The network was based on Open Radio Access Network (RAN), leveraging Samsung virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN).
“Samsung has been raising the bar on what’s possible with vRAN and Open RAN, and we are delighted to work with Vodafone and Orange to be part of the first Open RAN sharing initiative in Romania,” said Junehee Lee, executive vice president, head of global sales and marketing, networks business at Samsung.
“As we continue to expand our footprint across Europe, including the recent large-scale Open RAN deployments in the UK, we continue to push our innovative boundaries, empowering networks in Europe.”
The Romania trial comes after Vodafone UK recently deployed Open RAN and after successful integration tests in Orange’s Open RAN lab in France using Samsung’s multi-RAT vRAN software and Open RAN-compliant radios.
Earlier this year Vodafone and Orange announced that they intend to trial Open RAN with RAN sharing across Europe.
Open RAN is seen by many in Europe as the technology of choice for future mobile networks, as phone companies seek to meet the European Commission’s target to have 5G in all populated areas by 2030.