• Samsung will play a key role for Vodafone’s Open RAN deployments in multiple European markets, something the operator had previously confirmed
• The vendor says it will supply a range of RAN and network management software solutions and Open RAN-compliant radios
• But there’s still no sense of the scale of the deployments as Vodafone is yet to share its ‘Spring 6’ plan

Samsung, perhaps concerned that its reputation as a credible radio access network (RAN) equipment supplier had been dented by recent developments, has published a blog that highlights its role in Vodafone Group’s planned rollout of Open RAN technology across Europe.

The irony, of course, is that Samsung’s RAN sector standing took a bit of a blow in September because UK operator VodafoneThree, which is majority-owned by Vodafone Group, decided, after years of trials and initial Open RAN deployments with the South Korean vendor, to undertake its national cellular network update with Ericsson and Nokia and leave Samsung out in the cold – see Samsung squeezed out of VodafoneThree’s £2bn UK network refresh.

To soften the blow, Vodafone Group noted at the time that, although Samsung wasn’t involved in the UK upgrade, the vendor was most certainly one of its “strategic” partners for the broader ‘Spring 6’ RAN refresh across continental Europe and that it is planning the “deployment of Open RAN at scale in Europe”. 

Quite what that all means, how much business Samsung has snagged, and which server and cloud platform partners are also included in the Open RAN action, are all things we hope to find out in the coming weeks when Vodafone finally shares its RAN refresh plans for continental Europe and Africa, especially as Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei are also Vodafone Spring 6 partners that will be getting pieces of the overall pie. 

In the meantime, with its role confirmed, Samsung has put some flesh on the bones of that previous announcement.

It says it will provide the operator with its virtual RAN (vRAN) solution “with multi-generational support across 2G, 4G and 5G,” as well as Open RAN-compliant radios “including Massive MIMO radios” as well as system integration services.  

The package includes Samsung’s “intelligent automation solution, which is known as AI-powered Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS). It is a set of diverse AI applications, playing a crucial role in adopting and managing open, software-based networks at scale. It allows Vodafone to have full observability across lifecycle management of its network from installation, operation to optimization, helping the operator deploy and manage large-scale virtualized Open RAN networks more intelligently and efficiently,” noted Samsung.

The vendor is also suppling Vodafone with radio units and software that “support RAN sharing”, technology that Samsung has already been supplying to Vodafone and Orange in Romania.

The vendor noted: “Samsung's comprehensive portfolio of radios not only covers diverse spectrum bands but also supports wide bandwidth and high transmit power required for RAN sharing in European countries. As RAN sharing is essential in facilitating wide-scale Open RAN adoption in certain areas of the region, Samsung's solution will help operators deliver high-performing shared networks while reducing hardware costs and lowering energy consumption.”

 - Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV