041: OpenRAN 2022: Can It Live Up To The HYPE? w/ Nokia's Terry McCabe

If you are a regular listener to the TechBurst Asia podcast, you’ll know I love talking about OpenRAN, which is kind of strange. I have spent much of the past 20 years looking at the solutions that can leverage the latest and greatest networks, but I am far from an expert when it comes to what it takes to build those networks - and even less of an expert on the technology they run on. So why does OpenRAN fascinate me?

Well, it isn’t the technology behind it, it’s the disruptive business, operating and financial models that it creates. And I like to see how the industry will respond to this disruption. 

And let’s face it, OpenRAN has been riding pretty high on the hype curve, so I want to understand what it will take for it to live up to that hype. 

Today’s guest is uniquely suited to help me understand this. He has spent the past couple years working on the groundbreaking Rakuten OpenRAN deployment in Japan, so he’s seen first hand the benefits OpenRAN can deliver - and the challenges faced when deploying it. 

In addition to that, he works for a company that, on the surface, looks like it would be one of the main companies disrupted by this new model, so I want to understand why they are embracing it. 

He is Terry McCabe, Nokia’s Chief Technology Officer for Asia Pacific & Japan, where he spearheads Nokia’s 5G technology strategy. And yes, we’ll talk a bit about 5G - and 6G - as well. 

Show Notes:

01:30 How does Nokia define OpenRAN?

04:10 OpenRAN has the potential to disrupt how mobile operators will purchase their networks in the future - yet that didn’t stop Nokia from being an early supporter of the OpenRAN Alliance.  What was the rationale behind that decision?

05:30 The first major OpenRAN network deployment was Rakuten in Japan - and Nokia was one of the vendors involved in it. What were your major learnings from this deployment?

09:30 What are Nokia’s plans for the next phase of OpenRAN?

10:45 It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for OpenRAN, not least when Nokia and some other vendors halted their participation in the OpenRAN Alliance due to concerns raised by the US government about IP protection. That has since been resolved, but is this a sign of the challenges OpenRAN will face in the future?

12:00 When some operators, like AT&T, talk about their plans for OpenRAN, they state their initial deployments will be for in-building and rural coverage. Does that mean we won’t see it deployed in city centres?

13:15 What does the ideal OpenRAN customer look like?

14:15 OpenRAN and its potential role in Private 5G

15:30 Who / What / Where should we be keeping an eye on for the next phase of growth for OpenRAN?

17:30 Some people believe that it’s too late for OpenRAN to be leveraged for 5G network deployments, meaning that it’s real impact would be on 6G deployments. Would you agree?

18:30 What are the Critical Success Factors for OpenRAN to live up to the hype?

19:30 What are some of the risks OpenRAN faces (e.g. energy consumption, openness)

21:30 How do you think the OpenRAN Alliance will evolve - and what impact will the hyperscalers have on the industry?

23:35 What’s your prediction for how OpenRAN will evolve in the near term (12-24 months)?

26:00 What are the Best & Worst Case Scenarios for OpenRAN in the medium to long term (5-10 years)?

28:00 Beyond OpenRAN, what else excites you about the future of connectivity?

(spoiler alert: 6G, Enterprise Solutions, Private Networks)