To work together on knowledge transfer and Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology testing on the African continent, Telkom Kenya, Rakuten Symphony, and Airspa entered a partnership on Tuesday and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)to formalise their newly-established alliance.
The partnership would include testing, 4G and 5G technology development, and knowledge sharing within Kenya.
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To improve the use of automation and AI-powered technologies and be at the forefront of the development of domestic technologies through partnerships with global market leaders, Telkom Kenya is eager to gain knowledge transfer, the development, and testing of open and flexible network architecture.
Airspan and Rakuten Symphony will be in charge of managing the testing partners. Airspan will supply the mobile core and 4G and 5G radio units, while Rakuten Symphony will supply the centralised and distributed unit infrastructure as well as its industry-leading OSS platform. The necessary local facilities and resources will be supplied by Telkom Kenya.
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Mugo Kibati, Chief Executive Officer of Telkom Kenya, said, “Telkom Kenya is excited to collaborate in this consortium of cutting-edge technology leaders in this field of open architecture telecommunications network and reap the benefits of modern and ultimately inevitable technological advances such as AI. We are proud to be investing in the development of our people through the collaborative testing capabilities that we will be building within this consortium to explore the possible benefits of Open RAN in our mobile network.”
Sharad Srivastava, President of Rakuten Symphony, said, “Our diverse portfolio of solutions delivers proven positive outcomes for mobile network operators across the world. We look forward to bringing Rakuten Symphony’s proven global expertise in mobile network transformation to support Telkom Kenya’s commitment to innovation.”
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Glenn Laxdal, President and CEO of Airspan, said, “Telkom Kenya’s collaboration with this consortium to explore the latest telecommunication advancements reflects bold innovation to place Kenya at the heart of Africa’s technological leadership within the region. Airspan is proud to support this vision with advanced 4G/5G solutions, alongside Rakuten Symphony, whose expertise as the one of world’s largest commercial Open RAN vendors ensures impactful results.”
Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony will utilise the results of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s (NEDO)-subsidised “Research and Development Project of the Enhanced Infrastructures for Post-5G Information and Communication Systems (JPNP20017)”.