Vodafone said the deal aims to expand UPV’s Advanced Immersive Holographic 5G Laboratory in Valencia.
Spanish telecommunications operator Vodafone Spain has announced a collaboration project with the Institute for Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (iTEAM) at UPV University in Valencia, Spain, to focus on research and development of 5G SA networks using Open RAN (O-RAN) equipment.
The partners said the agreement aims to leverage Vodafone Spain’s O-RAN technology expertise and implementation of low-power indoor 5G base stations called femtocells to expand UPV’s Advanced Immersive and Holographic 5G Laboratory at UPV’s Valencia headquarters.
The two explained that these small cells, which Vodafone developed in collaboration with Lime Microsystems, utilise software-defined radio (SDR) technology and low-cost, low-power equipment such as Raspberry Pi to create a mechanism by which virtualised private 5G networks can be deployed through an open-source software platform.
Under the terms of the joint project, the partners will conduct an architecture and deployment options study. The Vodafone team will analyze different network architectures and deployment options, taking into account performance requirements, cost, scalability, reliability, resource availability, and support.
The performance of femtocells is evaluated through various performance metrics such as capacity, coverage, spectral efficiency, delay, energy consumption, flexibility and scalability.
Additionally, the femtocells will be integrated with the service management and orchestration (SMO) system that manages the femtocell network and will be considered for integration into a virtualized 5G core network.
The project’s results will demonstrate the potential of programmable femtocells to support immersive, holographic, telepresence and haptic applications in demanding testbed environments, opening the door to other uses beyond the lab, such as supporting private networks in industrial environments, the partners said.
Laura Galian, Vodafone Director for Valencia, Balearic Islands and Murcia, said: “We are very proud to work with UPV, a leader in research and development of 5G use cases in Spain. The lessons learned will contribute to more accessible, low-power, open, flexible and affordable communications solutions, improving connectivity for our customers.”
Vodafone launched 5G services via a non-standalone (NSA) architecture in Spain in 2019, and launched a pre-commercial 5G SA network in June 2021. After securing frequencies in the 700 MHz band in July 2021, Vodafone Spain announced in January 2022 that it would begin the initial rollout of 5G coverage via 700 MHz frequencies in 109 municipalities across 30 provinces across the country.
Vodafone Group recently sold its Spanish business to Zegona Communications for $5.4 billion.
Vodafone and Zegona had previously announced a brand licensing agreement that would allow the company to use the Vodafone brand in Spain for up to 10 years.
The transaction was approved by the Spanish government after Zegona took steps to guarantee the continuity of services, consider future investments in mobile coverage, mainly through 5G technology, and ensure financial solvency.
