Speaking at MWC 2022, Johan Wibergh, Vodafone Group Chief Technology Officer, said that by 2030, Vodafone will use Open RAN technology in 30% of its base stations in Europe.
About 30,000 stations in Europe will eventually use Open RAN, he said, and rural areas will first benefit from new 4G and 5G base stations with more flexible radio technologies. When the project is rolled out to urban areas, any existing 5G base station equipment will be replaced and then reused elsewhere to reduce unnecessary waste.
In his keynote address at MWC, Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read said, "Homegrown scale is needed to close the investment gap and ensure that we can quickly deploy 5G." Regional scale is needed to close the digital gap. "Europe's current 5G coverage is low, with only 10% population coverage, while 5G networks in China and the United States have reached 60% and 45% of the population, respectively.
Vodafone has been one of the key drivers in the development and use of Open RAN technology, and the company deployed one of the first live Open RAN base stations in Wales. Subsequently, Vodafone carried out the construction of an Open RAN base station in Cornwall, as well as the UK's first 5G Open RAN site.
Nick Read called Open RAN a "great example of departmental collaboration." He highlighted Vodafone's work through cooperation with the Spanish government, such as the opening of a pan-European R&D center in Malaga, the creation of a European V-Hub service to help small and medium-sized enterprises digitize their businesses. (C114 Ace)