Kyocera said the alliance will focus on ensuring interoperability among vendors to provide telecom operators with greater flexibility in terms of network deployment
Kyocera Corporation has announced the establishment of the O-RU Alliance, an initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of Open RAN (O-RAN) technology through global collaboration.
In a release, Kyocera noted that the alliance, set to launch on March 3, 2025, will focus on ensuring interoperability among vendors to provide telecom operators with greater flexibility in terms of network deployment.
It added that the founding members include Alpha Networks, HFR, Microelectronics Technology, SOLiD, VVDN Technologies and WNC. Kyocera said it aims to gradually expand the alliance’s membership, to boost an open ecosystem in the 5G field.
The Asian company explained that current 5G networks rely on central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs) and radio units (RUs) that are often sourced from a single vendor due to proprietary interfaces, limiting flexibility scalability and vendor diversity. It added that the O-RU Alliance aims to overcome these challenges by promoting O-RAN-compliant solutions that allow telecom operators to integrate components from multiple suppliers while maintaining high performance and efficiency.
To ensure interoperability, Kyocera said it will provide O-RAN-compliant central units (O-CUs) and distributed units (O-DUs) to alliance members for joint interoperability testing. The company will also share a reference design for the O-RAN interface processing unit of O-RUs, enabling alliance members to enhance compatibility with Kyocera’s O-CUs and O-DUs.
In addition, Kyocera will introduce O-RU Alliance suppliers to telecom operators worldwide, expanding market access for alliance members.
In a separate development, Kyocera said it has officially begun the full-scale development of an AI-powered 5G virtualized base station with plans for commercialization.
The new system utilizes AI to dynamically manage traffic congestion, optimize frequency allocation and improve overall network quality by increasing upload and download speeds. AI capabilities also extend to energy efficiency, where traffic monitoring helps optimize power consumption and reduce operational costs, Kyocera said.
Additionally, AI automation simplifies network operations by streamlining configuration settings and maintenance processes. Kyocera explained its advanced antenna technology supports both Sub-6-GHz and millimeter-wave bands, allowing the system to accommodate rapid traffic increases by controlling data from both frequency bands on a general-purpose accelerated computing server. Future next-generation frequency bands will be supported through software upgrades.
By enabling multiple telecom operators to share a single base station, Kyocera’s virtualized solution reduces capital expenditures and electricity costs while facilitating cost-efficient 5G network expansion.
The system also extends fronthaul distance beyond 40 kilometers, increasing coverage while consolidating CU/DU functions on a single server to significantly lower power consumption.
