SONIC’s program is ambitious but pragmatic, and is well aware of the wider challenges to Open RAN adoption. One of the sidebar discussions in Open RAN has been what the role of governments can or should be in driving its adoption. Some in the industry are concerned about government-sponsored market distortion, with the government essentially “picking winners” outside of conventional market forces. Others take the view that the market has already been distorted by geo-political and (or) overriding security concerns, and so government support is a necessary follow-through. So it was interesting to see policy and practicalities brought together in the recent update presentation from “SONIC” – a UK government-backed initiative to establish a “commercially neutral, sustainable, permanent and evolving UK national capability program” working in support of Open RAN. And in turn, working in support of UK government goals to diversify the telecom vendor supply chain, accelerate 5G, and boost enterprise productivity. About SONIC SONIC stands for “SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Center”, and was announced in Nov 2020 by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As with much else in Open RAN, SONIC is moving quickly. By the end of May 2021, it will have established three distinct, “representative networks” for 5G Open RAN, involving […]