signed<\/a> a landmark $14 billion deal with telecommunication giant AT&T to build an Open RAN-based network in the U.S. The deal paves the way for a possible industry-wide shift and signals that the political tug-of-war between cheerleaders and critics is, for now, being won by the former.<\/p>\nBut the Open RAN campaign has also driven a wedge between U.S. and European Union officials, as Europe’s policymakers fear the technology could kill the bloc’s leadership in one of the few areas of technology where it still leads. <\/p>\n
America’s way into 5G<\/h3>\n
U.S. administration officials have been preaching the virtues of Open RAN at forums including the G7, the Quad security alliance with Australia, India and Japan and the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC) with Atlantic partners.<\/p>\n
Critics argue the campaign is an attempt to shoehorn American technology into 5G infrastructure. The U.S. lacks a domestic contender to Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia. The Open RAN technology would open the concentrated telecom equipment market to some of its heavyweights \u2014 cloud providers and tech giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft \u2014 as well as specialized hardware and software companies like Dell and Mavenir.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n