NTT DOCOMO Partners with Ooredoo, Smart, and StarHub for Open RAN Field Trials

NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced that it has reached agreements with Ooredoo Q.P.S.C. (Ooredoo), Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and StarHub Limited (StarHub) to conduct field trials aimed at accelerating the global adoption of mobile networks built on Open RAN architecture, which will help to eliminate global communication gaps by enabling open, interoperable interfaces and virtualization.

Ooredoo, with the aim of future adoption of Open RAN in Middle East, will partner this year with DOCOMO to conduct a verification test that simulates the in house operation of a commercial Open RAN. The trial will incorporate Fujitsu Limited’s base station software (CU/DU), Wind River’s cloud infrastructure, NVIDIA Corporation’s accelerator, and Dell Technologies’ compute infrastructure.

Smart and DOCOMO have also agreed to conduct a trial this year, building on a test that Smart conducted successfully using OREX Packages solutions from DOCOMO in January 2023. Smart was the first company in the Philippines to successfully conduct a RAN Intelligent Controller proof of concept.

The field test that DOCOMO will conduct with StarHub will take place after an initial Open RAN verification test, as a step towards expanding StarHub’s new business using Open RAN.

Going forward, DOCOMO will continue to support global telecom operators in their adoption of Open RAN with its OREX offerings, strengthening its cooperation with global partners to make Open RAN a reality.