Mavenir Opens a New Development Centre for Open RAN Radio Software in UK

Accelerating the Open RAN ecosystem and local economy

Swindon, United Kingdom – April 22, 2021 – Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native software that runs on any cloud and transforms the way the world connects, announced today the opening of a Development Centre in Swindon, United Kingdom to develop Open RAN Radio software. The investment is part of a larger programme to increase Mavenir’s presence and contributions in the UK and follows the acquisition of ip.access and the opening of the Centre of Excellence for Multi Radio Access Technology in Cambridge.

The new Centre in Swindon is dedicated to software and system design for Open RAN Radio Units and is intended to broaden the future development of Open RAN-based systems. One of the key projects is the development of an Open-Source software for the Control Board and management plane of the Open RAN O-RAN 7.2 compatible Remote Radio Unit (RRU). This software is intended to be made available to all RRU manufacturers to accelerate the availability of Open RAN RRUs in different versions and frequencies while providing a common management interface. This initiative will enable MNOs to have the same management software on any Open RAN RRUs independent of supplier and provide an even smoother interoperability and upgrade path.

“This work is another step in validating the principles of Open RAN whilst simplifying element integration into operator networks through the use of a common RRU interface,” says Mikael Rylander, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Mavenir. “We are providing tools and open-source software to the RRU community in order to let them focus on their unique strengths and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the digital and analog performance parts of the Radio. We aim to simplify interoperability across all ORAN interfaces, including Orchestration and Maintenance (O&M) capabilities”.

This new investment in Swindon will add to Mavenir’s existing talent pool in the UK and supports the UK Government’s vendor Diversification Strategy unveiled in December 2020 and the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce report published by DCMS this week.

“Mavenir supports the UK’s ambition to create a level playing field that enables all vendors to compete on the merits of their products. We stand ready to play an active role ourselves and to help other suppliers contribute towards to the Government’s objective of accelerating the adoption of Open RAN,” said Stefano Cantarelli, Mavenir’s UK-based Chief Marketing Officer. “We also support the Taskforce’s conclusion that internationally-agreed open and interoperable standards are a key enabler and the recognition that the G7 Digital Track discussions provide an ideal opportunity for the UK to lead like-minded countries towards this objective. Open RAN can enable a very positive future for the telecoms sector, and its customers and allow the UK and UK companies to take a leading role in the global industry.”