From greenfield to brownfield Open RAN— “We’ve achieved another major step in the development process.”
At the Fyuz event in Dublin, Ireland, Dr. Anna Zakrzewska, senior principal engineer for Dell Technologies’ Telecom Systems Business, provided a detailed look at the evolution of Open RAN and the company’s role in enabling the ongoing transformation of telecoms networks.
In an interview at Fyuz with RCR Wireless News, Zakrzewska emphasized the progress made by the industry in innovation, collaboration, and the readiness for scaling Open RAN deployments.
Reflecting on the maturity of Open RAN technology, she highlighted the shift from greenfield projects — new network builds — to brownfield deployments, where Open RAN is integrated into existing network infrastructure.
“Last year, we heard quite a lot about greenfield deployments, but this year, we are happy to see more and more about brownfield deployments,” Zakrzewska said. “It’s a great sign that, as a community and ecosystem, we’ve achieved another major step in the development process.”
She also pointed to the growing adoption of small cell and private wireless networks as key use cases showcasing Open RAN’s versatility. “We also see a lot of information and feedback on deployments in small cell and private wireless scenarios, which is a great use case supporting the technology,” she added.
Security was a dominant theme at Fyuz, with operators prioritizing zero trust architectures and zero-touch provisioning for seamless network operations. Zakrzewska highlighted the critical importance of this approach: “Security is the number one priority, as stated by numerous CSPs throughout the show. It is also the major requirement when you think about these wide-scale deployments.”
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation were identified and highlighted as transformative technologies for network management and monetization at the show.
According to Zakrzewska, interoperability, a cornerstone of Open RAN success, remains a challenge due to the frequent release of specifications. “The process of integration and associated testing requires a lot of work,” she acknowledged. “With three releases of Open RAN specifications every year, being compliant to the latest one at that pace is a huge push and a huge effort for multi-vendor testing.”
She also emphasized the pivotal role of Dell’s Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab (OTEL) in facilitating collaboration and reducing deployment risks by providing end-to-end CSP solution validation, lifecycle management, and enhanced service support. “OTEL helps reduce the risks of deployment for CSPs. It saves them time. What happens in the labs also provides us a great learning opportunity as we work with partners and other vendors,” she explained.
Looking to 2025, Zakrzewska foresees accelerated Open RAN rollouts, moving from rural trials to urban environments. She also highlighted the opportunity to extend connectivity to underserved areas. “What I would like to see is how we bring this technology to emerging markets, in areas where connectivity is still scarce. That can be a great use case — how to close the gap, close the digital divide and enable use cases such as education and healthcare,” she concluded.
For a deep dive on how Dell Technologies is approaching telecom transformation from core to edge with a host of partners, including Amdocs, Ericsson, NVIDIA, SK Telecom and others, visit this multimedia resource hub: Accelerate Telecom Transformation – Hub
