The leading Middle East Operators Publish Open RAN Whitepaper

Batelco alongside other leading Middle East Operators including Etisalat Group, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Zain Group, Mobily, du from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), and Omantel, have released a whitepaper titled “Open RAN for Brownfield Operators, Challenges and Opportunities”. The seven operators are part of an Open RAN (Radio Access Network) Consortium formed in 2021 aimed at increasing momentum for the technology and its solutions in the region.

The Whitepaper reinforces the joint commitment by the seven operators in jointly pushing forward the implementation of Open RAN solutions in their respective networks. The detailed Whitepaper elaborates on the challenges and opportunities identified in the deployment of the Open RAN, and also highlights the activities being carried out including field trials and the establishment of a test lab with the support of TIP (Telecom Infra Project) and Intel. The operators plan to continue with field and lab trials and establish further labs to accelerate the Open RAN use cases development. The implementation of Open RAN solutions supports flexibility and provides more innovation in managing the networks for more efficient use cases and operations.

We are pleased with the advances made since the establishment of the Open RAN consortium leading to the publication of the Whitepaper and its detailed progress report. The joint efforts have led to a number of milestone achievements so far, and we look forward to further collaborations with our partners to accomplish key goals including faster 5G deployment, network efficiencies and delivery of ultra-advanced solutions for customers throughout the region.

Batelco General Manager Technology, Rashid Mohamed