Telecom Egypt to try Open RAN in region

Telecom Egypt announced a collaboration with Altiostar, Cisco, the Evenstar programme and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to try Open RAN solutions in Egypt. This will serve as a proof of concept to highlight how Open RAN can offer greater vendor flexibility in the future. The vision of a new, open, multivendour and disaggregated network is being largely embraced by Telecom Egypt and demonstrates its commitment to contribute to the Open RAN community.

As part of the trial, Telecom Egypt will use an Evenstar radio unit in its initial Open RAN deployment. Evenstar is a programme focused on accelerating Open RAN adoption by building general-purpose Open RAN reference architecture for 4G and 5G networks. By decoupling the radio unit (RU) hardware, distributed unit (DU), and control unit (CU) software of the RAN, which are traditionally sold as a package, Evenstar provides operators like Telecom Egypt with the flexibility to deploy solutions from an increasing number of technology providers, while expanding its network coverage in Egypt.

Additionally, Telecom Egypt will test Cisco’s Edge Computing Technology and Cisco’s fronthaul transport solution for the Open RAN cell sites. This will provide validation of a complete, end-to-end Open RAN network. Telecom Egypt will also test Altiostar’s Open RAN common software platform for the DU and CU functions. This will mark another milestone in Telecom Egypt’s digital transformation goals.

Adel Hamed, Managing Director and CEO, Telecom Egypt, said: “Open RAN plays an important role in helping reduce costs and increase flexibility and component-level efficiency for operators globally. Our hope is that early positive experiences will lead to greater commercial adoption of these initial products which will, in turn, help expand the network of Open RAN suppliers. With the specialist help of Cisco and by working with partners like in the Evenstar ecosystem, we intend to drive disruptive technology innovations to keep Open RAN competitive in the long term. We look forward to more successes with Altiostar, Cisco, Evenstar partners and TIP to deliver on our promise and ambitious plans for a fully digitised Egypt society.”