Verizon claimed an industry first after deploying a distributed antenna system (DAS) using open RAN interfaces to connect Samsung and CommScope equipment.

Recently-appointed Verizon executive Yago Tenorio used LinkedIn to hail the move as pivotal to the operator’s moves in open RAN and for networks as a whole.

The deployment spanned two locations in the US state of Texas, with open RAN interfaces used to connect Samsung virtualised distributed units to CommScope DAS in a large music venue and a convention centre.

Tenorio wrote the DAS deployment is a “great step forward in network infrastructure” and he is “eager to see the benefits it brings in terms of efficiency, flexibility and cost savings”.

Verizon stated it had driven adoption of open RAN “for years”, with more than 130,000 compatible radios deployed in its network.

Roy Chua, founder and principal analyst at research outfit AvidThink, told Mobile World Live Verizon’s integration of a multi-vendor open RAN set-up with the DAS “is the first one” he had heard of.

The analyst said it is good the industry has open RAN proponents including Tenorio and AT&T executive Rob Soni: “That should help build momentum for open and disaggregated systems in the long term.”

Multi-vendor open RAN has struggled to gain large-scale adoption among operators beyond deployments by EchoStar and Rakuten Mobile.

A $14 billion deal between Ericsson and AT&T is due to involve vendors including Fujitsu, Corning, Dell Technologies and Intel, but their roles are yet to be defined.