Samsung Electronics reinforced its open radio access network (RAN) and virtualized RAN (vRAN) work with Verizon, touting conformance and interoperability testing of LTE and 5G radios to power the carrier’s 5G open RAN deployment plans.

The lab tests used Samsung’s O-RAN Alliance specification-compliant radios with four-transmit/four-receive (4T4R) antennas beaming spectrum in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1.7/2.1 GHz and 1.9 GHz bands; dual-mode radios with 16-transmit/16-receive (16T16R) antennas beaming spectrum in the C-band and Consumer Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum bands; and 64-transmit/64-receive (64T64R) massive multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) antennas beaming C-band spectrum.

Samsung noted that Verizon has already deployed the complex 64T64R massive MIMO radios on top of the carrier’s vRAN platform. These radios pack 64 transmitting and 64 receiving antennas into a typical radio antenna footprint, which allows for more precise tuning of radio signal direction, which is known as beamforming.

The lab tests build on past work between Samsung and Verizon, which includes supplanting Nokia as one of Verizon’s main RAN and 5G equipment suppliers in 2020, and providing Verizon with a majority of its vRAN equipment core to its 5G expansion.

The tests are also key open RAN momentum milestones for both companies.

Verizon’s open RAN efforts have been overshadowed by rival AT&T, which late last year made waves by stating plans to spend around $14 billion over the next five years to deploy open RAN equipment with the goal of having 70% of its wireless network traffic flowing through its open RAN platform by the end of 2026. That deal relies on Ericsson to provide the base open RAN layer, with AT&T having so far only announced Fujitsu as an additional open RAN radio supplier.

Adam Koeppe, SVP of network planning at Verizon, downplayed AT&T’s move in a recent SDxCentral interview, stating that “it’s actually entertaining seeing so many of our competitors talk about O-RAN.” Koeppe added that Verizon remains focused on solidifying the open tenets of the open RAN ecosystem, specifically citing ongoing interoperability challenges between functions in an open RAN environment.

“Today, the baseband function and the radio function, they actually use an interface called CPRI, which is common public radio interface, and it’s not really common at all,” Koeppe said. “Each supplier, and it’s typically the same supplier for the baseband and the radio, they put their secret sauce into that interface to ensure that both sides of the equation work well. Well, that’s not open. We want to ensure that O-RAN actually has an open interface between the two sides of the equation, the baseband and the radio.”

Koeppe noted that Verizon has “a large proliferation of O-RAN capable equipment already in our network, so that’s good,” but work remains.

“What we know works is a single supplier O-RAN, meaning it’s one supplier for the baseband and the radio following the O-RAN spec. We know that works, and that’s good. We’ve seen a lot of progress there,” Koeppe said. “What we need to prove can be highly effective and reliable is a multivendor O-RAN deployment, meaning I’ve got a different supplier for the baseband and different supplier for the radio using that open RAN interface to work in a high-traffic environment, high-quality environment.”

Samsung was also left out of AT&T’s initial announcement, which befuddled the vendor.

Alok Shah, VP of strategy and marketing for Samsung Electronics America’s networks business, told SDxCentral that AT&T’s big-picture move was important to the broader open RAN ecosystem, but added that AT&T’s specific plans are going to be a “process.”

“I don’t know that the way they’ve chosen to do it is necessarily what I’ve seen work in the past,” Shah said of AT&T’s heavy reliance on one vendor to underpin its open RAN deployment. “I mean, if you look at other industries, I think having the dominant vendor be the one with responsibility to open up the network is sort of a conflict of interest, let’s say, in incentives. So, we’ll have to see how that plays out. But, overall, seeing AT&T moving in the direction of open RAN is very positive for the ecosystem.”

Samsung remains one of the open RAN ecosystem's largest players. ABI Research recently reported that the vendor was one of several in the space – alongside Mavenir, NEC, Fujitsu, Rakuten Symphony and Parallel Wireless – that control nearly all of the market’s share.