Altiostar Networks, NEC, and its subsidiary Netcracker Technology are pooling their resources to crack the 5G open virtual radio access network (vRAN) market. That market is currently dominated by traditional RAN vendors like Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE.

The partnership includes work on joint marketing and product development. This will tap into NEC’s IT, network, and systems integration work with Netcracker’s orchestration efforts and Altiostar’s vRAN technology.

“Service providers are looking for proven and market-ready open vRAN solutions. To address this need, collaboration across the ecosystem is essential,” explained NEC GM Mayuko Tatewaki in a statement. “Altiostar's innovative products enable service providers to reduce complexity, innovate more quickly, and significantly reduce deployment and operational costs. The combination of our advanced assets will accelerate the development of the open vRAN market, help mobile service providers transform their networks to support innovative services, and accelerate their [total cost of ownership] goals."

The two firms are also tied to Rakuten Mobile’s plans to launch as a fully virtualized network operator in Japan. Rakuten was a lead investor in Altiostar’s $114 million Series C funding round last year. NEC scored a deal shortly after with Rakuten to jointly develop open vRAN equipment for 5G services.

The move should also help bolster each vendor’s position within the growing vRAN space. While dominated by those traditional vendors, a number of smaller firms have quickly jumped into the market looking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by open platforms.

A vRAN architecture allows for greater software control of network hardware. Telecom operators are pushing this model so that they can introduce new vendors into the space and future-proof their network assets.

IDC reported in its 2018 “Worldwide 5G Network Infrastructure Forecast” that a large portion of 5G investments will be spent on the RAN, and it estimates that the RAN will grow at a 156.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2022.

Altiostar’s core offering is its 5G-ready vRAN software that supports open interfaces and disaggregates hardware and software to help with the buildout of open, multi-vendor webscale networks. Analysts have cited the company’s aggressive push into the space, including its work with Rakuten Mobile.

“Altiostar has beaten them to that in terms of the first global virtualized RAN with Rakuten,” Rajesh Rhai, research director for IDC’s network infrastructure research program, told SDxCentral last year. “Rakuten has kind of been the poster child for virtualized RAN deployment.”

Altiostar has also been grouped alongside a handful of U.S.-based RAN vendors that could benefit from the U.S. government’s ongoing attempts to exclude China-based vendors from 5G networks.

NEC is also looking to use software as a way to branch out. The vendor scored a deal with Samsung in late 2018 to strengthen their respective 5G product portfolios. That deal was also cited as providing NEC with a chance to expand its reach outside of its native market.

While some established vendors have joined various open RAN efforts, there remains trepidation.

“We support, as a basic rule, open systems and open interfaces. We believe that this is the right way for the industry for the long term,” Mike Murphy, CTO for Nokia’s business in North and South America, recently told SDxCentral. However, he also warned about potential problems that could arise when software or hardware from smaller, less battle-tested vendors hits the network. “When you open the window, flies come in. Of course you have to be good, you have to have a great product.”