Grameenphone gives Open RAN a shot

• Telenor-owned Bangladesh mobile operator is deploying Open RAN gear in a pilot project ahead of a planned nationwide rollout
• Rakuten Symphony is providing the full suite of tech to the operator
• The deal adds to the vendor’s Open RAN successes but it won’t have much of an impact on its top line

Bangladesh mobile operator Grameenphone is to deploy a suite of networking and management software from Rakuten Symphony for a 4G and 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) Open RAN pilot, the two companies have announced. 

There’s no indication how many mobile sites will be covered by the Open RAN pilot: The companies are not sharing any such details while the project is in its initial stages, according to Rakuten Symphony, though the announcement about the pilot states that this is a “precursor to a nationwide Open RAN deployment in Bangladesh”.   

The vendor is providing Grameenphone with its centralised unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) solutions, 4G/5G radio units and OSS (network management) applications, and will engage with unspecified local partners for the deployment. 

Grameenphone’s CTO, Jai Prakash, stated: “We are excited to partner with Rakuten Symphony to pioneer Open RAN technology in Bangladesh. In line with Telenor’s strategy, this pilot marks a significant step in our journey towards building a more agile, efficient and future-ready network infrastructure. By embracing Open RAN, we aim to unlock new possibilities for innovation and deliver enhanced connectivity experiences to our millions of subscribers. This collaboration reflects our commitment to digital transformation and reinforces our position as a technology leader in the region.”

The operator, which is 55.8% owned by Telenor, ended June with 86.3 million mobile subscribers, giving it decent scale, but only about 58% of those customers (around 50 million) are using mobile internet services. 

However, that isn’t stopping the operator from having a digital service provider agenda and seeking to embrace cutting-edge technology to develop new services: The operator has been developing its MyGP app for years in an effort to introduce more digital service capabilities to its customers. 

The operator’s CEO, Yasir Azman, noted in the company’s second-quarter earnings release: “One of the key aspects of our transformation journey is digital growth, where we see MyGP continues to be a benchmark for digital platforms in the telecom sector as the largest local self-service app in Bangladesh, now engaging 22.5 million monthly active users. Looking ahead, we’re stepping into the future with purpose and that future is AI-led – it’s not a choice anymore, it’s inevitable. We are equipping our people and leadership team, rethinking our operations and developing AI-driven models to boost efficiency, drive growth and provide better customer experience,” he added.

Sharad Sriwastawa, president of Rakuten Symphony, noted that the vendor “is committed to supporting Grameenphone to fully realise the advantages of Open RAN, including greater operational flexibility, optimised network capabilities and accelerated network innovation.”  

Having a virtualised, cloud-native RAN platform will help Grameenphone with its AI and digital services innovation agenda. 

But the economics of mobile service operations in Bangladesh are tough, with the operator noting in its second-quarter earnings release that it has “been navigating a challenging economic downturn since the second half of last year, that has put significant pressure on businesses across sectors, including telecom,” though the operator’s average revenue per user is currently on an upturn and stood at 157 Bangladeshi taka ($1.29) per month during the second quarter.  

For the second quarter of 2025, Grameenphone reported revenues of 41bn Bangladeshi taka ($336m), down by 2.8% year on year, though its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is on the rise, at least on a sequential quarterly basis, as its operating expenses fall thanks to cost-cutting measures. The operator reported capital expenditure (capex) of just 3.2bn Bangladeshi taka ($26.3m) in the second quarter, so it doesn’t have a big pot of cash on which to draw for network modernisation. 

As a result, even if the pilot is successful and the operator moves ahead with a nationwide rollout, the engagement will not move the needle for Rakuten Symphony in terms of significant revenue potential, though it does add to the vendor’s growing list of Open RAN engagements around the world in recent months: In June it announced that Mobifone is to deploy Open RAN 4G and 5G technology in Vietnam while AT&T was expanding its use of Symphony’s site management software to support its Open RAN rollout; and in May, Zain Kuwait also announced an Open RAN engagement with Symphony. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV