LGU+ Partners with Dell for Open RAN Development... Full Discussions at MWC

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced on the 26th that it will strengthen research and development cooperation in the Open RAN (O-RAN) platform field by partnering with global IT company Dell Technologies.

Ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 held in Barcelona, Spain, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) via an online video conference on the 23rd. The online signing ceremony was attended by Kwon Jun-hyuk, Head of LG Uplus Network Division, and Dennis Hoffman, Senior Vice President of Dell.

Kwon Jun-hyuk, Head of Network Division at LG Uplus (left in the photo), and Dennis Hoffman, Senior Vice President of Dell, attended the business agreement ceremony held via online video conference.
[Photo by LG Uplus]

The Open RAN (Open Radio Access Network) that the two companies will collaborate on is a standard technology that separates the hardware and software of wireless communication equipment such as base stations, enabling interoperability between equipment from different manufacturers.

LG Uplus and Dell plan to jointly develop ‘Open RAN platform technology’ that supports anyone to easily build an Open RAN environment. This technology builds base stations as software-based platforms that can run applications from various companies, which is essential to secure the performance, quality, and stability of cloud-based RAN equipment.

Once the Open RAN platform technology is commercialized, it will be possible to build an environment where base station software can selectively run only the desired functions on individual base stations, just as terminal applications are currently downloaded and run from app stores.

Through this collaboration, LG Uplus will build an Open RAN test network in its research lab at Magok LG Science Park and plans to test whether it can be applied to actual communication environments by utilizing Dell’s Open RAN platform technology, ‘Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks.’ Dell will promote joint research on future Open RAN technologies at the OTEL (Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab) established in the United States.

LG Uplus and Dell also plan to continue ongoing technical cooperation to foster the Open RAN ecosystem. Beyond platform technology development, they plan to derive requirements for key Open RAN technologies and collaborate on discovering new technologies. The two companies will hold working-level meetings at MWC 2023 to concretize their collaboration and begin full-scale discussions.

Previously, Dell has focused on accelerating Open RAN by introducing various solutions and services to help global telecom operators efficiently build open cloud-native networks. Through this collaboration with Dell, LG Uplus is expected to strengthen its network technology competitiveness in the Open RAN era.

Kwon Jun-hyuk, Vice President and Head of LG Uplus Network Division, said, “Through this cooperation, by applying Dell’s latest platform technology to the 5G O-RAN common platform, we expect to prepare O-RAN in a way that is advantageous in terms of stability and cost-effectiveness,” adding, “We will continue to strengthen cooperation with leading platform technology companies that can provide customers with optimal quality and stable services.”

Dennis Hoffman, Senior Vice President in charge of Telecom Systems Business at Dell Technologies, stated, “We will strengthen cooperation so that LG Uplus can lead the Open RAN ecosystem by utilizing Dell’s cloud-native network technology.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.