NEC Awarded "Requirements Compliant Ribbon" for 5G massive MIMO Open RAN Radio Units for Latest Published TIP Requirements 2.0

Tokyo – February 28, 2022 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) has been awarded its second ribbon from the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), this time for complying with the requirements for TIP's OpenRAN RU Technical Requirements Document 2.0. This updated, comprehensive list of technical requirements for Open RAN is built on the valuable work from the operator signatories of the Open RAN MoU Group (European telecom operators Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM and Vodafone), and others.

NEC is an active participant in several consortia looking to drive technology requirements and standards for Open RAN and is the first global 5G supplier to have live, deployed 5G massive MIMO radio units that are OpenRAN compliant. TIP is comprised of hundreds of companies – service providers, technology suppliers, systems integrators and more – who collaborate to ensure the proliferation of open, disaggregated and standards-based solutions to deliver global connectivity and fully realize the potential of a connected world.

As was the case with TIP's previous recognition of NEC product compliance against the Requirements Document 1.0, the company's 5G massive MIMO radio units that have been awarded with the Requirements Compliant Ribbon are the MB5440, 5450 and 5460 units.

"NEC's contribution to the development of open standards for 5G is part of our commitment to the industry – and it's clearly making a difference, as demonstrated by the many major wireless providers who have chosen NEC over the last 12 months," said Patrick Lopez, Global VP of Product Management for 5G Products, NEC. "Our continued investment in Open RAN, and the ecosystem required to accelerate the industry's rollout of 5G based on openness, is a foundational part of our strategy. Our investment in activities with TIP is an on-going priority for us, as illustrated in our Plugfest participation."

“NEC is among the first Radio Unit manufacturers to have proven product compliance against TIP's OpenRAN RU Technical Requirements Document 2.0.," said David Hutton, Chief Engineer, TIP. “The TIP community is driving the productization of Open RAN and we certainly welcome and encourage the level of engagement shown by NEC, and their contribution to shaping Open RAN innovation. We look forward to seeing more vendor solutions like these listed on TIP Exchange."

NEC is a global leader in Open RAN, with an end-to-end suite of solutions delivered as NEC Open Networks™. This industry leading array of hardware and software products, includes disaggregated RAN components, converged core and automation / orchestration software, combined with system integration capabilities.

NEC will be presenting its industry leading Open Networks at MWC Barcelona 2022, at Fira Gran Via, Hall 2 2F10