Parallel Wireless ramps up OpenRAN activity

Parallel Wireless has revealed how it’s taking their involvement in OpenRAN to the next level.

Software-defined RAN specialist Parallel Wireless talked up the ecosystem of OpenRAN partners it plans to show off at Mobile World Congress later this month. These include server partners Dell, HPE and Supermicro; core network providers Athonet and Microsoft; and Juniper Networks, which supplies Parallel with its RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC). Parallel’s radio unit (RU) partners Comba Telecom and GigaTera Communications will also be there.

“The telecom industry is demanding networks that are open and flexible so that they can reduce deployment and maintenance costs yet maintain quality of service,” said a statement from Parallel Wireless president Keith Johnson. “We are pleased to be working with a broad, open ecosystem of disaggregated RAN solutions using vendor-neutral hardware and software-defined technology based on open interfaces and community-developed standards.”

Parallel Wireless is already working with a number of big names on OpenRAN deployments, including Vodafone and MTN. It is with deals and partnerships like these that Parallel Wireless hopes to capture their share of OpenRAN revenues, which Dell’Oro reckons will reach a cumulative $15 billion between 2020 and 2025. Of course, the technology itself is still somewhat unproven in the field, but as Parallel’s Johnson insists, “the Future of RAN is Open, and we are excited to lead the transformation in the wireless industry.”