5G NETWORKS doesn ’ t mean that every feature within the specification will have been included . SONIC is bringing together various ecosystem players who are all trying to interoperate on the basis of a standard that is going to keep on evolving over time ,” he says .
More industry players are expected to join the project this month , further expanding the ecosystem of collaborators , as well as the number of offerings built to the same exacting standard . For participants in the program like Butler and O ’ Connor , OpenRAN represents a very bright spot in the future of the UK ’ s role as a potential 5G leader and economic beneficiary of the technology .
“ The success of OpenRAN , and the various different items of hardware and software relating to this that have now been introduced , will rely on assurance of interoperability and solid integrations ,” says O ’ Connor . “ Access to a multi-vendor , end-to-end supply chain is going to be needed , and the work being done by SONIC will provide them with evidence that this supply chain is fit for purpose .”
Butler expects that a future in which the UK manages to fully harness the potential of OpenRAN is also one in which the UK harnesses the full potential of 5G , something that might “ mean driverless cars becoming a reality sooner , augmented reality advertising rolling out more quickly , or even more prosaic things like filling in in-building notspots through operator and neutral host deployments .” He concludes that , “ For the UK telecom sector , we hope it will mean new entrants - new solution providers , more network integrators and also more collaboration between suppliers .”
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