Three nations have announced their backing of telecoms guidelines developed by the UK for Open RAN.

Australia, Canada, and the United States have backed the guidelines, which were designed to build a more innovative, competitive and secure supply of equipment for telecoms networks, including for 5G and 6G. 

Theirs is the first endorsement of the UK’s principles for the development of Open RAN – a new type of telecoms kit which allows providers to ‘mix and match’ solutions from multiple vendors which is not possible under current network setups. 

The joint statement should send a clear signal to telecoms firms across the globe that about four countries would like to see the benefits of Open RAN realised. 

The move will also boost efforts to reduce global dependency on a small number of telecoms companies to build and maintain these networks, opening the global market to new entrants and maintaining a level of competition.

5G connectivity is promised to revolutionise people’s daily lives and boost business productivity through much faster internet speeds, as well as underpinning new technologies such as driverless cars, improves artificial intelligence, and precision healthcare.

Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said: “The UK has set out a blueprint for telecoms firms across the world to design more open and secure networks.

“With the endorsement of Australia, Canada and the United States, the industry now has the clarity it needs to deliver a new generation of wireless infrastructure fit for the future.”

Coinciding with the anniversary of the 2021 Prague Proposals on Telecommunications Supplier Diversity, the joint statement goes one step further by setting out an intention to collaborate across a number of areas, ranging from sharing information on respective approaches to telecoms diversification, through to research and development. 

This partnership will not only aim to help secure current networks, but future networks looking towards 6G and beyond. 

The 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy, published in November 2020 and backed by the £250 million Open Networks Fund, sets out where the government will remove barriers for new vendors, invest in open and interoperable solutions such as Open RAN and work with like-minded countries to achieve the shared aim for secure and resilient telecoms supply chains.

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Since the publication of the UK’s Diversification Strategy, the government has announced research and development interventions such as the Future RAN Competition (FRANC) which will see up to £36m of funding made available to the SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre (SONIC) which opened in June 2021. 

The government has previously announced a joint ambition with UK mobile network operators to increase the share of open and interoperable equipment in UK networks to 35% by 2030.

Since then, Vodafone and Telefonica have deployed their first live Open RAN sites using new market entrants. 

Claire O’Neil MP, Australia Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, said: “This Joint Statement underscores Australia’s continued commitment to working alongside some of our closest international partners to cooperate on areas of mutual interest and concern, including on the security and resilience of telecommunication.”

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