News
Italian operator Telecom Italia (TIM) has announced the activations of its Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) systems in two new cities of Matera and Turin. TIM had first used Open RAN in Faenza in early 2021.
TIM plans to accelerate the development of 5G digital services to drive connectivity and economic growth. It hopes to boost edge computing by using centralized and cloud-based infrastructure on its network across the country.
The telecom operator further revealed that the solution was activated in Matera in collaboration with Mavenir for its RAN components and MTI for its 4G Radio Unit. It added that the solution would also enable disaggregation of the hardware and software components of the radio access network to facilitate diversification of suppliers, as well as boost the ecosystem within the industry.
The first Open RAN 5G Standalone (SA) connection was established at the TIM Innovation Lab in Turin. This will soon be activated in the field in Matera. This solution leveraged the 3.7 GHz frequencies on TIM’s 5G network, Mavenir’s core network and radio functionality, Dell Technologies and Intel’s infrastructure and VMware’s Telco Cloud Platform for the end-to-end network function virtualization and automation software.
Earlier this year, TIM demonstrated its commitment to building a robust 5G network in Italy by launching an Open Test and Integration Center (OTIC), a dedicated lab for testing Open RAN solutions. The new lab, called the TIM European OTIC Lab, has been approved by the O-RAN Alliance.
The new facility is based at the TIM Innovation Lab in Turin. It will work in tandem with various Open RAN ecosystem equipment providers, numerous established and upcoming startups and SIs to trial new products and uses cases. TIM revealed this will be done in an effort to fast-track the deployment of the technology for its new pan-European mobile network architecture based on 5G, cloud and edge computing.
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