That didn’t take long. The O-RAN Alliance and Nokia are best pals again. 

Nokia abruptly paused activities in the O-RAN Alliance over concerns about some Chinese members’ blacklisted status with the U.S. government, and the alliance has acquiesced, albeit vaguely. 

“The O-RAN board has approved changes to O-RAN participation documents and procedures. While it is up to each O-RAN participant to make their own evaluation of these changes, O-RAN is optimistic that the changes will address the concerns and facilitate O-RAN’s mission,” the group wrote in a prepared statement.

That was all it took apparently for Nokia to run back to the alliance with open arms.

Without explaining what changes were made, Nokia is back and resuming activities with the O-RAN Alliance. “We welcome the encouraging news that the O-RAN Alliance has announced changes to its O-RAN participation documents and procedures, ensuring technical activities can continue in compliance with U.S. law,” Tommi Uitto, president of Nokia’s Mobile Networks division, wrote in a blog post. 

Two of the three member companies blacklisted by the U.S. government, which apparently spooked Nokia, are still listed on the O-RAN Alliance site as members. Kindroid is no longer listed as a member of the alliance, but Phytium and Inspur are still listed as members. 

The O-RAN Alliance didn’t immediately respond to questions about the procedural and participation changes made in the wake of Nokia’s protest, nor did it clarify its willingness to allow other companies who are on the U.S. entity list to join or remain as members. 

The issue highlights the difficulty vendors and operators face in maneuvering a hodgepodge of restrictions imposed on Chinese vendors in the U.S. and many Western countries while still collaborating with those same companies in global standards bodies and technical specification organizations such as the O-RAN Alliance.

Companies are also regularly added and removed from the U.S. Entity List, a formal document that names blacklisted companies, which further complicates matters. 

Nokia wasn’t alone in voicing concerns, but it remains the only company in the O-RAN Alliance that opted to make the power play, which also spotlights the underlying challenges impacting the global technology landscape. Ericsson and Samsung last week lent credence to Nokia’s position and shared concerns about how the situation might hamper progress in the group, but remained hopeful the situation would be resolved quickly.

That outcome arrived in short order, but there is no indication that the conflict is sustainably settled. Indeed, now that the issue is front and center in the open RAN community at large, it’s likely to fester. 

From Nokia’s perspective, the matter is resolved for now at least. The O-RAN Alliance did enough to appease its concerns.

“Important legal issues were ironed out,” Uitto explained, adding that “Nokia is fully committed to open RAN and a believer in the potential of open RAN.”

Nokia’s technical contribution to the alliance restarted as of today, he wrote, adding that Nokia was the first major vendor to join the group and the first large supplier to endorse and help form the alliance when only five operators were party to the effort. “Today, 26 of the 29 communications service providers in the alliance are Nokia customers,” Uitto wrote.

The executive also claimed Nokia remains “the strongest contributor to the alliance’s technical work,” highlighting the vendor’s work across most of the working and focus groups. 

“O-RAN specifications are still evolving and there are technical challenges to overcome and of course the ecosystem will take time to mature,” he wrote. “The speed with which the O-RAN Alliance has been able to resolve recent issues speaks to the spirit of community and cooperation on which it was founded.”

Nokia did not immediately respond to a request for details about the changes made to the alliance’s operating procedures or membership rules. 

Meanwhile, the abrupt activity freeze and drama leaves one big question unanswered. Why couldn’t Nokia and the O-RAN Alliance work this out behind the scenes? Did the group think it could simply call Nokia’s bluff and make the issue go away? Cooler heads did not prevail. The stink from this fiasco lingers.