With the seamless integration of Samsung’s vRAN and Open RAN solutions in previous projects, the operator’s live network delivered enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) and an improved end-user experience, showing performance maturity and operational effectiveness comparable to or better than those of traditional RAN solutions.

Samsung and Orange have been working together to ensure that vRAN and Open RAN are viable solutions in building sustainable networks. This open and flexible architecture not only enhances network resilience but also fosters innovation by enabling the operator to leverage optimal solutions.

In this next phase, the companies are further advancing their vRAN and Open RAN collaboration by integrating the latest processors into Orange’s networks. This includes Samsung’s AI-powered vRAN with Intel Xeon 6 system-on-a-chip (SoC), which runs on a single commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) server from Dell with a cloud platform from Wind River.

This upgraded solution with enhanced computing power enables a powerful, single server to meet high-capacity configuration requirements from Orange, resulting in a smaller footprint, improved performance, reduced power consumption and simplified operations. This also helps the operator to handle intensive workloads and AI applications on a single server by flexibly managing network resources and applying unused computing capacity to run AI and edge applications on its existing network.

“Moving forward to the next chapter of our collaboration with Orange demonstrates how Samsung’s software-driven, open solutions are a proven, robust foundation that offer reliable network performance and services to operators and customers alike,” said Angelo Jeongho Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re committed to advancing virtualized and open platforms as beacons of innovation that can harness AI to meet the high demands of future networks.”

“From our first call for the pilot project to our current phase in the field, Samsung’s virtualized RAN and Open RAN have proved significant performance achievements in Orange’s networks,” said Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group CTO. “With new deployments planned ahead, we look forward to further accelerating the transformation of Orange’s networks to be AI-ready.”

This strategic collaboration underscores the continued commitment of both companies to driving innovation based on an open architecture, delivering cutting-edge solutions and AI capabilities into the network.

Samsung Networks has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung is driving the industry to advance 5G networks and paving the way for 6G and beyond with its market-leading product portfolio, from purpose-built RAN, vRAN, Open RAN, AI-RAN and core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools and applications. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Samsung has been pushing the boundaries of network virtualization, offering operators exceptional performance and reliability. This accomplishment marks a significant milestone, validating that Samsung’s vRAN is the optimal platform for operators to build AI-native, 6G-ready networks by fully leveraging the power of the cutting-edge processor technology.

Conducted on a Tier 1 U.S. operator’s commercial network, Samsung’s cloud-native vRAN with Intel’s latest Xeon SoC ran on a single commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) server from Hewlett Packard Enterprise with a cloud platform from Wind River. This milestone, coming only a few months after the first wave of Intel Xeon 6 SoC was made commercially available, presents an innovative pathway for single-server vRAN deployments for next-generation networks.

As operators accelerate their transition to software-driven, flexible architectures while seeking more sustainable infrastructure, the ability to run RAN and AI workloads on fewer, more powerful servers becomes critical.

On a single server of Samsung’s AI-powered vRAN with enhanced processors, operators can consolidate software-driven network elements such as mobile core, radio access, transport and security, which traditionally required multiple servers, significantly simplifying the management of complex site configuration.

This innovative approach not only reduces network power consumption, capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX), but also facilitates operators’ seamless adoption of AI-RAN and AI services, accelerating their readiness for 6G through its flexibility and automation capability.

“This breakthrough represents a major leap forward in network virtualization and efficiency. It confirms the real-world readiness of this latest technology under live network conditions, demonstrating that single-server vRAN deployments can meet the stringent performance and reliability standards required by leading carriers,” said June Moon, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are not only deploying more sustainable, cost-effective networks, but also laying the foundation to fully utilize AI capabilities more easily and prepare for 6G with our end-to-end software-driven network solutions.”

Samsung’s vRAN leverages the latest Intel Xeon 6 SoC with Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions (Intel AMX), Intel vRAN Boost and up to 72 cores, delivering significant improvements in AI processing, memory bandwidth and energy efficiency compared to the previous generation.

“With Intel Xeon 6 SoC, featuring higher core counts and built-in acceleration for AI and vRAN, operators get the compute foundation for AI native, future ready networks,” said Cristina Rodriguez, VP and GM, Network & Edge, Intel. “This collaborative achievement with Samsung, HPE and Wind River enables greater consolidation of RAN and AI workloads, lowering power and total cost while speeding innovation.”

As a leader in network innovation, Samsung has been spearheading the deployment of vRAN solutions with major operators worldwide and has achieved many industry breakthroughs, including the industry’s first call on a commercial network and large-scale deployments utilizing Intel Xeon processors with Intel vRAN Boost. The company continues to push the boundaries of network virtualization, working closely with ecosystem partners like Intel to deliver solutions that help operators build networks that are more efficient and sustainable.

“This successful first call is an important milestone for the industry,” said Daryl Schoolar, Analyst and Director at Recon Analytics. “By demonstrating multiple network functions running on next-generation processing technology, Samsung is showing what future networks look like — more cloud-native, more scalable and significantly more efficient. This achievement moves the industry beyond theoretical performance gains and into practical, deployable innovation that operators around the world can leverage to modernize their networks, accelerate automation and better support AI-driven use cases.”

Samsung Networks has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung is driving the industry to advance 5G networks and paving the way for 6G and beyond with its market-leading product portfolio, from purpose-built RAN, vRAN, Open RAN, AI-RAN and core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools and applications. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

1. Intel, the Intel logo and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. ︎

Germany is the first market implementing the solutions and will become one of the largest Open RAN deployments in Europe, with Samsung equipping thousands of sites. The first site is already live in Hannover, and Wismar is set to become the first city served by Vodafone to be fully equipped with Open RAN in early 2026. Vodafone will work with Samsung to add thousands of Open RAN sites across Europe over a five-year programme.

Over the years, Samsung has demonstrated its technological leadership by supporting Vodafone in building confidence in Open RAN technology, leading to Vodafone’s decision to initiate a large-scale deployment in Germany, the biggest operation in Vodafone’s portfolio. Following the deployment in Germany, Samsung will work with Vodafone to continue expanding Open RAN in other European markets. Through this expanded collaboration, Vodafone and Samsung are leading Open RAN momentum in the European market, underscoring the companies’ continued efforts to transforming the mobile network landscape and the mutual trust they have cultivated.

For this extensive project, Samsung will provide its versatile vRAN solution with multi-generational support across 2G, 4G and 5G. The company will also deliver O-RAN compliant radios including Massive MIMO radios, AI-powered Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS) and system integration services. Leveraging its software-based architecture, Samsung vRAN delivers enhanced capabilities that improve energy efficiency, optimize performance, while supporting intelligent automation to drive total cost of ownership (TCO) savings.

By harnessing its expertise in interoperability and providing system integration services, Samsung will work with industry-leading partners — Dell Technologies (servers), Intel (processors) and Wind River (cloud platform).

“Open RAN is a key pillar of our mission to build best-in-class networks and Vodafone has already proven the power of this innovative technology through our work with Samsung. The next step in our journey is to extend our Open RAN reach to more countries,” said Alberto Ripepi, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone. “By bringing in enhanced capabilities powered by AI and automation, we look forward to fostering a more advanced digital society as well as providing greater connectivity to our customers.”

“In the midst of a transformational shift in the telco industry, Samsung has been spearheading software-based and autonomous networks including vRAN and Open RAN. Leveraging our unmatched technological expertise and real-world pedigree, we are empowering our customers to have a competitive edge in evolving their networks in the AI era,” said Woojune Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is fully committed to supporting Vodafone’s vision to shape the future of networks by bringing proven, cutting-edge technologies, with a strong start in Germany.”

This collaboration holds significance beyond expanding geographical coverage. Vodafone and Samsung are advancing AI-friendly and autonomous Open RAN by utilizing software-based architecture. vRAN serves as an optimal foundation for AI, enabling operators to seamlessly integrate AI capabilities into their networks, such as AI-powered Samsung CognitiV NOS. This automation solution is a set of diverse AI applications with multi-vendor support. Spanning mobile core, radio access and transport elements, Samsung’s end-to-end network automation solution plays a crucial role in adopting and managing open, software-based networks at scale.

Samsung will offer Vodafone full observability across lifecycle management of its network from planning, deployment and operation to optimization, helping the operator deploy and manage large-scale virtualized Open RAN networks more intelligently and efficiently. AI-powered Energy Saving Manager (AI-ESM), one of the key applications of Samsung CognitiV NOS, will be deployed to significantly increase energy efficiency. It analyzes site environments and traffic patterns, then switches off cell sites during low traffic times and turns them back on when traffic increases, ultimately improving energy efficiency while ensuring network performance.

In addition, Samsung is delivering its latest radios and software capabilities that support RAN sharing. Samsung’s comprehensive portfolio of radios not only covers diverse spectrum bands but also supports wide bandwidth and high transmit power required for RAN sharing in European countries. As RAN sharing is essential in facilitating wide-scale Open RAN adoption in certain areas of the region, Samsung’s solution will help operators deliver high-performing shared networks while reducing hardware costs and lowering energy consumption.

“Through years of collaboration with Vodafone and other leading operators across North America, Europe, and Asia, Samsung has built deep technological expertise and extensive deployment experience in open and virtualized RAN,” said Rémy Pascal, Practice Leader, Mobile infrastructure at global analyst firm Omdia. “Vodafone’s decision to select Samsung further validates its market leadership in open vRAN.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from purpose-built RAN, vRAN, Open RAN and core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools and applications. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators and enterprises that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Samsung Electronics today announced that the company has been selected by KDDI as a main vendor to provide 4G and 5G O-RAN compliant virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) solutions for their Open RAN deployment in Japan. In line with KDDI’s vision to adopt leading-edge network technology, the companies will expand the reach of Open RAN in the coming years.

Starting from 2025, KDDI will expand its Open RAN deployment leveraging the advantages of a fully disaggregated and software-based architecture powered by Samsung vRAN. KDDI’s Open RAN network will feature enhanced capabilities for improved energy efficiency, optimized performance and intelligent automation.

“KDDI has been focused on identifying and preparing for next-generation networks, and we have been conducting numerous technical verification and feasibility studies on Open RAN with industry-leading companies like Samsung,” said Kazuyuki Yoshimura, Chief Technology Officer of KDDI. “Today’s announcement represents KDDI’s dedication to bringing innovative technologies to Japan. We are proud to deliver a cutting-edge and reliable radio access network.”

“With our unwavering innovative spirit, Samsung continuously takes the initiative to develop and adopt the latest mobile technologies. Together with KDDI, we are thrilled to take this significant step and strengthen our presence in Japan,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to supporting KDDI’s trailblazing journey toward network excellence by providing best-in-class solutions that exceed their quality standards.”

For this expanded collaboration, Samsung is bringing its comprehensive network solutions ranging from its vRAN 3.0 solution, a full suite of O-RAN compliant radios supporting low- and mid-bands including advanced Massive MIMO radios and third-party radio integration support. It also offers key features of the Samsung CognitiV Networks Operations Suite (NOS), an intelligent solution that automates the life cycle management of large-scale vRAN buildouts. The features streamline the onboarding, deployment and operation processes, enabling KDDI to transform its widespread network efficiently.

Samsung is enriching KDDI’s network deployment by leveraging its robust ecosystem that consists of industry-leading partners and their solutions. The deployment will be carried out in close collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (servers), Intel (processors) and Red Hat (cloud platform).

KDDI and Samsung have been collaborating on vRAN and Open RAN since 2021. Over the years, the companies have solidified their global leadership in the emerging Open RAN and vRAN space, achieving milestones such as the world’s first commercial 5G Standalone Open RAN site in the Greater Tokyo area, and launching commercial Open RAN sites in Osaka. Samsung’s extensive expertise — derived from real-world rollout experience at scale — underpins this Open RAN deployment.

Since unveiling its fully virtualized 5G RAN in 2020, Samsung has consistently been recognized as the leading Open RAN and vRAN vendor by global analyst firms like Omdia and Dell’Oro.

“Open RAN and vRAN are at the heart of mobile networks innovation and transformation and Samsung has continuously demonstrated its leadership in this space,” said Rémy Pascal, Principal Analyst Mobile infrastructure at Omdia. “These technologies have been thoroughly tested, and KDDI’s Open vRAN expansion powered by Samsung will not only enable KDDI to continue delivering first-rate services to Japanese customers and meet their evolving needs but also build a more efficient, automated and future-ready network.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

A key goal of the collaboration is to drive innovation that lowers the barrier to entry for deployment of private 5G networks in enterprises—including retail stores, smart factories, and entertainment venues, such as stadiums. Through a cloud-based approach to the market, the companies aim to achieve greater cost efficiencies in 5G deployments.

Full Virtualization: The Key To Accelerating Private 5G Networks

The collaboration highlights key benefits of cloud networks, which can accelerate 5G expansion for enterprises, and help them deploy private 5G networks faster. Implementing fully-virtualized 5G solutions on a cloud platform also enables vast improvements in the scalability and flexibility of networks for mobile operators and enterprises.

“We’re excited to be working with Microsoft to help enterprises transform the way they operate through next-generation communications,” said Wonil Roh, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Combining Samsung’s virtualized 5G solutions and Microsoft Azure cloud, we look forward to delivering a best-in-class 5G solution that advances opportunities in the private network sector. Through this collaboration, we will continue to push the boundaries of innovation in 5G and beyond.”

“Microsoft is pleased to work with Samsung to accelerate the deployment of 5G networks in enterprises. The combination of Microsoft Azure and Samsung’s virtualized 5G offerings will enable new solutions and lower the barriers to entry for private 5G networks for our mutual customers across retail, manufacturing, entertainment and many other industries,” said Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President, Azure for Operators, Microsoft Corp.

Samsung is a pioneer in the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions ranging from chipset, radio, and core network. The company has been supporting 5G commercial services in leading markets, including Korea and the U.S., where the majority of the worldwide 5G subscribers are currently located, and it is supporting the expansion of 5G in Japan. In addition, the company is rapidly expanding its global footprint to new markets including Canada and New Zealand.

Samsung Networks will provide KDDI with its latest 5G network solutions, including various radio base stations supporting mid-band (3.7~3.8GHz and 4.0~4.1GHz) and mmWave (28GHz) spectrum, as well as virtualized RAN.

Japan is home to one of the world’s most densely populated areas, numerous skyscrapers and a complex infrastructure. Its largest cities are examples of dense metropolitan areas that present technical challenges that need to be addressed when deploying 5G networks using both mid-band and mmWave. This includes the need for operators to ensure seamless and reliable service quality in these dense areas.

KDDI and Samsung have successfully proved that 5G can be implemented in dense metropolitan cities since 2015 using Samsung’s end-to-end 5G solutions. In preparation for the arrival of 5G, the two companies have carried out several successful trials on real-world use cases and achieved world-first 5G milestones. This includes Japan’s first mmWave outdoor 5G handover test success in 2017, 5G handovers for high-speed racing cars and trains in 2017, a real-time free-viewpoint video stream at baseball stadium in 2018, a 5G-powered education showcase in an elementary school in 2019, and a demonstration of the power of real-time 4K video communication at Haneda Airport, Tokyo in 2019.

*The two companies have been collaborating for nearly two decades since 2002.

Samsung has successfully provided end-to-end 5G solutions to the world’s first 5G commercial networks in Korea and U.S. where mobile services for consumers have started in the first half of 2019. It included an in-house chipset, radio base stations, core, virtualized solution and smartphones – all supporting mmWave spectrum and mid-band spectrum.

5G Drone Application

A Drone carrying a very low latency, high-quality video system is piloted from the Orange booth at the Fira de Barcelona. The drone, which is located outdoors at an Orange datacenter, carries a 5G router (CPE) that is used to transfer commands to the drone and transmit a high-quality video feed with low latency. At the Orange booth, the pilot can be seen controlling the drone by using a 5G tablet. Aeromedia, a leading drone operator, collaborated in this demo.

At MWC19, a demonstrator in the Orange booth is controlling an outdoor drone remotely using a 5G tablet, which is simultaneously displaying a high-quality video feed captured by the drone and transmitted over a 5G network

5G Industrial Robot Application

An autonomous robot carrying manufacturing parts transmits live video feeds taken by a 360º camera and a Full HD camera, both installed in the robot. The video streams allow operators to monitor the robot’s environment remotely, and to react and control it when its autonomous operation is interrupted due to unexpected obstacles in its path. The video and the commands controlling the robot are transmitted through a 5G network. This demonstration was done in cooperation with Acciona, a global company providing renewables, infrastructure and services.

The demonstrations show industrial use cases powered by 5G’s ultra-reliability, low-latency and high-capacity.

Samsung and Cisco joined forces for this live demonstration. Samsung used its 5G solutions including virtualized RAN, one of the smallest 5G access units, multiple indoor and outdoor 5G routers, and 5G tablets. Cisco’s Ultra Gateway Platform delivers a 5G virtual packet core on top of Cisco NFV Infrastructure that brings enhanced throughput and flexibility. Leveraging the wide bandwidth available at mmWave bands, like 26GHz, and advanced antenna technologies like massive MIMO and beamforming, the companies were able to achieve mobility, a very low end-to-end latency, and high capacity enabling the transfer of high-quality video feeds.

“Thanks to this successful test of 5G industrial applications, Orange has been able to verify use cases for verticals that are enabled by this technology,” said Mónica Sala, Chief Technical and Information Officer at Orange Spain. “We can now better understand the way in which this technology works in real industrial environments. This is a major step in driving forward the development of 5G.”

“5G has the potential to transform industry and society by unlocking creative business models,” said GY Seo, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “By leveraging our commercially-proven 5G solutions, we will continue collaborating with global partners to accelerate real-world use cases powered by 5G, ultimately impacting our everyday lives.”

“We continue to expand our 5G trials with Samsung and Orange to help Orange explore various use cases that fit its customer requirements,” said Kishen Mangat, Vice President and General Manager, Service Provider Mobility, Cisco. “Showcasing our drone and robot here at Mobile World Congress demonstrates the impact 5G can have when paired with virtualization and automation technology to help businesses maximize resources.”

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