Vodafone, one of the largest mobile and broadband network operators in Europe, is now partnering up with major tech companies, including NEC Samsung, Wind River, Dell Technologies, Capgemini Engineering and Keysight Technologies, to build one of the largest Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) in Europe. According to a report from Reuters, it won’t only be one of the largest O-RAN developments in Europe, but the whole world. One of the biggest advantages for Europe of getting O-RAN would be that it won’t have to rely on companies such as Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia anymore. With O-RAN, network operators can purchase different components of a network from different companies. Vodafone said that the partnership would go ahead with the companies working on the telco’s new Open RAN lab in Newbury, Southern England. Further, Vodafone’s digital skills hubs in Spain, Malaga, Germany, and Dresden would also be utilised under the partnership.
Vodafone Selects Samsung for 5G Network Rollout in Britain
As per another report from Reuters, Vodafone has awarded the contract for 5G rollout in Britain to Samsung Electronics. This is a major win for the South Korean tech giant as it has bagged one of the major projects in Europe’s telecoms gear market, where other companies such as Ericsson and Nokia have had a stronghold after the ban of Huawei. Samsung is expected to win more projects in Europe as its rival Huawei won’t bag any deals anymore for the 5G networks in the region. As per one of the senior executives, Samsung will be relying heavily on the European market to expand its network equipment business. It is worth noting that Samsung helped Reliance Jio, India’s top telecom operator, in rolling out 4G networks throughout the country. Further, Samsung is also participating with Reliance Jio to help the telco in conducting 5G trials smoothly. This might mean that Samsung could also bag telecom equipment projects from the Indian operators for rolling out 5G. One of the biggest projects for Samsung was when it bagged a $6 billion deal from Verizon, a U.S. telecom operator. It was an unexpected development that shocked the market.
