The plan is to leverage existing assets with standardised tech
Virgin Media O2 has selected Mavenir to supply its Open RAN. The operator will work with Mavenir to roll out a scalable Open vRAN solution as part of its network evolution.
Mavenir will also be prime integrator, providing its Open virtualised RAN (Open vRAN) solution for sites on Virgin Media O2’s network.
Mavenir’s Open vRAN solution is cloud-native tech with containerised microservices for ease of deployment on any cloud, working on open interfaces supporting O-RAN Split 7.2x and Split 2.
Disaggregated COTS
It disaggregates into distributed and centralised units (DU and CU) which operate as containerised network functions running on commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware based on Intel processors.
The Mavenir solution supports multiple fronthaul splits simultaneously. It will consist of virtualised L1, L2 vRAN SW and will operate on Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, along with Intel vRAN Accelerator ACC100 and Intel 800 series Ethernet adapters.
It will feature Mavenir’s OpenBeam Radios including massive MIMO, third-party O-RAN based radio units (O-RU) for open fronthaul, network monitoring and optimisation.
Network digitalisation
Jeanie York, CTO at Virgin Media O2 (pictured), said, “Through digitalising our networks, we’re seamlessly integrating our infrastructure to get more value from our existing assets.
“Extending our collaboration with Mavenir to the RAN for the first time will help us establish a future-proof Open vRAN architecture, unlocking the benefits of a multi-vendor open interface while allowing us to rapidly benefit from an end-to-end network solution.”
Pardeep Kohli, President and CEO at Mavenir, added, “Mavenir OpenBeam radio portfolio fully complements Virgin Media O2’s full spectrum requirements and we look forward to playing an active role in unlocking network automation and openness in the RAN.”