StarHub Breaks Ground on Open RAN With First 5G Call

Singapore-based wireless carrier StarHub late last month broke through the first-call barrier on its 5G network employing that employs Open RAN (Open Radio Access Network) architecture.

The carrier said in an Aug. 29 announcement that the inaugural call over its network marks “a significant milestone in the global telecommunications landscape.”

That milestone followed a February 2024 announcement from Japan-based NNT DOCOMO that it reached agreements with StarHub and other carriers aimed at accelerating the global adoption of wireless networks built on Open RAN architecture.

At the same time, NTT DOCOMO said it also planned to conduct similar field trials with Qatar-based Ooredoo QPSC and Philippines-based Smart Communications. It said those trials would incorporate Fujitsu Limited’s base station software (CU/DU), Wind River’s cloud infrastructure, NVIDIA Corp.’s accelerator, and Dell Technologies’ compute infrastructure.

“With the successful demonstration of our Open RAN, in collaboration with NTT DOCOMO, we are thrilled to be the first to bring it to market, marking this significant milestone for StarHub and Singapore,” said Ayush Sharma, StarHub’s chief technology officer.

“This not only underscores our commitment to delivering first-of-its-kind innovations that afford enterprises greater value, flexibility and customisability to choose what is best to meet their needs, but also lets us vastly rethink how we approach network infrastructure differently,” Sharma said.

Following the news, StarHub and NTT DOCOMO said they “remain committed in continuing their collaboration to redefine and expand Open RAN capabilities together, pioneering technological advancements that shape the future of communications in Singapore and beyond.”

“On top of giving MNOs [mobile network operators] the freedom of choice and lowering operational costs, Open RAN allows MNOs to keep up with the latest technology, freeing them from any particular provider’s roadmap,” added Sadayuki Abeta, who is OREX evangelist and chief Open RAN strategist at NTT DOCOMO and chief technology officer of OREX SAI.

“This opens the door to an infinite number of possibilities in how we build networks around the world, and NTT DOCOMO and OREX SAI are excited to partner with StarHub in this endeavour,” Abeta said.

OREX SAI was founded earlier this year to provide Open RAN equipment and services, and is majority owned by NTT DOCOMO.