Operator executives tipped rural markets to be a proving ground for open infrastructure, arguing such areas offer a prime opportunity to smooth out any issues before launching in larger markets.

During the Telecom Infra Project’s (TIP) Insights Series Global event, group head of radio product at Vodafone Group Services Francisco Pignatelli said that while the operator believes open RAN technology “is the future,” it is not yet fully mature to serve all purposes. He added it is sufficient to serve rural markets for the time being, but is expected to “become good enough for urban scenarios” later this year.

Ooredoo Group assistant director of radio access network Karan Sarin stated the operator is initially targeting deployments in rural areas, noting the strategy offers an opportunity “for us to learn, to actually ensure everything goes well” before expanding to high-traffic markets.

Greenfield benefits
However, Dish Network chief network officer Marc Rouanne pointed out its status as a greenfield operator will allow it to deploy in dense urban markets “right away” as it pushes to build a standalone 5G network covering 70 per cent of the US population by June 2023.

“You know [as] backwards facing [operators] that as soon as you put something in a city, yes, it’s massive traffic. I don’t have that problem.”