Page 38 - SAMENA Trends - March 2020

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BT Develops Ultra MIMO Radio, Taps O-RAN for Insights

BT belongs to the O-RAN Alliance, but the the globe. And this has left the telecom about virtualization for its own sake. “We
British operator is not yet all that enamored ecosystem with just two major vendors think sometimes you’re increasing the
with solutions that use O-RAN. However, it in the RAN space: Ericsson and Nokia. complexity of operations,” he said. “Today
is getting value from O-RAN for work that Despite intense pressure from the U.S., the I talk to my supplier and they resolve it. In
BT is doing in-house to develop an “Ultra U.K. government decided in January that a disaggregated network, I have to talk to
MIMO” radio. Neil McRae, BT’s Managing Huawei can supply gear for the country’s more than one supplier. I have to have a
Director and chief architect, said its Ultra 5G networks, but it will be restricted to non- programmer on my own staff to de-bug it.
MIMO radio will leverage the capabilities core portions, considered less security We’ve got a lot to learn in how to operate
of massive MIMO, but will take it to a new sensitive. Of the telecom vendors available the infrastructure. We will use the best
level, using custom algorithms, signal to BT, McRae said, “Ericsson and Nokia are solution for customer experience and that
processing and interference management fantastic partners. We also use Huawei, allows us to make a return. When you look
technologies that BT is developing with also a fantastic partner. But we feel like we at O-RAN it’s still not clear to me that’s
its own engineers. “We’re doing a lot in need more choice and capability. Our goal there’s a really strong single direction
ultra MIMO,” said McRae, who cited this is to work with those guys [O-RAN] and for the parties involved.” BT is also not
work as one of the primary reasons the others to drive next requirements in radio concerned about virtualizing its mobile
operator is active in the O-RAN Alliance. technology to ultimately give us more core network. McRae said the company
“O-RAN for us is a way of getting access to capacity.” The O-RAN Alliance is creating was using cloud-native capabilities in its
some of the radio capabilities in MIMO so open APIs so operators can mix and match core from the usual telco vendors. But
we can use some algorithms to get much radios or write their own software for a it didn’t see a need to try to modernize
more capacity from a MIMO platform.” radio. Sachin Katti, a professor at Stanford to the level of what Rakuten’s doing with
Asked if BT typically develops these kinds University and co-chair of the O-RAN its greenfield network. He said Rakuten
of radio technologies in-house, McRae Alliance technical steering committee, doesn’t have to worry about 20 years or
said that ideally, the company would not said in an interview with FierceWireless more of legacy equipment. “In cost terms,
do it, but the supply chain in the space is last year that the goal of RAN virtualization do we see any benefits of disaggregation in
very challenged. He was referring to the is to run software on top of x86 or Arm- the mobile core? No, we see the opposite,”
fact that the U.S. has attacked China’s based hardware, instead of proprietary he said. “It’s more costly to run and with
Huawei to the point that the vendor has hardware. “I think that’s a worthy cause,” greater likelihood of problems.”
been shunned by many countries around said McRae. But he said BT isn’t “religious”

Cisco Expands Simple and Secure Portfolio to
Help Small Businesses Thrive

Cisco is accelerating its focus on serving optimize their customer experiences business. The new Cisco Business
small businesses by announcing new and differentiate themselves to remain Wireless Mobile App provides a simple
offers tailored to the small business buyer. competitive. Small businesses need to way for an individual or company to
In November 2019, Cisco introduced connect securely and focus on protecting configure and manage networks in
the new Cisco ‘Designed for Business’ their users, data and devices at all times. To any location, all from the convenience
portfolio at Partner Summit. Now the help address these needs, and allow small of their smartphone. Available in the
portfolio is growing with the addition of businesses to focus on their core activities, Apple App Store (iOS) or on Google Play
Cisco technology that originally powered Cisco is announcing brand new updates to (Android).
Fortune 100 organizations and can now the Cisco ‘Designed for Business’ portfolio • New user experience. Simpler to buy:
bring the same innovation to meet the bringing together the power of machine We now have a new button to connect
needs of small businesses. Small business learning, AI and cloud-driven solutions, small business customers to a Cisco
is big business and accounts for 44 percent and created to make buying, installation partner to buy directly on Cisco.com.
of all IT spending – as a segment it’s faster and maintenance simple. Plus, faster access to technical and
growing than the enterprises segment. The simplified experience includes: sales specialists is now available, in 24
Now more than ever, small businesses • New App to manage small business languages, globally, through live chat or
need to be agile when digitizing their networks: IT systems can be complex call back in 15 minutes or less.
business models. Ultimately, technology is and expensive to maintain, especially • New bundles and offers scaled for small
critical to helping them grow their revenue, with the limited IT resources of a small businesses: To further reduce cost and

38 MARCH 2020