Microsoft: Open RAN is crucial to network cloudification and the two will eventually merge

In a comment document submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Microsoft shared its views on Open RAN as one of the elements of cloud-based network architecture and detailed its collaboration with mobile operators, Mobile World Live reported.

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The comments came in response to a notice of investigation issued by the FCC on the topic of open RAN. Microsoft is one of several companies outside the traditional telecom space being investigated (others include Intel, Arm, IBM, Google and HPE).

Microsoft’s views may raise some eyebrows within the industry, as the company has made a number of recent acquisitions in the wireless/IoT space. In the second quarter of 2020, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Affirmed Networks, Metaswitch, and CyberX.

Microsoft said in comments submitted to the FCC that it has no plans to compete with mobile network operators. "Microsoft is committed to working with operators, not disintermediating them," Microsoft wrote in the filing.

Microsoft currently has no direct involvement in Open RAN, but its Azure subsidiary is one of the largest public cloud providers. Microsoft's comments submitted to the FCC reflect its view that Open RAN is essential to network cloudification, and the cloud is the key to Open RAN.

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Microsoft appears to view Open RAN and network cloudification as two separate tracks that will eventually converge. The company says Open RAN will be more fully integrated with cloud capabilities in the later stages of its development, and that Open RAN will be important at the end of this journey as operators migrate their entire networks to the cloud.

"To realize its full potential, Open RAN must be combined with cloud capabilities. This will happen in phases, with greater use of the cloud in later phases," Microsoft wrote in the comment document.

Similarly, telecom operators' journey to the cloud will also rely on Open RAN in the later stages, Microsoft said. The company said that operators' migration to the cloud is divided into three different stages. The first stage involves virtualization software in the core of the network and public cloud partnerships at the edge or customer location. Microsoft said that in this stage, it is actively supporting operators. The company currently supports more than 100 commercial mobile operators through virtualized packet core and more than 400 operators through virtual voice service infrastructure.

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Microsoft said the second phase of the migration to the cloud involves moving selected network functions to the cloud, while the third phase begins when operators begin to adopt "complex access technologies such as Open RAN and handle real-time traffic."

In terms of specific recommendations for the FCC, Microsoft encouraged commissioners to provide incentives for rural carriers to improve safety and encourage the industry to come up with certifications similar to OnGo.

“An industry certification program for Open RAN could be a significant milestone, with each component supplier required to obtain certification,” the company wrote.