Vodafone Idea says engaged with Samsung for 4G, 5G vRAN, deploys gear in three circles – ETTelecom

NEW DELHI: India’s third-largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea has been in active discussion with South Korea’s Samsung for new technologies, such as the virtualised Radio Access Network (vRAN) solution for its 4G and 5G deployments.

To this extent, Vodafone Idea Wednesday said that for expanding its 4G footprint and to launch fifth-generation (5G) services, the two companies have been engaged for the last 12-18 months on network trials in Chennai.

Encouraged by the ongoing trials and “at par performance with incumbent suppliers”, Vi has extended Samsung network equipment deployments in Karnataka and Bihar circles, the telco said without naming the incumbent vendors.

“These setups have enabled Vi to fulfil its 5G Minimum Rollout Obligation (MRO) in these three circles (Chennai, Karnataka and Bihar) with NSA (nonstandalone) vRAN architecture,” the telco said.

Vi said it is committed to “expand its collaboration with Samsung for the vRAN solution and to harness the cloud benefits in the RAN domain”.

“We are proud to demonstrate our leadership in next-generation radio solutions (vRAN) that can deliver enhanced experience to our customers with better TCO. This vRAN deployment, delivered through Samsung’s innovation and joint technological strategic initiatives, is in sync with our technology transformation roadmap and enriched vendor ecosystem,” said Jagbir Singh, Chief Technical Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited.

Singh said that Vi sees a major role ahead for the hybrid architecture in delivering “network-enhanced capabilities that will push new dimensions in radio architecture”.

Samsung previously worked with Reliance Jio for the deployment of the Mukesh Ambani-led telecom carrier’s fourth-generation (4G) mobile network in India.

Recently, Vi, the only telco without a commercial 5G network, confirmed that it is in talks with various network vendors, including Sweden’s Ericsson, to buy 5G network gear.

Ericsson and its Finnish rival Nokia have commercial 5G equipment contracts with top two incumbents Jio and Bharti Airtel. These telcos are also said to be working with Cisco and Samsung, although the commercial terms have not yet been disclosed publicly.

Earlier this year, US-based Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) gear maker Mavenir said it was in an advanced commercial phase of an Open RAN network pilot deployment with Vi ahead of a large scale deployment. The pilot marks the first Open RAN-compliant deployment into the telco’s network, utilising the N78 and N258 millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum bands and B1 supporting non-standalone (NSA) architecture, the statement added.

The telco believes that the vRAN solution will enable it to bring greater flexibility, scalability and resource efficiency to network management.

“It will ensure quality, credibility and robustness, delivering performance similar to that of traditional hardware-based equipment. It also provides the ability to cover a wide range of spectrums and technologies (5G, 4G & 2G),” Vi said in a statement.

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