Marvell Joins the Open RAN Policy Coalition

Brings unique perspectives to RAN industry suppliers and policymakers in support of open and interoperable wireless solutions

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Marvell

Sep 01, 2020, 08:30 ET

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) today announced that it has joined the Open RAN Policy Coalition. The coalition, composed of leading policymakers, operators and equipment providers, promotes policies that advance the adoption of open and interoperable solutions in the RAN market. Marvell, a member of the O-RAN Alliance and contributor to the Open Networking Foundation CORD project, brings wireless technology expertise and radio access network (RAN) industry perspectives along with a commitment to open standards.

Wireless communication has become an indispensable aspect of everyday life and Marvell is committed to further accelerating innovation in the 5G ecosystem. As a leading supplier of RAN infrastructure silicon solutions, Marvell has a decade-long history of participating in and contributing to the advancement of open and virtualized RAN standards.

"The combination of technological innovation, open standards and forward-looking policy coordination are essential ingredients in creating the diverse, competitive market envisioned by the Open RAN Policy Coalition," said Raj Singh, executive vice president and general manager of the Processors Business Unit at Marvell. "Even today, our RAN product offerings have been influenced by our experiences in operator trials, consortiums such as the O-RAN Alliance and other standards-focused activities. We look forward to bringing these perspectives into the Coalition and further propelling innovation in 5G."

"The Marvell team was among the first participants to work with a major U.S. telecommunications operator in exploring the possibilities of open, virtualized RAN solutions several years ago," said Oguz Sunay, vice president of Research and Development at the Open Networking Foundation. "The combination of reference hardware, virtualized RAN software and technical support provided by the Marvell team was key in convincing us that these concepts could be viable in a commercial network."

The wireless experience continues to evolve as new protocols, such as 5G NR, and innovative approaches to network topology, such as RAN disaggregation and virtualization, rapidly emerge. Key to the future success of these emerging technologies is open interfaces and the ability of market participants to continually innovate. Marvell's RAN solutions enable incumbent suppliers and new market participants to deliver on the promise of next-generation wireless communications.

"Nokia's vision for the future of mobile networks is an end-to-end, modular, open approach to networking. That vision led us to join the Open RAN Policy Coalition, among other initiatives," said Brian Hendriks, vice president of Policy Affairs, Americas Region, from Nokia. "And now we welcome the addition of Marvell, a critical part of the 5G ecosystem, to the coalition as a strong voice in favor of accelerating innovation and openness."

"The Open RAN movement is gaining momentum. However, the RAN market is very challenging, and it will be difficult for Open RAN by itself, without a broad set of policies to level the playing field, to become a success beyond the greenfield and early adopter brownfield deployments," said Stefan Pongratz, analyst at the Dell'Oro Group. "The broad level of participation of established and key RAN and semiconductor players, should help to advance the objectives of the Open RAN Policy Coalition."

"As a founding member of the Open RAN Policy Coalition, Samsung sees the Coalition as an important part of an overall effort to bring more visibility and government support to Open RAN initiatives. We are pleased that Marvell is now a Coalition member," said Wonil Roh, senior vice president and Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.

The Open RAN Policy Coalition is comprised of a diverse group of information and communications technology companies that have a common goal of breaking down technological and market barriers to promote a diverse and competitive wireless market and create a future in which Radio Access Network architecture will be based on open and interoperable interfaces.

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SOURCE Marvell