Virtualized RAN, Cloud RAN, and Open RAN: Making Sense of the 5G RAN Alphabet Soup

One segment of 5G networks has increasingly found itself at the forefront of 5G policy and industry discussions in the United States and around the world: the RAN – Radio Access Network. Why? The RAN is currently home to three technological transformations: virtualized RAN (sometimes called vRAN), Cloud RAN (or cRAN), and Open RAN. In this video, we demystify this alphabet soup by explaining these three related but distinct terms.

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