Telefonica teamed with technology giant IBM to deploy what the pair claimed was one of the first mobile networks based on open RAN in Argentina, demonstrating both companies’ commitment to the technology.

In a statement, IBM said it had launched a proof-of-concept on open RAN with Telefonica brand Movistar, covering 81,000 inhabitants in the Argentinean city of Puerto Madryn, enabling the testing of live, commercial traffic and providing “an early proof point” for the technology as it continues to evolve and mature.

IBM led the systems integration and enabled an end-to-end deployment, bringing together components and systems from multiple software and hardware vendors including Alitostar, Red Hat, GigaTera and Kontron.

The tech giant explained the partnership with Telefonica proved “the telco industry’s trust” in its experience as a systems integrator, adding its tools and processes were enabling operators to embrace open RAN.

Indeed, the company has been active in pushing its services to telcos in recent times, launching a new cloud platform at the end of 2020, and striking 5G partnerships with AT&T and Samsung.

IBM also launched a new open RAN centre of excellence to drive adoption across Europe.

The company added the centre will focus on live implementations similar to its work with Telefonica, but “on a greater scale”.

For Telefonica, the move follows an agreement with fellow operator heavyweights Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone Group in establishing a collaboration to cover the rollout and development of open RAN. It also struck a partnership with Rakuten Mobile covering ecosystem developments.