Mavenir broadened its push into open and virtualized radio access network (vRAN) development with the opening of a new innovation center in Stockholm. The network software provider also demonstrated data traffic transmission over Open RAN (O-RAN) interface technology in a 5G New Radio (NR) during the formal opening of the center earlier this week.

The center will focus on developing 5G NR hardware and software that is compatible with the O-RAN Alliance specifications. During the demonstration, Mavenir transmitted data at the physical layer in a 5G NR with an open interface between a distributed unit and a simulated remote radio unit, according to the company.

“The relevance of this demonstration is that the O-RAN interface is a straightforward and robust interface to implement in 5G with standard commercial off-the-shelf equipment,” said Mikael Rylander, senior vice president and general manager of the RAN business at Mavenir, in a prepared statement. “This means we will be able to stimulate a full ecosystem of radio unit suppliers, which will inject new blood into the market and support the vision of OpenRAN in transforming the mobile network economics.”

Every operator that was contacted for a new survey commissioned by Mavenir reported that they are considering using OpenRAN in key scenarios. That’s a remarkable position for 100% of survey respondents to take on a technology that’s only been under development for two years.

“The trend shows great interest in moving to OpenRan sooner rather than later,” said Monica Paolini, founder and president of Senza Fili, in a prepared statement. The survey, which was conducted by Senza Fili, also found that 43% of respondents are open to replacing current vendors, and lower cost radios are a key factor driving interest in OpenRAN interface adoption.

John Baker, senior vice president at Mavenir, described the survey results in encouraging terms. “For the first time in many years, opportunities for new suppliers in what has been a closed ecosystem are now opening and operators are actively making this change happen,” he said in a prepared statement.

It’s been nearly a year since Mavenir created the Open RAN Partner Ecosystem in response to Cisco’s Open vRAN Alliance. There are many overlapping goals spread across the two groups, but Mavenir is taking a more neutral approach whereas Cisco’s group is driven by Cisco.

Mavenir is based in Dallas and operates its other innovation center there as well. The move into Stockholm puts the company in close proximity to Ericsson, which is headquartered there. “We are pleased to have a strong presence in Stockholm where we can attract top talent and leverage the technical knowledge in key areas,” Mavenir CEO Pardeep Kohli said in a prepared statement.