The disaggregation of software and hardware via the deployment of a virtualized RAN (vRAN) can deliver significant benefits to both service providers and users. 5G has been designed to support vRAN, and the open RAN specifications are based on vRAN architectures. The use of vRAN and open interfaces enables a sustainable solution based on common server platforms with considerable deployment flexibility and scalability that can take advantage of the latest industry innovations.
To find out more about how service providers view the benefits of vRAN and how they plan to deploy vRAN and open RAN platforms and architectures for 5G networks, Heavy Reading ran an exclusive survey of individuals working for operators with mobile network businesses. The survey presented six benefits of vRAN and asked respondents to rank them as critical, important, somewhat important, or not important. 113 individuals working for operators with mobile network businesses gave responses, with more than 80% ranking each benefit as either critical or important.