Deutsche Telekom delays Open RAN till 2027 for Huawei 5G: Report

Deutsche Telekom has reportedly delayed the Open RAN technology plan till 2027, due to Huawei replacement. As already said by the company, it doesn’t seem easy to replace the Chinese 5G equipment from the core network once and for all.

The network operator earlier announced to deploy 3000 Open RAN (Radio Access Network) sites by the end of 2026. But this week, the firm showed a sign of delay in this task. The goal achievement time has now shifted to 2027e (e = estimate).

Another interesting point is, it’s still unclear how Nokia and Fujitsu techs will fit in the Deutsche Telekom core network. Last year, Nokia had said to remove its rival (Huawei) in Germany. However, Huawei’s replacement is taking new turns day by day.

LightReading further notes that Deutsche Telekom never actually wanted to rip or replace Huawei from its core network. The company stated that it would require a lot of effort and skills to replace Huawei and that won’t be that easy to process.

Open-RAN: A Backup plan?

It seems Deutsche Telekom Open RAN is a backup plan to comply with government norms and use Huawei equipment to some extent. An early report showed that only a few countries are taking the EU’s statement seriously to ban Chinese equipment.

Meanwhile, a delay from German telecoms shows that they aren’t much interested in following along with the “rip and replace” program. Unlike the UK, German authorities demand replacing Huawei only as a core network products supplier.

Deutsche also hopes that it can use its in-house network techs for the Huawei RAN management system without pulling off Huawei’s base stations. The telecom believes this plan is an O-RAN solution for critical vendor risk issues. Yet, it won’t be correct technically.

According to the report, Huawei RAN and Deutsche Telekom’s SMO can combine and qualify for Open RAN sites. On the other hand, tech makers like Nokia and Fujitsu either have to replace Huawei by their own efforts or develop new sites for their progress in the O-RAN network technology.

The rip-and-replace program for Huawei in Germany is constantly taking turns. While the authorities are trying to adhere to the UK ban and related restrictions, it is quite difficult to remove Huawei completely. Let’s see how this task proceeds.

(Source)