For Communication Service Providers (CSPs), the story of “open networks” has now been unfolding chapter by chapter for several years. And like many storylines, the tale of open networks has already had quite a few plot twists.
As with previous technology innovations, proponents of open networks have thus far arguably allowed the marketing of the technology to get well ahead of the technology innovation itself. Certainly, that has been the case with 5G, where the early forecasts mentioned that it would take several iterations in the governing 3GPP standards, and 1-2 years beyond those new iterations before supporting radios, core network equipment, and underlying componentry would be available to support those new standards. For example, only a handful of standalone 5G core networks are currently in deployment; those SA cores are crucial in supporting the ultra-low-latency performance required for many enterprises use cases that telecom vendors and operators have been talking up for five years or more.
A similar story is now playing out within the context of open networks where, particularly in the case of open RAN, much of the early promise centered around the ability to dramatically reduce both capital and operating costs through a combination of increasing competition amongst a larger pool of potential vendors, and the ability to squeeze greater efficiency through the radio intelligence controller (RIC).
Cost savings is a big part of the story, of course. However, as the open networks movement has advanced over the past few years, it is becoming increasingly clear that the industry has left out some key details in making the cost savings sales pitch, especially as it relates to the buildout of greenfield networks as compared to brownfield, which most CSPs will start with.