About Open RAN Summit
Open RAN (ORAN) is set to redefine the telco industry. The benefits of disaggregation are set to bring operators a plethora of benefits, from cost savings, enhanced efficiency, innovation, and scalability. However, challenges persist. Operators have invested heavily in their legacy networks, and many question whether the ends would justify the means.
Join this year’s Open RAN Summit as we discuss some of the biggest trends and challenges facing the ORAN industry, from testing, integration, private networks, and much more.
AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
11:00 AM- 12:15 PM ET
OPEN RAN IN 2023 – IS THE MOMENTUM STILL THERE?
During last year’s Open RAN Summit, Fierce Wireless was joined by speakers as they debated whether the ORAN industry was progressing as fast as had been anticipated. Market analyses show that the ORAN market is growing, with a recent study by ReportLinker forecasting that the global ORAN market is set to reach a value of $23.1 billion by 2028. However, the overall market growth is slower than previous years. To date, most deployments are in greenfield sites and private networks. Large-scale, multi-vendor brownfield deployments are still lacking. Of course, ORAN will completely redefine how networks are planned and deployed, as such there is a lot to be figured out. With this in mind, what is holding back brownfield ORAN networks? What lessons from current deployments could help combat incumbency? What challenges persist and is the ORAN momentum starting to slow?
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM Fireside Chat | Speaker: Rahul Kaundal, Head – Radio Access & Transport Network (Manager – Networks), Airtel-Vodafone / Moderator: Roy Chua, Principal, AvidThink
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM Partner Keynote | Speaker: Ganesh Shenbagaraman, Head of Standards, Regulatory Affairs & Ecosystems DU Marketing, Radisys
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM Panel | Moderator: Roy Chua, Principal, AvidThink / Panelists: Terje Jensen, Senior Vice President/Network and Cloud Technology Strategy, Telenor / Mike Irizarry, Executive VP, CTO, UScellular
AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM ET
TROUBLESHOOTING & INTEGRATION IN THE MULTI-VENDOR RAN – TESTING, TESTING, AND TESTING.
Everyone following the ORAN discussion is aware of its potential to innovate the industry. However, a common point of contention is how we test and integrate in a disaggregated network. When things go wrong in the single vendor scenario, the solution is straightforward enough. However, with multiple vendors, operators must first identify the problem, then ensure any subsequent solutions are still fully operable with all other constituent parts. A recent whitepaper published by TIP stated testing as being one of biggest operational challenges faced by operators when deploying multi-vendor RANs, largely since the knowledge and skills required to do this are lacking in the industry. Continuous testing is thought to be paramount in the success in deploying multi-vendor ORAN networks. Therefore, with such importance, who will be able to do testing? Should this be the responsibility of the system integrator, or something developed in-house?
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM Fireside Chat | Moderator: Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili / Speaker: Sharad Sriwastawa, Co-CEO, Rakuten Mobile
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM Keynote | Speaker: Lauriston Hardin, 5G Challenge Chief Technical Advisor, NTIA/ITS
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM Panel | Moderator: Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili / Panelists: Eugina Jordan, CMO, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) / Khushboo Kalyani, Product Manager, LitePoint / Elif Yirmibes, Innovation Hub & Open Ran Product Performance Snr. Manager, Vodafone / Warren Bayek, VP Technology, Wind River
AGENDA
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
11:00 AM- 12:15 PM ET
OPTIMIZING & AUTOMATING THE RAN WITH RIC
As 5G continues to be rolled out, the importance of running efficient and optimized networks is more important than ever. The RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) is a software that leverages AI/ML that does just that – helps to automate the RAN and maximize network efficiency. So far, 2023 has been an exciting year for RIC, with the xApps and rApps now available for operators to implement their real and near-real time RICs and begin optimization. With these exciting developments, will RIC live up to its promise to automate and optimize the RAN? Join this session to explore the developments in this area and learn what’s next for the RIC.
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM Keynote | Speaker: Lucia de Miguel, OPEN RAN Digital, Software & System Development Manager, Vodafone Group
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM Partner Keynote | Speaker: Rimma Iontel, Chief Architect - Global Telco Telecommunications, Entertainment and Media Technology, Strategy and Execution Office, Red Hat
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM Panel | Moderator: Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili / Panelists: Simona Marinova, Solution Architect, Bell Canada / Richard MacKenzie, Distinguished Engineer in Wireless Networks, BT / Rimma Iontel, Chief Architect - Global Telco Telecommunications, Entertainment and Media Technology, Strategy and Execution Office, Red Hat
AGENDA
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET
IS OPEN RAN THE CONDUIT TO CLOUD NATIVE?
Like ORAN, the cloud-native telco market is growing rapidly, with MarketsAndMarkets stating that cloud-native telco will be valued at $32.5 billion by 2028. By utilizing cloud-native applications, operators can deploy networks which can be scaled subject to demand, thus helping reduce OPEX expenditure. The cloudification of the Centralized and Distributed Unit workflows will further create cost savings by allowing operators to deploy flexible, modular, and scalable RANs. Additionally, it is thought ORAN cloudification may solve some security concerns associated with ORAN networks. As such, what are the benefits ORAN cloudification? What are the biggest challenges and is ORAN a part of telco’s bigger plan to achieve their long-term cloud ambitions?
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM Keynote | Speaker: Ravi Sinha, Co-Chairman nGRG (O-RAN ALLIANCE) & VP, Reliance JIO
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM Partner Keynote | Speaker: Pardeep Kohli, President, CEO, Mavenir
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM Panel | Moderator: Viet Nguyen,Vice President, PR and Technology, 5G Americas / Panelists: Ildikó Váncsa, Director of Community, Open Infrastructure Foundation / Partha Seetala, President-Cloud BU, Rakuten Symphony / Adnan Boustany, Director of RAN Infrastructure, Intel
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM Closing Partner Keynote | Speaker: Warren Bayek, VP of Technology, Wind River
AGENDA
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
11:00 AM- 12:00 PM ET
WHAT ROLE WILL ORAN PRIVATE NETWORKS PLAY IN THE WIDER ORAN EVOLUTION?
Many ORAN deployments to date are in greenfield sites and private networks. Although the enterprise may be uninterested in the foundations of their private network, deploying an ORAN, or at least, an ORAN-ready private network can offer benefits to both the enterprise and operator alike. In a recent survey published by LightReading, 40% of operators believed ORAN will play an important role in their private 5G offering. For enterprises, private ORAN networks allow deployments optimized for specific use cases, in addition to being easily scalable. On the operator side, deploying private networks is less costly compared with public networks, and creates an opportunity for them to test their ORAN deployment. Therefore, what role will private ORAN networks play in operators wider ORAN strategy, and what benefits and challenges are there for both provider and customer alike?
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM Fireside Chat | Moderator: Sylwia Kechiche, Principal Analyst, IoT & Enterprise, Ookla / Speaker: Dr. Venki Ramaswamy, Chief Technologist, MITRE Labs
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM Panel | Moderator: Sylwia Kechiche, Principal Analyst, IoT & Enterprise, Ookla / Panelists: James Kirby, Senior Analyst, Analysys Mason / Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence, GSMA Intelligence
AGENDA
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM ET
DELIVERING ON SUSTAINABILITY GOALS WITH OPEN RAN
Running a telco network consumes a lot of energy and with the current climate emergency, all industries are under increasing pressure to be more energy-efficient and be more environmentally mindful. There is a lot of opportunity within an open interface to run a network more efficiently. Not only does the open interface give CSPs the opportunity to build networks with a sustainable focus, but it also gives them the chance to intelligently run their networks so that energy can be used when it is needed. Join this session to learn how Open RAN is helping CSPs build the sustainable networks of tomorrow.
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM Keynote | Speaker: Sebastian Guic, Expert in 4G & 5G Mobile Access, Telecom Argentina
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM Partner Keynote | Speaker: Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President, Network & Edge Group and GM, Wireless Access Network Division, Intel
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM Panel | Moderator: Chris Pearson, President, 5G Americas / Panelists: Dr. Venki Ramnaswamy, Chief Technologist for NextG, MITRE Labs / Ildiko Vancsa, Director of Community, Open Infrastructure Foundation
Interested in speaking or partnering?
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