Vodafone said its O-RAN program is supported by Samsung, Intel, Keysight, Dell Technologies, Capgemini and Wind River

U.K. telco Vodafone confirmed it has officially started the installation of Open RAN (O-RAN) equipment for 2,500 sites in Wales and in certain regions of England, the telco said in a release.

The telco noted that O-RAN technology will be used to replace legacy Huawei technology across 2,500 mobile sites in Wales and the south west of England. Vodafone said that this multi-year phased delivery will enable the company to remove all High-Risk Vendor (HRV) technology from the Radio Access Network (RAN) within Government timelines.

Vodafone also noted that it has made several proof-of-concept deployments to trial the O-RAN technology. After validating the technology in lab environments, Vodafone installed O-RAN in rural locations, before beginning a multi-site deployment project in Torquay and Exmouth.

The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) demonstrated that the performance of O-RAN exceeds that of the legacy equipment in the majority of areas, including 4G and 5G call success rate, the operator said.

Vodafone also said its O-RAN program is supporting by various partners, including Samsung, Intel, Keysight, Dell Technologies, Capgemini and Wind River.

“The rapid innovation we have seen in the O-RAN ecosystem is truly remarkable. The industry only started working on this concept in 2016 in earnest, so to see KPIs align to traditional technology is a testament to the work which has been done,” said Andrea Dona, chief network officer at Vodafone UK.

John Whittingdale, Minister of State for Media and Data, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said: “The U.K. government is determined to strengthen the security and resilience of vital network infrastructure by protecting technology critical to the future digital economy and boosting competition and creativity within the telecom supply chain.

In October 2022, the U.K. government extended the deadline for local carriers to remove Huawei’s equipment and services in core network functions to December 31, 2023, from the original deadline of January 28, 2023. The government also noted that the previous deadline to remove all Huawei equipment from 5G networks in the U.K. by the end of 2027 remains unchanged.

The decision by the U.K. government also stipulated an immediate ban on the installation of new Huawei equipment in 5G networks as well as a requirement to limit the presence of Huawei gear to 35% of the full fiber access network by October 31, 2023.

In 2020, the U.K. government banned the use of Huawei components in local operators’ networks, following the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. Huawei said its equipment did not pose any risk for national security.