Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today revealed a stack of software and hardware for 5G open radio access networks (RAN) that it plans to make commercially available before July. The HPE Open RAN Solution Stack features the vendor’s orchestration and automation software, RAN infrastructure blueprints, and a server it claims to be optimized for 5G workloads in an open RAN environment.

The open RAN push by HPE follows its release of a 5G core stack last year, and extends the company further into the growing market for disaggregated RAN, which is fueled by software and the ability to use less specialized and proprietary equipment for network workloads and management. 

HPE also combined all of its telco-related software and hardware into a new business unit called Communications Technology Group (CTG) that will be led by Phil Mottram, SVP and GM of the new division.

Despite the push from many operators to mix and match software and hardware from multiple vendors, HPE CEO Antonio Neri claims customers are demanding a more combined offering that brings all of the required services and components together in a more reliable and integrated manner.  

“They don’t like to bring together what I call widgets that they have to put together themselves. What they want is complete solutions that are out of the box able to be deployed and managed in a cloud-native way,” Neri said during a presentation today. “This is where HPE had tremendous assets across the entire company, but we felt this is an opportunity to act now and bring in every aspect of what we do into one integrated organization and architecture was the next natural step.”

The HPE Open RAN Solution Stack features intent-based orchestration and artificial intelligence (AI) infused automation that allows mobile network operators to manage thousands of virtual machines (VMs), hundreds of virtual network functions (VNFs) and containerized network functions (CNFs) across their respective network, according to the vendor.

HPE also notes that because open RAN is in such an early stage of deployment, current networks riding on open RAN are built on bespoke configurations that can’t be replicated at scale. The company claims its Telco Infrastructure Blueprints will help operators overcome these challenges by reducing risk and complexity, and opening pathways for more software from various vendors to get in on the action. 

HPE said it’s also collaborating with Intel to develop a virtualized RAN (vRAN) reference that features hardware, firmware, and software. Intel has inked similar vRAN deals with multiple 5G vendors and operators, including VMware, Red Hat, Verizon, Dish, and most recently Google Cloud. 

“We have a comprehensive set of solutions that we can actually integrate, whether it is the virtualization of the core, or whether it is at the edge with vRAN, and then ultimately even providing the last mile of connectivity with WiFi and all the multi-protocol aspects of it,” Neri said. 

HPE revealed its open RAN stack alongside its ProLiant DL110 Gen10 Plus Server and open, standards-based architecture that supports open RAN software from multiple vendors. The stack is also backed by Intel’s forthcoming 3rd Generation Xeon Scalable processors.

The company claims its offering supports multiple options for hardware acceleration and can power a baseband unit, fronthaul gateway, and cell site router in a single short-depth server. HPE also highlighted the strength of its platform for edge computing.

“For us, cloud is not a destination, it’s an experience that we bring to all the applications and data wherever they live,” Neri said. “When I think about our vision as a company to become that edge to cloud platform-as-a-service company, we have the opportunity to bring that cloud experience all the way to the far edge, not just the edge of the telco, but the edge of where we live, where we work.”

HPE’s telco business provides network operators with infrastructure, software to virtualize that hardware, and orchestration software that can automate and manage network functions and services that will power new 5G applications, he explained. 

“We have about 50 different software products that we sell to telcos around the world, and those 50 products are supported by a team of over 5,000 engineers who are dedicated to telecoms,” Mottram said during the video presentation. “The company’s got a very strong heritage in the telco sector with over 30 years of supplying products and services to customers in that group.”

HPE is currently in active discussions with more than 70 telco customers, it has signed contracts with some operators, and it plans to deploy live commercial services with some of those carriers around the middle of 2021, according to Mottram.

The company says it serves more than 300 telco customers in 160 countries and claims at least 850 million mobile devices are connected to HPE software in some form.