Mavenir and NTT Data have announced a new partnership to develop a portfolio of solutions and services for private 5G and 4G networks in Germany.

The success of the German manufacturing and engineering sectors make it a prime target for the implementation of private mobile networks, and it seems Mavenir and NTT Data are attempting to bring the ‘open’ ecosystem into the market.

“While major providers only offer combinations of 4G and 5G networks and rely on proprietary systems, NTT DATA focused early on virtualized networks and is a clear pioneer in offering a pure 5G network,” says Sebastian Solbach, Head of Telecommunications at NTT DATA. “Mavenir was an obvious partner for us because the company has several years of experience with virtualized core and RAN network elements, is established with all German mobile providers and is one of the few companies to offer a complete network portfolio- an ideal complement for us as experts for IT and business solutions”.

“Mavenir is pleased to continue charting new and disruptive ways to digitize industry and enterprise, and bring 5G capabilities that will leverage connectivity, mobility, data and networking for their digital transformation,” said Aniruddho Basu, GM Emerging Business at Mavenir. “This collaboration also underscores Mavenir’s efforts in building a strong and symbiotic partner ecosystem. Together with NTT DATA, we will bring to bear global and local market reach, strong cloud capabilities, complementary technology and solution assets, and enhance a digital marketplace with a joint ecosystem of applications and devices.”

The German speaking markets will be the primary target here (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) though success will act as a catalyst for further expansion. In the same way the OpenRAN ecosystem is challenging the traditional supply chain, Mavenir and NTT Data are attempting to offer an alternative which does not lead to vendor lock in.

Interestingly enough, NTT Data has acquired a private spectrum licence in the 3.7-3.8 GHz band, the airwaves reserved for enterprise organisations in Germany. These localised licences build a more compelling business case for investment in private networks. In acquiring its own licence, NTT Data and Mavenir can build much more comprehensive usecases, trials and examples of deployment at their own facilities.