Mavenir unveiled public availability of its open radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) targeted at providing telecommunication operators using open RAN architecture with greater control over those network deployments. The launch builds on growing commercial interest in RIC control over commercial open RAN deployments.

The vendor noted its RIC platform operates as a “network intelligence-as-a-service (NIaaS)” that allows operators to create differentiated services using open APIs that support closed-loop network control to optimize RAN performance. This contrasts with traditional RAN network control using self-organizing network (SON) models and a single control loop that limits more granular control of a network.

Brandon Larson, SVP and GM of Mavenir’s Multimedia Business Unit, explained in an interview that Mavenir’s RIC taps machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to support those closed-loop models in allowing operators and the broader ecosystem to use an open RAN network more as a “business tool.”

“It's a business tool that allows you to program your network the way you want to meet your business needs,” Larson said, adding that this includes the ability to use ML and AI to manage an open RAN deployment to specific use cases.

“It's really about being able to deliver premium services and charge premium prices where applicable, but at the same time being able to efficiently use your resources to meet the business demand,” Larson said. “And I look at the RIC as the brains to that whole operation.”

The RIC operates in the middle of an open RAN deployment as a kind of linkage to the wider network. It allows operators to deploy microservice-based applications operating in near-real time (xApps) and non-real time (rApps) that then allow operators to design and control RAN functions, providing administrative RAN sovereignty over functions that are typically implemented as proprietary features on base stations.

Larson explained that while most RIC architectures that adhere to the Open RAN specification should in theory be similar, Mavenir is pushing deeper into the E2 interface that coincides with the xApps layer. This is the layer that interfaces with network data and KPIs to support specific use cases.

“We probably wrote about 70% of the spec that’s out there in the O-RAN standards,” Larson added.

Analyst firms have noted a significant increase in RIC interest tied to operators wanting to glean more efficiencies – both operational and financial – from their nascent open RAN deployments. A recent report from SNS Telecom & IT predicts spending on open RAN-compliant RIC platform will hit $600 million by the end of 2025.

Vendors have increasingly been targeting this opportunity with deployments and partnership.

Larson said that Mavenir’s RIC platform has already been tapped by a pair of “tier-one operators” for use in their open RAN deployments. The vendor had previously shown interoperability with Indian operator Bharti Airtel and has been working with a number of operators in Europe.

Japanese operator KDDI recently trialed a Samsung developed RIC to support multiple network slices on a live commercial 5G SA network in Tokyo. And KDDI rival Rakuten tapped Juniper Networks’ RIC as the sole selection as part of that operator’s Rakuten Symphony platform.

Larson explained that commercial deployments across vendors should be smooth, though as with “any sort of telco, there’s always integration. Nothing magically always works together.”

However, he noted that Mavenir’s unique approach is targeting those deeper layers that will allow operators to mine more data from their open RAN operations and take advantage of that greater level of control.

“It's going to be a very, very powerful tool,” Larson said. “The promise is immense, but just like everything, it’s easier said than done, and there's just going to be a lot of complexity and getting this thing out and making it work in a real operational environment.”

Mavenir’s RIC launch is also the latest push by the vendor as it competes against larger players in the rapidly evolving open RAN space.

Dell’Oro Group recently grouped Mavenir alongside Samsung, Fujitsu, and NEC as market leaders across the open RAN space. The analyst firm just updated its guidance for the space, noting it now expects open RAN revenues to “accelerate at a faster pace than initially expected” and account for up to 20% of overall global RAN revenues by 2027.

“The message that we have communicated for some time now with the early adopters embracing the movement and the early majority operator still concerned about performance and cost parity with open RAN relative to proprietary RAN has not changed,” explained Dell’Oro Group VP and Analyst Stefan Pongratz, in a report. “Even with the higher starting point, it is more salient than even to factor in the vastly different adoption curves across the greenfields, the leading brownfields in North America and Asia Pacific, and the rest of the world.”