Open RAN firm Parallel Wireless is collaborating with Türk Telekom and Juniper Networks on a multivendor Open RAN initiative to deliver state-of-the-art broadband communications.
Türk Telekom is an early adopter of Open RAN technology, utilising a broad vendor ecosystem to build more flexible, efficient, and secure mobile networks to meet the demands of the 5G era. Deployments will occur across trial sites after completing tests in Türk Telekom’s Innovation Centre, with the operator deploying Open RAN technology utilising the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC).
Türk Telekom has previously collaborated with Juniper Networks for the productization of the RIC - a critical part of Open RAN architecture - to automate networks, enable efficient resource utilisation, and provide an optimal customer experience.
Within the scope of this new initiative, Türk Telekom will utilise Parallel Wireless Open RAN software and Juniper’s state-of-the-art RIC. Parallel Wireless will provide an end-to-end Open RAN solution utilising Band 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 radios and DU,CU software for 2G, 3G, and 4G and band 78 radios and DU,CU software for 5G. The first phase of the lab trial utilising the RIC for admission control over 4G has been completed with more phases to come.
Juniper Networks will be working alongside Türk Telekom and Parallel Wireless to provide its extensive RIC platform. Juniper will be deploying both the near-real-time (near-RT) and the non-real-time (non-RT) RIC and demonstrating the capabilities of various xApps/rApps. This will enable Türk Telekom to deliver differentiated services faster to their customers.
This Open RAN initiative will be trialled in both Türk Telekom’s Innovation Centre and in field environments by:
- Building a cloud-native, Open RAN world-class network solution based on a high-performance, distributed architecture.
- Improving service agility and reducing overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with the introduction of RAN automation.
- Providing a turnkey solution that optimizes high traffic capacity requirements.
Yusuf Kirac, CTO of Türk Telekom, said that the operator was “taking active roles in drawing the roadmap for 5G. As a result of our cooperation with Juniper Networks for the RIC solution last year, we now export our new technology solutions globally. We have also established collaborations with global technology manufacturers. Within the scope of these collaborations, we continue our development, tests, and productization of Open RAN.”
Constantine Polychronopoulos, VP, 5G and Telco Cloud at Juniper Networks, said: “Juniper’s ability to provide an open SDK and network-based APIs facilitates seamless portability of x/rApps on its RIC in multivendor environments and underscores the potential for all operators.”
