CBRS: Should the enterprise and venue owners care?

OpenRAN: the operators’ perspective

A survey for Mavenir
Monica Paolini, Senza Fili

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 OpenRAN deployment scenarios

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 Obstacles to OpenRAN deployment

Note: Multiple answers allowed

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 Drivers to OpenRAN adoption

Note: Multiple answers allowed

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 Conditions for deploying OpenRAN

Other conditions mentioned:

• Cloud connectivity
Affordability and cost reduction was the • Compatibility with network virtualization
condition most frequently mentioned • Demand from enterprise and industrial IoT
(24% of respondents)
• Efficiency improvements
• Higher reliability than legacy
• Interoperability
• Coexistence with legacy network supported
Other top conditions were:
• New services
- Better performance than legacy • Robust security
- Competitive pressure from incumbent or • Rural and low-density area coverage requirements
other players • Satisfactory support

- Trial success • Solution of outstanding operational issues

• Rolling it out already
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 Operators consider multiple vendors for OpenRAN deployments

Other factors that motivate operators to

Cost savings were mentioned by 25% of deploy RRUs and BBUs from different vendors
respondents as a reason to consider
multiple vendors
• New service requirements
• Interoperability
• Integration
• Architecture
• Performance
• Support for O-RAN fronthaul specifications
• Trial success
• Tight coordination
• Unified management solution

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 What could speed up deployments
or improve the business case for OpenRAN?

Other factors mentioned

Top factors
• Mature APIs
• Better real-world economic models
• Competitive hardware and software vendors which can support operators
Faster integration with existing network as they swap from major vendors
• Evolution to 5G
• Fewer options, wider field trials
• High-availability deployments
Lower costs • New vendors with lower cost equipment
• Open standards
• Optimization
Engagement for implementation from • Scalability
mainstream suppliers • Smaller and lighter equipment for easy deployment.
• Software development for the support of of 3GPP R14 and R15
• Better support of 7-2 fronthaul split, to avoid dark-fiber fronthaul
A viable eco-system that challenges • Support of dynamic spectrum sharing in 5G
incumbent RAN providers • Testing with the incumbents, Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei
• Wider choice of RRU market options
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 Cost plays a crucial role in driving OpenRAN deployments

69% of operators believe that the lack of a low-cost RRU is a major obstacle or slowing
down OpenRAN deployments

The median price of a cost-effective RRU suggested by operators is $2,000

28% of operators indicate cost savings as the main driver to adoption of OpenRAN

84% operators will consider deploying RRUs and BBUs from different vendors in OpenRAN
deployments. 53% believe that they will work with different RRUs and BBUs vendors

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 About Senza Fili
Senza Fili provides advisory support on wireless technologies and services. At Senza Fili we have in-depth expertise in
financial modeling, market forecasts and research, white paper and report preparation, business plan support, strategic
advice, and due diligence. Our client base is international and spans the entire value chain. We work with vendors, mobile
operators and other service providers, enterprises, system integrators, investors, public agencies, and industry associations.
We provide a bridge between technologies and services, helping our clients assess established and emerging technologies,
leverage these technologies to support new or existing services, and build profitable business models. Independent advice, a
strong quantitative orientation, and an international perspective are the hallmarks of our work. You can reach us at
[email protected]

About Monica Paolini

Monica Paolini, PhD, is the founder and president of Senza Fili. She is an expert in wireless technologies and has helped
clients worldwide to understand new technologies and customer requirements, create and assess financial TCO and ROI
models, evaluate business plan opportunities, market their services and products, and estimate the market size and revenue
opportunity of new and established wireless technologies. She frequently gives presentations at conferences, and writes
reports, blog entries and articles on wireless technologies and services, covering end-to-end mobile networks, the operator,
enterprise and IoT markets. She has a PhD in cognitive science from the University of California, San Diego (US), an MBA from
the University of Oxford (UK), and a BA/MA in philosophy from the University of Bologna (Italy).

© 2019 Senza Fili. All rights reserved. The views and statements expressed in this report are those of Senza Fili, and they should not be inferred to reflect the position of the sponsors or
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loss arising from reliance on this information. Trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. Cover photo by KanphotoSS/Shutterstock.
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