Industry ORAN Adoption for 5G ‘Picking Up Speed,' Says Ceragon CEO

With the 5G transition in the past year evolving “from hype to reality,” Israeli networking equipment vendor Ceragon Networks is working with operators to push 5G “from initial trials into the field,” said CEO Ira Palti on a Q4 call Monday. “This is what we have been waiting for and are very excited to develop.” Adoption of open radio access networks is “picking up speed,” said Palti. ORAN lets operators “integrate specialist solutions for each network domain from different vendors,” he said. “The market is becoming more democratized, which plays to our favor.” The transition from 4G to 5G “is creating a huge change in the way networks are designed,” he said. "We help operators achieve an evolutionary approach. We provide a wireless-based backhaul network that is supporting 4G networks and that can be upgraded cost effectively to 5G.” Ceragon claims “major tier 1 operators” in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia as “recently acquired” customers, he said.