Andy Deninger

Great update on the death of open RAN narrative from Monica Alleven at Fierce Network. Open RAN is no longer this love/hate approach to the RAN. Most vendors support it as an option, but it has not radically changed the choice of vendors (although some have benefited from it). Most operators require open RAN support in their RFPs. What is dead is the concept that you either have open RAN or a close single-vendor RAN. Most operators sit in the middle and choose what works for them. This is the benefit of open RAN: openness brings flexibility first and foremost. It does not have to be a massive disruptor. And this brings me to something I have been arguing for a while: making market forecasts for open RAN (as a segment of RAN) is not illuminating. It does not give a direct measure of the success of open RAN (if you buy open RAN ready equipment, you may still deploy in a single-vendor network, so it is unclear whether it should count as open RAN or if it will become open RAN later when you open the network to a second vendor). What may be more helpful is to have a more nuanced view of how the RAN keeps opening with open RAN, AI RAN and other initiatives.

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Here is a Fun Fact (from the just released Signals Flash report). In the 3GPP SA feasibility study on new services and markets for 5G, there are, by my count, 72 use cases. The list includes connected vehicles (#33), wireless briefcase (#39), home monitoring (#41), cloud robotics (#44), industrial factory automation (#45), UAV collaboration (#54) and telemedicine (#68), to name a few. Coming in at number 70 – you guessed it – Wireless Local Loop. Ironically, the few paragraphs devoted to discussing WLL focused more on providing a reliable POTS phone service and voice quality / reliability than broadband to the home, although the latter was mentioned in passing. No one had a BINGO card with FWA on it. In addition to completely missing the most notable use case [to date] for 5G, the industry was fixated on 64 kbps circuit switch video calls for UMTS / 3G. Nearly a decade later, industry outsiders introduced video calls as an over-the-top application. That is two strikes in my book, but never fear, XR is here. It also doesn’t hurt to reminisce about days gone by and technical innovations that largely fell by the wayside. AI-for-RAN is SON 2.0 with use cases that sound remarkably familiar to what I wrote about back in 2013. I’m a big believer in what AI can deliver, including for RAN optimization, but the current AI use cases that are operational today are a far cry from what AI-for-RAN is promising to deliver. Walk before you can run. You can read all about it in the free Signals Flash reports which leveraged last week’s 5G Americas virtual analyst event as its Genesis. Alternatively, you can do it the hard way and download the Flash report from the SRG website (registration required, if you haven’t done so already)  https://lnkd.in/gmbDzqwN

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Several days after this writer posted about the lopsided market narrative related to co-packaged optics (please see: https://lnkd.in/eReYuVp8), there were a couple of references to the CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, stating that such a solution is not inevitable, starting with a news article (https://lnkd.in/egyNwa92). The piece quotes a supposedly contemporaneous video on a social media site in which Jensen says the following to a press outlet about working with TSMC on silicon photonics: “It’s still several years away. We should stay with copper for as long as we can, and then after that, if we must, we’ll use SiPh.” (https://lnkd.in/eRPv9RDQ). It should be noted that there are couple of comments on the post, despite the August 2025 date, questioning the timing of the statement, and it does appear that the tape was made in January of 2025. It looks like he is in Taiwan for the New Year's event. Yet, the comments are still instructive. While signing autographs, Jensen is somewhat distracted, but he is obviously providing his frank view of the technology. In stark contrast, only a few months later, at GTC 2025, he has effusive praise for SiPh and CPO, with the targeted audience also involving investment analysts. To be fair, it could be asserted that in the first case, Jensen’s comment was only for the NVLink scale-up fabric. Nevertheless, it still provides insight into his actual expectations for CPO. There is the view that was notably expressed very well by Loi Nguyen, EVP Emeritus, Optics, at Marvell Technology at the Optica Executive Forum at OFC 2025 on scale-up that Nvidia will do everything possible to cramp more GPUs in a single rack with liquid cooling and other techniques to allow them to stay with copper. He also believes that the present CPO effort is on a noncritical path in scaling out on a switch platform in which the pluggable is the primary option -- and so, essentially agrees that it will take several years more for CPO to be ready. Such a timeframe would obviously conflict with Nvidia’s quite optimistic 2026 schedule for shipment. Thus, the business narrative for CPO itself will inexorably remain on a more solid foundation compared with the actual, past realities of engineers struggling over the years to get the solution to work. There will continue to be the basic challenges with production, testing, and dependability. 

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Sharing slides from a webinar on 'Wireless Spectrum - Approaches to Licensing', presented by FCC's Wireless Telecom Bureau Chief. The topics include: - General principles for accessing spectrum, - Licensed spectrum rules and configuration, - Secondary markets, - Spectrum transition mechanisms - Case studies. I personally believe that spectrum hoarding should not be permitted. In the context of Pakistan, it should be auctioned on 'Use it or share it' basis. Spectrum leasing / sharing should be permitted. New concepts of 'Supplemental Coverage from Space' (SCS) should be explored. And the tiered spectrum access system should be expanded to frequency bands other than CBRS as well.

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IMSI catchers used to be government - only hardware. Today you can build one for under $1,000. Any device connected to a cellular network will automatically attach to the strongest signal - including a fake base station. From there: location pinpointing, communication interception, and targeted jamming are all on the table. Deployed forces, field operatives, even senior officials traveling with commercial devices - all exposed by default. Protection requires operating at the network core, not the device layer. Because by the time the device connects, it's already too late. #DefenseSecurity #IMSI #FakeBaseStation #MobileSecurity #Electronic Warfare

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Early-career and mid-career transitions in telecom do not follow the same rules. Early on, you’re building exposure. Mid-career, you’re managing trajectory. The mistake I see most often: Engineers assume that what worked at 3–5 years will work the same way at 10–15. In this video, I break down: • What actually changes • What skills transfer between operators, vendors, T&M • What often resets (and surprises people) • 3 practical questions to ask before making a move If you’re thinking about a transition — or advising someone who is — this framework may help. 🎥 Full video link in comment.

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"In partnership with EarthLink, Wireless Partners, LLC has launched 'true high-speed #broadband' services in areas traditionally limited to legacy DSL networks by leveraging Tarana Wireless next-generation fixed wireless access (#ngFWA) technology." https://lnkd.in/gXkD7X6K

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Informative Qualcomm webinar on 3GPP Release 20 explains projects to integrate AI into both the air interface and the radio access network, along with numerous other planned 5G enhancements. Release 20 also includes a study item on 6G radio technologies. https://lnkd.in/gYD-wQKN

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You can find sequence modeling in Simplicity's Cradle to Grave feature anytime you need to analyze a call flow. Cradle to Grave outlines call transitions in a simple, easy to understand, linear view of multiple call legs, time stamps, functions (e.g. hold, call park, call transfer), as well as inbound and outbound phone numbers or extensions. #SimplicityCradleToGrave #SequenceModeling #TechTermTuesday

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Powering the Future of AMI: Texas Instruments is now boosted by Wirepas AMI platform Big news for the smart metering ecosystem! We are excited to announce that the Wirepas AMI Platform is now supported on Texas Instruments’ SimpleLink™ CC1354P10 wireless MCU. This collaboration is a game-changer for smart meter manufacturers and utilities, particularly as India embarks on one of the world’s largest AMI rollouts (300M+ units!). By combining TI’s legendary RF performance with Wirepas’ ultra-resilient mesh connectivity, we are giving the industry exactly what it needs: Choice, Scale, and Supply Chain Resilience. Why this is a win for the AMI ecosystem: Hardware Flexibility: Manufacturers can now leverage TI’s geopolitically dependable supply chain while running the proven Wirepas Platform. Unmatched Performance: Sub-1 GHz connectivity optimized for the densest urban environments and the most remote rural terrains. Standards-Based: Built on the principles of NR+, ensuring interoperability and avoiding vendor lock-in. Proven at Scale: Wirepas already powers millions of devices in mission-critical infrastructure; this partnership only accelerates that momentum. High-Level Perspectives: "By enabling the Wirepas Platform on TI’s wireless MCU, we provide our partners with greater sourcing flexibility and additional design options, while maintaining full interoperability." — Teppo Hemiä, CEO of Wirepas "By combining the Wirepas Platform with TI’s leadership in RF performance... we are enabling scalable, resilient AMI networks. This collaboration gives smart meter manufacturers the confidence to deploy large-scale smart grid infrastructure." — Marian Kost, VP and GM of Connectivity at Texas Instruments At Wirepas, we believe in an open, multi-source strategy. Our mission is to provide the "invisible infrastructure" that makes massive IoT not just possible, but inevitable. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eBV6eQcN Contact our AMI team: Sebastien Pellorce, Maruthi Mallepalli, Ashish Sahay, Thomas Weisshaupt, Alan Sillito, Neil Bosworth, Amine Maoudj #IoT #SmartMetering #SmartGrid #TexasInstruments #Wirepas #Connectivity #IndiaSmartMeters #EnergyTransition #AMI #Innovation

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