AT&T requires all hardware vendors to support Open RAN specifications

According to Light Reading, executives of US telecom operator AT&T said the company now requires all its hardware suppliers to support Open RAN specifications.

In a recent interview, Andre Fuetsch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of AT&T, said: "Adopting O-RAN specifications is a requirement. This is not just a requirement for one supplier, but a requirement for all our partner suppliers." He said that AT&T plans to deploy Open RAN in indoor networks first because the installation and operation of indoor networks are usually relatively simple.

"Our first deployments will be indoors and in buildings," he said of AT&T's Open RAN deployment path. "If there are problems (with the indoor network), you can always use the outdoor network." Andre Fuetsch said that after AT&T is satisfied with the indoor use of Open RAN technology, the company's next step will be outdoor deployment in rural areas. "Because the rural outdoor environment is simpler for Open RAN deployment."

Andre Fuetsch said that AT&T will eventually use open RAN technology in dense urban network deployments, where the spectrum and antenna technology involved in deployments are often more complex. "We have to integrate this technology in and introduce O-RAN technology through incremental modules," he said of the incremental approach taken to deploy open RAN equipment in its existing network. The executive said that as AT&T slowly moves from traditional RAN design to open RAN technology, the company is looking for the "right way to integrate."

He explained that “it will take some time to achieve full openness.”

AT&T's move to Open RAN is largely driven by the operator's desire to integrate new vendors into its network. Andre Fuetsch specifically pointed to the RAN Intelligent Controller (ORIC) function in the wireless network as an element that AT&T wants to open up to third-party vendors. "It gives us the option," he said.

AT&T recently told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it plans to start adding equipment that supports open RAN standards within its network "within the next year."

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