FCC Notice of Inquiry on ORAN Called Helpful Step for 5G

Experts welcomed a proposed FCC notice of inquiry on open radio access networks during an Open RAN Policy Coalition webinar Tuesday. The draft NOI, set for a vote March 17 (see 2102240063), will help “white board … what these opportunities are” and figure out gaps, said Jayne Stancavage, Intel global executive director-digital infrastructure policy. “It is an important step to sort of gather these thoughts.” The world won't necessarily be divided into two 5G -- one built on ORAN and another on equipment from the major Chinese carriers, she said. “The operators are taking different steps on different timelines, and some will go one path, some will go another,” Stancavage said: “Some might go with traditional architecture.” Uptake rates will vary, she said: Variations on when enough spectrum is available for 5G will mean different timelines. As ORAN becomes more prevalent, Huawei and ZTE will also likely incorporate it, said Christopher Roberti, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president-cyber, intelligence and security policy. Government funding of ORAN research would help accelerate deployment, said Mehran Hadipour, Robin vice president-business development and tech alliances: “It would really open the floodgate … and get a lot more ORAN infrastructure in place. You have to reduce the transition costs by creating open standards … then also add models that bring incremental revenue.” Roberti wants funding from Congress: “The administration should continue to foster open, public-private dialogues … with like-minded governments.” The launch of 4G “was the dawn of Netflix and Facebook,” Roberti said. “With 5G, we’ll have to see.” There will be gradual growth and then “a huge explosion … things that we can’t imagine right now, but we won’t be able to live without in two years,” he said. Providers are trying to figure out how ORAN fits with the way they deliver service, Hadipour said. “It’s beyond just deploying antennas and ORAN infrastructure on top of that,” he said: “It has really become, 'How can I integrate this new model and technology into my infrastructure?’” Meanwhile, Mavenir asked the FCC to add five paragraphs to the ORAN NOI, saying it “does not go far enough in determining whether there are barriers to entry caused by control over and manipulation of the supply chain,” per a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-63. Mavenir spoke with aides to all four commissioners.