Open Networks Seen Critical to Moving 5G Supply Chain Back to US
Open radio access networks (ORANs), the topic of an upcoming FCC forum (see 2008180012), dominated the discussion during a Qualcomm-sponsored webinar Tuesday. Dean Brenner, Qualcomm senior vice president-spectrum strategy and technology policy, sees promise in ORAN. “It’s going to accelerate the 5G rollout dramatically,” he said: “It’s going to lower the costs for deploying. … It brings in a whole new group of players.”
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Despite COVID-19, 5G deployment is “accelerating” and “occurring much faster than the 4G roll out,” Brenner said. There’s no country in the world that doesn’t want 5G, he said. Qualcomm makes chips for 5G small cells installed by 10 different manufacturers, he said. All the chips are compatible with open networks, he said. To get broad deployment lowering cost is “essential,” he said. But “it’s a giant paradigm shift and it doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.
Security has been an overall concern since 5G was in the earliest stages of development, but network security isn’t enough -- devices also must be secure, Brenner said: “5G is nothing if it’s not secure.”
Most mobile networks are built with a closed, vertically integrated architecture, but that will change with ORAN, said Bob Everson, Cisco senior director-mobility and 5G architecture. ORAN means more competition and opportunity for U.S.-based vendors, he said. “It’s inherently better for operators because they get more choices, and they get a much more flexible architecture,” he said.
The U.S. government decided, based on intelligence, that some Chinese vendors present unacceptable risks, Everson said. ORAN can help and the timing is good, he said. “It coincides with a major technology transition like 5G, where operators really have a need to reinvent their networks,” he said: “As we go into 5G there’s a need to compete in new ways.”
ORAN means change, said Ashish Sharma, president-IoT and mobile solutions at Inseego, which makes 5G devices. “Anytime you try and change the paradigm, you’ve got to build up the expertise,” he said. ORAN likely means new business models, with more private networks, he said. “You don’t have to go all the way,” he said: “The carrier might be able to come in and take the operations off of your plate, while if it’s your spectrum you’re not paying subscriptions to the operator” to use its network, he said. “There are multiple models,” he said.
The U.S. push on ORAN is intended to bring network technology back to the U.S., Sharma said. The “paramount” concern is security, he said. “Do we leave everything in international vendors’ hands for something that critical?” he asked. China created its own ecosystem of equipment vendors, he said: “We’ve got to do the same thing.”
Sharma warned that the IoT poses big security challenges. “You’re adding so many more devices to the network,” he said. “5G is inherently built on much more secure standards and now moving the supply chain to the U.S., that’s an imperative,” he said. The push for open networks will require a decade long push and investment by the U.S. government, he said.
The IoT means many new device vendors who aren’t in the wireless industry or familiar with standards, Brenner said. “We’ve got to make sure that their devices are just as secure as the smartphone in an industry where there is a relatively small number of vendors,” he said. That’s also a challenge for the government, he said. Another concern is that chips that go into IoT devices have to be much cheaper than chips in smartphones, he said.
U.S. companies are especially strong on software development, important in open networks, said Will Townsend, Moor Insights & Strategy senior analyst. “It’s something they can lean into very aggressively,” he said. The IoT “has been sort of the Wild West,” he said. Standards are evolving, but without them “you’re going to have a security vulnerability,” he said.