Explained: Will O-RAN disrupt the way 5G networks roll out in India?

The concluding part of the series explains how uncertainty around open radio access network technology stems from its mostly untested status

Will open radio access network technology (O-RAN) disrupt the way 5G networks roll out in the country? After all, it promises to offer a substantially lower capital cost, enables the choice of an array of vendors, and provides more network flexibility – all very important for telcos who expect to invest over Rs 60,000 crore to roll out a pan-India 5G network and that’s without spectrum costs.

But more importantly, it counters the stranglehold of global telecom gear makers such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung over telcos to whom they sell propriety technology and bundled hardware and software. They dominate the