Blog
Delivering Industry-First 2G vRAN in Shared Open RAN in Europe
May 30. 2024-
Jean-François Costilhes
Account Director, Samsung Networks Europe
Daniel Borras
Head of Marketing and Business Strategy, Samsung Networks Europe
The addition of 2G vRAN provides operators with more cost-efficiency and flexibility thanks to
the multi-generational support on a single vRAN platform
As 5G networks continue to expand, 2G networks still play a role for a few more years yet in many regions around the world. In Europe, 2G network infrastructure is still in use for applications like machine-to-machine (M2M) services although new technologies like Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) are becoming more widespread. Operating each generation of mobile network from 2G to 5G can be challenging, given that network complexities continuously increase with multiple network elements per generation, fewer options on site locations, cost burden and a host of other factors. Rural and remote areas have consistently had connectivity challenges due to the lack of population density and the economic, as well as operational dilemmas that impact network operators’ ability to deliver service.
To address these challenges, Samsung is collaborating with European operators like Orange and Vodafone to support multi-generational mobile networks in their Open RAN environment, including shared Open RAN in rural area. Samsung provides its software-driven virtualized RAN (vRAN) solution supporting multi-RAT. Through this approach, operators can drive cost-efficient coverage in rural and remote communities.
Recently, Samsung achieved a significant milestone by delivering a 2G vRAN solution over shared commercial network (RAN sharing) in Europe – a first for the industry. This breakthrough was accomplished by collaborating with Orange and Vodafone on their shared Open RAN initiative in rural Romania. Samsung provided the O-RAN-compliant radios and its fully virtualized and disaggregated RAN software supporting multi-RAT – 2G, 4G and 5G. With Samsung’s versatile solutions, Orange and Vodafone are able to host multi-generational technology in a single platform, which allows them to modernize their networks while still supporting legacy technology and cover rural areas in a cost-effective way.
The operators’ commercial pilot project in rural Romania began with the first 4G vRAN in late 2023 and has now been extended to include 2G vRAN – an exciting milestone as this is the first time 2G vRAN has been fully integrated within a commercial shared Open RAN environment in Europe.
The virtualization of 2G represents a major opportunity for mobile operators to improve and operationalize their 2G networks. Built on dedicated hardware, legacy 2G networks can be costly to maintain and update over time but virtualization can help address this.
Why 2G vRAN?
In areas where 2G is still used for voice and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, 2G vRAN will help operators migrate to 4G and 5G in a cost-effective manner. Though 4G and 5G are spreading out widely, some mobile operators can't simply switch off earlier network generations like 2G or 3G all at once. Other carriers’ plans are to phase out 2G from 2030 and beyond, as this nearly three-decade-old technology still provides a common coverage layer for basic cellular services.
New technologies are already available to support legacy voice and IoT devices still in operation (such as meters) that only require low bandwidth like 2G connectivity. By 2030, these technologies will be well established. They include CAT-M and NB-IoT which are more suited to supporting these IoT services due to their enhanced performance and capacity.
By virtualizing the aging 2G infrastructure to run on modern cloud platforms, operators can continue delivering these critical 2G use cases affordably and efficiently while freeing up resources for 4G and 5G networks rather than operating parallel legacy 2G hardware networks.
Samsung Networks’ Growing Support of Europe
Beyond Romania, Samsung has been working with other leading European operators to modernize their networks through 2G, 4G, and 5G vRAN, including:
- In the U.K.: Deploying vRAN and Open RAN technology across 2,500 Vodafone sites, initiating the largest commercial Open RAN rollout in the U.K. to date.
- In Romania: Deploying vRAN for the Open RAN commercial rollout across Romania, covering major urban cities.
- In Germany: Collaborating with O2 Telefonica to launch Telefonica’s first vRAN, Open RAN commercial site in Germany, demonstrating the high quality and reliability of its 5G vRAN solutions.
- In Spain: Joining Vodafone’s Open RAN research testbed in Spain, providing O-RAN-compliant Massive MIMO radios to help validate the network’s performance in urban environments.
Delivering each successive generation of network technology has its own challenges and to address those, Samsung built an advanced software-driven RAN that supports multi-RAT technologies. Solving operator challenges for their advanced networks while improving the flexibility and efficiency of their legacy networks is the focal point of this latest innovation from Samsung. The progress of 2G vRAN from testing at Samsung’s lab to the European operator’s commercial field sites represents what’s in Samsung’s DNA: constant innovation and pushing the boundaries of technology to proactively address customers’ needs.