According to foreign media reports, Korea Telecom (KT), Fujitsu and NTT DoCoMo announced progress in the promotion of Open RAN technology in South Korea.
KT and Fujitsu said the two companies completed test connectivity as part of an open fronthaul interoperability trial. Previously, KT and Fujitsu built a validation facility at KT's R&D center in Seoul. The two companies conducted test calls using Fujitsu's Open RAN-based 5G base station equipment during this interoperability trial.
Tests included verification of interoperability between the base station controllers of Fujitsu's 5G base station equipment, CU and DU, and a RU from an unnamed mid-sized vendor, as well as end-to-end communication tests.
Traditionally, if the CU and DU were provided by the same provider, the carrier was able to open the call. With open specifications, operators can use CUs and DU from different vendors, which is a big step towards their intention to open up the network to mix and match types of systems.
The two companies reported that they successfully validated devices that met the specifications set by the O-RAN Alliance.
KT, NTT DoCoMo, and Fujitsu signed a Memorandum of Understanding on January 6 to introduce a software-defined virtualized RAN (vRAN) and RAN intelligent controller (RIC) as part of the 5G Open RAN ecosystem officially supported by the two companies.
In the MoU, the operator and Fujitsu agreed to collaborate on further activities, including the construction of an O-RAN test facility and multi-vendor interoperability testing in Korea. They also plan to target open RAN's global expansion.
According to the press release, KT is considering introducing multi-vendor Open RAN to reduce equipment procurement and construction costs and enable flexible network building capabilities.
In the test facility, KT used Fujitsu's 5G base station, which NTT DoCoMo calls the world's first O-RAN-compatible base station for commercial services. in Ace