Jury’s out on Open RAN’s green gains

• TelecomTV conducted an Open RAN market perception survey
• We asked network operators a number of questions about how they view Open RAN
• Most of our telco respondents aren’t yet convinced that Open RAN architectures can help deliver greener networks

The majority of telecom operators aren’t yet convinced that Open RAN networks can help them build greener networks, according to the results of a survey conducted by TelecomTV that have just been published in our latest DSP Leaders Report, the Open RAN Market Perception Report. 

We conducted an Open RAN perception survey of network operators during March, asking them a number of questions about their views of the Open RAN sector: The respondents represent more than 35 network operators from Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Latin America that collectively serve more than 1.5 billion customers across their group operations.

As one of the oft-cited claims from the Open RAN supporters’ camp is that disaggregated, best-of-breed radio access network (RAN) systems will help telcos build more sustainable networks, one of the questions we asked was: ‘Will Open RAN systems help network operators to become more energy efficient?’ 

As the graphic above shows, while 42% of our network operator executive respondents believe Open RAN can indeed help cut their power consumption, almost the same number, 41%, were not sure that this would be the case, while 17% clearly don’t believe there is are any energy efficiency-gains to be had from Open RAN deployments. 

Of course, over time that 41% could swing either way as more operational data emerges from commercial Open RAN deployments and as the chip, software, server hardware and operator communities continue their R&D efforts to cut the power consumption in open, virtualised RAN deployments. Vodafone, for one, is channelling a great deal of effort into the development of Open RAN architectures that offer energy-efficiency gains compared with traditional systems – see Vodafone claims Open RAN lead – and makes green commitments.

Other topics addressed in the report include the impact of Open RAN on the vendor ecosystem, the potential for overall efficiency gains and market leadership. For example, Mavenir is the company most widely regarded by our respondents as the Open RAN sector’s leading vendor – see Mavenir takes Open RAN vendor crown.

To see all of the survey results, download our 13-page report for free by clicking on this link. 

Check out all of our free-to-download DSP Leaders Reports, including the recent 20-page DSP Leaders Council Industry Vision Report and our 16-page Telecom’s Take on AI report, by clicking on this link. 

Want to contribute to our Quantum-Safe Networking Market Perception Report? Our industry survey, which takes just two minutes to complete, can be found here: The resulting report will be published later in April. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV