ATIS today published the North American Open RAN Minimum Viable Profile (MVP), which establishes a minimum set of technical requirements common across all North American operators to foster the development and integration of Open RAN (Radio Access Network) technologies within their networks.

Mobile network operators (MNOs) are adopting Open RAN with the goal of furthering innovation and deployment flexibility in their networks. Existing standards and specifications provide the technical basis for Open RAN deployment but contain considerable optionality in areas including Open RAN architecture, functional capabilities and performance. Navigating the range of optionality has been challenging within the trusted equipment supply chain. The MVP will assist in the development and integration of baseline Open RAN solutions.

"Through ATIS, North American MNOs have come together with system vendors to reach consensus on the capabilities and performance they expect from an Open RAN system," said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. "The Open RAN MVP is a major step toward accelerating deployment of multi-vendor Open RAN solutions in North America. It will enable Open RAN stakeholders, including new entrants, to offer their innovations in the North American Open RAN equipment marketplace. It will both inform and drive rapid development of carrier grade equipment for the U.S. — and potentially global — Open RAN markets. It will also expand and strengthen the trusted wireless equipment supply chain."

"The ATIS MVP sets an industry baseline for a minimal set of requirements/features for a more robust and competitive vendor ecosystem, with the goal of leading to Open RAN deployments gaining more traction with the ecosystem. This supports NTIA's objectives to create a more innovative and diverse supply chain both here in North America and across the globe," shared Rob Soni, Vice President of Radio Access Network Technology at AT&T. "As we move forward, the MVP will serve as a baseline for testing and evaluation of Open RAN solutions."

ATIS continues to support MNOs and system vendors in further evolving the MVP to address interface and interoperability aspects.

Read the full press release here.

ATIS