Mobile telecommunications provider Zain Kuwait and Parallel Wireless, a provider of open RAN hardware-agnostic solutions, have successfully completed what they describe as a groundbreaking 5G standalone (SA) proof of concept (POC).
Focused on fixed wireless access (FWA), this POC demonstrated download speeds exceeding 1.3 Gbps. This, say the partners, surpasses Zain’s rigorous performance benchmark and establishes one of the highest achievements for open RAN technology to date.
The success of this POC, says Parallel Wireless, not only validates the maturity of open RAN but also highlights its readiness to compete with traditional RAN solutions in delivering next-generation network performance.
There’s also an energy efficiency angle. Parallel Wireless says it showcased its GreenRAN hardware-agnostic technology during the trial. By leveraging EPYC CPUs from high-performance and adaptive computing specialist AMD, the trial achieved more than 35% energy savings, compared to legacy benchmarks. As Daaij Al-Oud, Zain Kuwait Chief Technology Officer puts it: “Saving more than 35% of power consumption supports Zain’s sustainability strategy and contributes towards our net-zero goal by 2050.”
The POC also demonstrated seamless operation across two Kubernetes platforms – SUSE and AWS – highlighting deployment flexibility and interoperability. Additionally, the trial validated CU-DU separation based on what is known as ORAN Split Option 2, enhancing network scalability and operational efficiency.
Kuwait-headquartered telecommunications and ICT solutions company METCO is credited with playing a pivotal role in the successful execution of this project. From initiating discussions to overseeing project management, METCO ensured smooth collaboration throughout the process.
