Mobile World Live (MWL) brings you our top three picks of the week as Vodafone made big claims about open RAN, Japan committed billions to AI chips and Nokia wrapped up a Rapid buy.
Vodafone hails open RAN as ready for big time
What happened: Speaking at TIP’s third annual FYUZ event, Vodafone Group head of open RAN Paco Martin declared the approach as ready for prime time, outlining the operator’s progress as one of the industry’s trailblazers.
Why it matters: Paco said open RAN is already providing benefits as it finalises its radio tender process, but he was unable to specify exactly what innovations it was delivering. And while his comments were aimed at encouraging the wider industry to move beyond talk around the technology into solid action, he added operators must adapt to a higher level of complexity with multiple vendors, compared with the past business model involving up to two.
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Japan prepares $65B chip support package
What happened: Japan’s government introduced a JPY10 trillion ($65 billion) package of subsidies and other incentives to support mass production of advanced chips used for AI applications.
Why it matters: While it is unclear how exactly the package will be funded, the move signals Japan’s intent to join the US and major countries in Europe to grow their domestic chip sectors and keep pace with aggressive investment from China. News outlets pointed out one likely beneficiary of the pot will be state-backed chip venture Rapidus, which has already received more than $2 billion in government support and has backing from Japanese giants Toyota Motor and Sony.
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Nokia strengthens API push with Rapid buy
What happened: Nokia sealed a deal to acquire ICT company Rapid’s technology assets including its API hub and R&D unit.
Why it matters: After launching its Network as a Code platform in September 2023, the Finnish vendor said its deal to buy Rapid’s assets is designed to continue building the API ecosystem. President of cloud and network services at Nokia, Raghav Sahgal, explained operators “need a bridge” to connect to thousands of developers and integrating with Rapid will allow it to bring a robust API infrastructure platform to accelerate product development and adoption.
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