone is doing and where it's going. And look forward to the results of the RFQ and talking to you in 2025. Thanks very much.

Paco Martín Pignatelli, Vodafone (09:31):
Thank you for having me.