Ericsson OpenRAN 5G tech tries to phase out Huawei from Spain: Report

Ericsson is making efforts to exclude Huawei from Spain via its OpenRAN 5G technology. The company has recently signed a 5G deal with Spanish firm MasOrange. It aims to push off the Chinese OEM from Spain’s 5G network market.

MasOrange is one of the biggest mobile network operators in Spain. The telecom has been planning to pull Huawei from its 5G network core. Now it has penned down a cooperation with Ericsson for using its OpenRAN tech as an alternative solution.

Spain’s MasOrange has relied on both Ericsson and Huawei so far. Later, it decided to follow the UK norms and phase out the Chinese suppliers from its network core.

Following this aim, the company has now tied up with Ericsson for its 5G OpenRAN tech to push off Huawei from Spain. It will reduce Huawei’s 5G network share from 54% to 39% in the company by removing its products from 1600 sites in Spain.

Meanwhile, it could remove Huawei from all the sites by 2028 and 2029. The company will further replace ZTE which holds 4% of the company’s network share by the end of 2027 using Ericsson’s 5G network technology.

Inputs state that it’s the first such deal for Ericsson in Europe after making a contract with AT&T last year. It is a five-year cooperation under the label of OpenRAN.

Jenny Lindqvist, the senior vice president at Ericsson said:

“This deal with MasOrange is exactly what we think the industry will be moving towards and how we will scale OpenRAN. We are still very early on the 5G curve in Europe compared to many other markets.”

Other details reveal that Ericsson will deploy its OpenRAN 5G technology in 10000 sites in Spain. How much time this deployment will take is currently unknown.

Ericsson OpenRAN 5G tech tries to phase out Huawei from Spain: Report (Image Credits: Huawei)

[Source]