Samsung Electronics and Orange France have successfully completed the first 4G and 5G calls on Orange France’s virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN network.

Conducted in a city in southwestern France, the pilot furthers the partnership between the businesses on vRAN and Open RAN.

Prior to the field testing, the companies conducted rigorous tests in the Orange labs in Lyon, demonstrating technical and operational readiness.

For the project, Samsung provided its vRAN solutions with multi-generational support, O-RAN compliant triple-band radios for low- and mid-bands (700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1.8GHz, 2.1GHz, and 2.6GHz), and 3.5GHz 32T32R Massive MIMO radios.

It also provided Orange with Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS), a set of AI applications and software solutions, including an AI-powered Service Management Orchestration (SMO), which Samsung claims simplifies network automation and enables Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

The company also collaborated with Dell Technologies on servers for the project, alongside Intel on the processing front.

The Korean giant notes its vRAN provision features intelligent automation, AI integration, and advanced energy-saving functionalities to help operators enhance network capabilities while increasing energy efficiency, alongside enabling network infrastructure modernization across multiple regions.

“This first call on a virtualized RAN in France, based on Samsung technology, paves the way for our future cloud RAN deployment,” commented Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, CTO Networks at Orange France.

“Our latest work with Orange France is another addition to the array of successful innovations Samsung has introduced in Europe,” added June Moon, executive vice president, head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.

“[Our] vRAN and Open RAN solutions will not only provide high-quality and reliable connectivity, but also offer the optimal ground for bringing transformative technologies like AI to the network in France.”