Telecoms group TIM claims to be the first Italian operator to formally get the ball rolling on its OpenRAN deployment.

TIM is joining forces with US telecoms software vendor JMA Wireless to launch an ‘open’ network in the town of Faenza, in northern Italy. Specifically, the radio node on the 4G network has been built by combining JMA’s software baseband with the radio units provided by Microelectronics Technology. So this is more of a proof of concept than anything more substantial, but you have to start somewhere.

They didn’t really have much else to say about it, other than nodding to the Euro OpenRAN cabal that TIM belatedly joined in February. There was reference to ‘the OpenRAN deployment programme,’ which implies there is some kind of standardized deployment framework for this group. The introduction of a relatively unheralded vendor into the mix, however, does indicate that they’re staying true to the concept of openness in that respect at least.

There hasn’t been much OpenRAN news from the founding members of the cabal, with the notable exception of Vodafone, which has even gone so far as to start building a special testing centre in the UK. Perhaps the rest of them are all waiting for the European Commission to tell them what they’re allowed to do first.