German operator 1&1 has announced that it has become the first operator in Europe to successfully launch Open RAN technology nationwide, making a major breakthrough in its cooperation with Rakuten Symphony and M**ENIR.
The three companies jointly issued a statement confirming that 1&1 has applied Open RAN infrastructure to mobile broadband services, and began to adopt this technology for fixed wireless access services in December last year. The company's network is still expanding, and customers are currently automatically moving to Telefonica's infrastructure in areas without network coverage, which is expected to switch to Vodafone Germany by mid-2024.
1&1 chief executive officer Ralph Dommermuth said the fully functional operation was a major milestone in the company's history, while M**ENIR president and CEO Pardeep Kohli praised the network as "the most leading in Europe". However, amid many challenges, 1&1 encountered some problems during the deployment process, and the original plan to deploy 1,000 5G sites by the end of 2022 was not completed as scheduled.
Although facing some challenges, the development of Open RAN technology in Europe has become the focus of industry attention. The vodafone group was the first to pilot the technology in Italy and Romania. Open RAN technology is also in the spotlight in the U.S. market, with AT&T having signed a $14 billion agreement to partner with Ericsson for deployment.
1&1 was the first in Europe to adopt Open RAN technology, marking its leading position in the telecommunications industry. Despite some challenges during the deployment process, this achievement has sparked widespread attention and ** in the industry. With the continuous expansion of the application of this technology around the world, Open RAN will surely become one of the important trends in the development of telecom networks in the future.
