Mavenir Partners Three UK, Red Hat To Double 5G Speeds In Open RAN Trial

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (Bernama) -- Mavenir, the cloud-native network infrastructure provider, has collaborated with Three UK and Red Hat in demonstrating the performance benefits of 5G non-standalone O-RAN compliant small cells in Glasgow City Centre, doubling 5G speeds at peak times.

“This network densification project proves that the Open RAN layer built by Mavenir can efficiently and effectively meet the needs of Three UK and its customers in one of the busiest cities in the UK.

“Our solution has delivered twice the improvement in 5G speeds, a measurable uplift in capacity, and the handover of customer traffic has been outstanding,” said Mavenir Senior Vice President, Cloud and AI, Brandon Larson.

This milestone United Kingdom (UK)-first trial of Open RAN in a dense urban environment also marks the first live deployment of O-RAN compliant small cells working alongside legacy macro cells from traditional vendors in this environment, driving a significant reduction in traffic congestion by delivering high-quality coverage and additional capacity.

During the initial phase of the trial, both 4G and 5G speeds doubled during the busiest times of the day, with Three UK’s 5G speeds reaching an impressive 520 megabits per second (Mbps) across the trial area, while the capacity boost also cascaded into further performance and user experience improvements in surrounding sites.

Following the successful trial of 18 live sites in Glasgow City Centre, the project will now move into its final deployment phase, bringing the total number of Open RAN small cell sites to 34, according to Mavenir in a statement.

Mavenir’s roll-out of a small cell densification layer for Three UK is being delivered as part of the Small Cells O-RAN in Dense Areas (SCONDA) project, a key connectivity initiative backed by the UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The project represents a significant step forward for Open RAN in the UK by trialling – for the first time – the integration of a full decentralised Open RAN architecture with existing traditional infrastructure into a high-traffic, high-footfall city setting.

With this latest deployment, Mavenir and Red Hat are continuing to offer carrier-grade telco cloud solutions to mobile network operators, leveraging a decade of well-established collaboration. Mavenir RAN workloads on Red Hat OpenShift offer an attractive value proposition for the mobile network operators.

-- BERNAMA