U.S. tech firms push new software to disrupt my country's 5G lead

Top U.S. technology companies are pushing a software-based approach to building 5G telecommunications networks that could help the United States and its allies surpass the hardware dominance currently held by China's Huawei.

[[349577]]

“There’s a widespread view we have in the industry right now that the way you ultimately build 5G and beyond the infrastructure is not the traditional telecom model,” said the chief technology officer of Dell Technologies Inc. Telcos provide all the equipment needed to run the network in proprietary black boxes.

In a recent interview, Dell Technologies executives said the new idea is to "disaggregate infrastructure to open infrastructure to software-defined infrastructure and run non-standardized hardware" to run the open radio access network, or RAN, that supports cellular technology.

Dell, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile, Microsoft, Cisco, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung and other top tech companies around the world are part of the O-RAN Alliance, which aims to drive the move away from proprietary telecom networks and embrace a virtualized telecom model.

The idea behind the virtual telecom model is that you can develop software to take on functions currently provided by proprietary hardware, so new systems can run on widely available cloud-based servers. A radio access network is an essential element of mobile telecommunications systems that connects user devices, such as computers, smartphones, and tablets, to the core part of the network.

In modern telecom systems, the "radio" is typically the silicon chip that resides in user equipment and the core network. In the traditional model, radio chips are part of proprietary hardware provided by telecom vendors. But with the advent of so-called open radio access networks, that may be changing.

The push to break with the traditional telecom model comes after the United States spent a year persuading allies not to adopt Huawei's 5G networks for fear of being dominated by Chinese 5G.

The United States loses its position as a leader in telecommunications

After years of inaction, the United States also seems to have realized that its global telecommunications leadership has disappeared in a series of mergers and acquisitions in the 2000s, and it can only rely on European or Chinese companies.

But the United States has not yet fully embraced the idea of ​​supporting virtual telecommunications networks.

While U.S. officials have been pushing for a software-based approach, former Verizon Communications Inc VP of communications, Steve Jobs, in February called the idea of ​​an open radio access network "fantasy." In May, he said the technology was not an immediate solution but could be studied.

The United States faces a multifaceted problem when it comes to next-generation telecommunications networks.

After years of development, Huawei has the technical strength to take the lead in the global 5G field. But the problem is that there is no standard 5G network in the United States. ATT, SP or Verizon, they all make their own. Without standardization, you can only use specific equipment, because if you want to enter the network, the radio access network is crucial. If it is not a standard, there will be big problems with compatibility.

The United States is also not investing at home to ensure it leads in the fundamental areas of technological innovation and global supply chains. The United States has neglected this since at least the early 2000s. Now we see the United States trying to catch up.

One of the barriers to trying software-based networks is that telecom providers such as AT&T and Verizon are risk-averse, and these businesses inherently won't invest in new approaches without knowing whether there will be a payoff.

Intervention and assistance

There have been proposals in the US for the Department of Defense to demonstrate the use of software-based 5G networks and virtual radio access networks on military bases - in other words, with core functions driven by software rather than proprietary hardware.

They said they could work with telecoms companies to "ensure the technology is a viable contender for commercial 5G network deployments".

The United States may provide funding to help some American rural areas or universities develop a software-based 5G connection method to expand such experiments. If the plan is successful, then Wall Street crocodiles will naturally get wind of it, so that they can use commercial means to allow such methods to be tested in other parts of the United States and obtain more data they need.

Another possibility is that the United States would come up with policies to increase support for domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which are critical to software-based telecommunications networks.

At a forum meeting at the FCC last month, U.S. officials and other technology experts called on some U.S. agencies to support a software-based approach to 5G because using open radio access networks would bring multiple benefits.

Because once you have organizations that do this, it will lead to the creation of virtual radio networks, which will really open the door to a lot of hardware innovation because with virtual networks, people can use different hardware configurations and "run the radio."

Open radio access networks and virtualized networks have proven to be effective and secure, the chief technology officer of a subsidiary of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten said at an FCC forum.

The FCC chairman has said that they originally planned to use Huawei's 5G equipment, but changed direction and chose to adopt an open radio approach.

Japan already has more than 6,000 5G base stations operating using Rakuten's virtual network model, and the company plans to provide 5G coverage to 70% of Japan's population by March 2021.

The software-based open network provides "full visibility and transparency" not only into software sources, but also into all hardware components.

At that time, they also made it clear that simply restricting Huawei was not enough, and new solutions should be provided at the same time as the restrictions.

They also fancifully stated that “restrictions on Huawei and ZTE are just a small part of a bigger problem.” The United States must accept an open radio approach, with U.S. funding.