Exploring the future: Power of the ecosystems for RAN automation at MWC25

The panel session was a deep dive into future trends in network management, focusing on the evolving role of rApps in RAN Automation. Participants explored strategic priorities for communications service providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) within the ecosystem, discussing the challenges, opportunities, and success stories that define the current landscape. The conversation was forward-looking, offering insights into what lies ahead for the industry.

The panel was hosted by Ericsson’s Anders Vestergren, Head of SA Network Management, and Gillian Leetch, Head of Service Line SMO. It brought together an impressive array of industry leaders and a fully packed audience.

To hear all those important voices, we divided the panel into two parts – one focusing on ISVs and rApp developers, and the other on the perspective of CSPs.

The importance of collaboration: Anders Vestergren's introduction 

Anders Vestergren opened the session by emphasizing the need for collaboration between communications service providers, software vendors, and other stakeholders in the ecosystem. He highlighted the importance of unlocking innovation through joint efforts and the role of the rApp ecosystem in driving this change. 

Although the panel had a formal set-up with moderated questions, Anders said the main reason for holding this panel was “really to meet and see each other, so that we can unlock the innovation in this ecosystem.”

Independent software vendors’ perspectives: driving innovation in RAN automation

The first round of discussions focused on independent software vendors. Panelists shared their motivations for joining Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP) Ecosystem and the current demand for rApps. They also explored the challenges and opportunities in integrating AI into the service management and orchestration (SMO) and rApps framework.

Read the parts of the discussions here, in the words of the panel participants.

Anand Chandrasekher, Founder and CEO of Aira Technologies, answering the question of motivation to join the EIAP Ecosystem, highlighted the fundamental architectural change in the telecom industry that enables programmability and gives potential for growth in the ecosystem. "Over the last 40 years, what we have learned is that any time an ecosystem is shifting and is becoming more programmable in an industry standard way, it increases growth (…) Look at the same thing with smartphones. With the App Store it has become easy to deploy apps and smartphones. Smartphones exploded. Right? I think a similar thing is going to happen, with the networks becoming a lot more programmable. And that's exciting!”

Per Kangru, Business Development & Strategy CSO at Viavi added, reflecting on how the growth of the EIAP Ecosystem truly enables network automation: "The valuable part of the ecosystem is that the value grows exponentially the bigger it gets. (…) you start to get much more reuse of data, because the most expensive data is the data you only compute once and then throw away. So, as we can start leveraging those data sets, we can start reusing them for multiple purposes. (...)you create a fostering and mentorship between the different vendors.”

One of the youngest companies in the Ecosystem, a 15-month-old startup Fyra, was also with us on the stage. Kenichi Eguchi, Co-founder of Fyra highlighted the importance of the boost and speed that an ecosystem like EIAP’s gives to startups enabling their success: "Collaboration and strong ecosystem partnerships drive success, enabling us to conduct real-life AI demos and meet operator expectations."

As the discussion shifted to explore where the biggest pull for rApps happens now, Andrew Bolka, Principal Director of Next Gen Networks at Booz Allen Hamilton, shared insights on the deployment of private 5G networks and the importance of network automation and optimization in various sectors, including defense and smart manufacturing: "The value we see in rApps is automating outcomes for our clients, increasing speed to their outcome and enhancing security."

Anand Parikh, CEO of AirHop, focused on network intelligence, automation, and optimization technologies, emphasizing the importance of AI in driving new applications: "We're seeing a pull from two sources. One is the classic SON (Self-Organizing Network) applications because our heritage is in that world. But then we are also seeing a pull for new applications on SMO/RIC (Service Management and Orchestration/RAN Intelligent Controller) enabled by AI with focus on energy or security.”

Ericsson’s perspective was voiced by Ibrahim Eldeftar, Head of SL Cognitive Software. He stressed the "demand for rApps that create network autonomy from end to end, automating the full process – detecting problems, analyzing them, finding root cause, providing recommendations and executing in a closed loop manner to achieve higher levels of automation."

When AI took center stage, Sreedhar Rao, Global Telecom Field CTO at Snowflake, emphasized the benefits of larger visibility and data optimization within the ecosystem, allowing RAN environments to make better AI-based optimization decisions: “When you want to do AI, the data and the data quality is the most important asset you need in order to build the right models and train them in the best way possible to optimize.”

Answering the question on what’s needed to enable the success of SMO and rApps, Paul Madden, CEO of Zinkworks, emphasized the importance of current momentum: "The opportunity is there now for ISVs to step in and bring that innovation to the ecosystem delivering value directly to the telcos. The channel is open. We have to step up and deliver and demonstrate that this was the right move."

Anand Parikh, CEO of AirHop, added: “In order for this ecosystem to evolve and these new technologies to be adopted, I would encourage the operators to be more risk-taking.” This provided a nice segue into the next part of the panel.

Communications service providers’ insights: the future of service management and orchestration and rApps

The second round of the panel, moderated by Gillian Leetch, featured communications service providers. The panel discussion evolved from initial introductions and the importance of building an ecosystem for innovation, to detailed discussions on the role of AI and data in network automation and optimization. Key topics included the transition from legacy systems to new automation platforms, the importance of data sharing and standardization, and the need for collaboration among CSPs, software vendors, and other stakeholders to drive innovation and efficiency. 

Rob Soni, VP RAN Technology at AT&T provided valuable insights into AT&T's approach to RAN automation, the importance of migrating legacy systems to streamline operations and reduce costs, and the role of the ecosystem in driving innovation. Apart from migrating existing applications, AT&T is focusing on deploying new rApps with the initial focus on observability and fault analysis. "For us, the measure of success will be - did we actually achieve that a year from now? Can we say we've launched new apps that have materially moved the needle for us?" He also said that "the ecosystem is critical for supporting use cases and driving innovation, enabling us to move our existing apps to new platforms."

Lucia de Miguel, Manager Open RAN Software at Vodafone, emphasized the importance of a smooth transition from legacy systems to fully automated networks and the need for standardized data parameters to avoid vendor lock-in. She also stressed their primary goal of reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) and explained how she sees the ecosystem can help achieve it: "Standardization and openness in the ecosystem are essential for innovation, allowing us to reduce TCO and improve efficiency."

Sri Amirthalingam, Wireless Engineering Executive at Telstra emphasized the importance of conflict management within the EIAP platform, highlighting that conflicting actions by different rApps must be prevented by EIAP: “You got to manage conflict, so that EIAP platform can't let one rApp turn this on and then the other one can turn it off (…) you really need to make a knowledge map to get the conflict management right.” Additionally, he pointed out the necessity of dynamic parameter management, integrating diverse data sources, and ensuring the platform's explainability to build trust among engineers and facilitate the adoption of AI-driven automation.

Michael Berger, Director Mobile Observability from Swisscom highlighted the importance of transitioning to cloud-native platforms to ensure continuous operations and updates, which is crucial for automating the platform. He emphasized the goal of improving customer experience while optimizing energy usage, without compromising service quality. Additionally, he stressed the need for a pragmatic approach to data management, utilizing a centralized data lake to pre-process data before feeding it into the ecosystem. He stated: "The common platform allows us to think big and innovate within the ecosystem, introducing more use cases and improving customer experience."

During the panel, a thought-provoking moment occurred when Rob Soni from AT&T asked the audience: "What is the reason to do ORAN?" His answer resonated with everyone, highlighting that the programmability of the network is the main reason for adopting ORAN. “Programable network is the reason to do it (…) So what does that really mean? Underneath, this is essentially providing an opportunity for enterprises and our customers to get differentiated connectivity. We think this is the future and we're betting big on it.”

Programming a strategic and open course forward

The panel session provided several key takeaways for existing and new members, to leverage the power of the ecosystem for RAN automation:

• Collaboration is key. Successful RAN automation requires collaboration between communications service providers, software vendors, and other stakeholders.
• AI and Machine Learning are critical for developing innovative rApps that drive network automation and optimization.
• Improving customer experience should be a priority, with a focus on dynamic parameter management and integrating customer data.
• Ensuring the security of the network and building trust in AI-driven solutions with Explainable AI are crucial for successful implementation.
• rApps and SMO are becoming the new paradigm for network automation, taking over from legacy SON and extending into the full lifecycle of RAN deployment, evolution, optimization, and healing.

Visit the EIAP Ecosystem website to learn how this open ecosystem enables its members to innovate, accelerate, and collaborate in creating cutting-edge RAN automation applications.

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