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DCMS and Ofcom have funded the SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre (SONIC Labs) as part of the 5G Diversification Strategy, focusing on key areas of interoperability and integration to examine the reality of Open RAN and successive, relevant technologies and enable and encourage innovative vendors to participate in the UK ecosystem.
Following on from the introduction to SONIC Labs earlier this year, join us on Thursday 24 June when Digital Catapult and Ofcom, with our SONIC Labs consortium partners – Accelleran, Mavenir, Radisys, Benetel, Phluido, Druid and Effnet – present SONIC Labs Live. This is the official centre launch and experimentation will begin in new end to end mobile solutions to support DCMS’ diversification strategy.
Open networks and Open RAN in particular is an area of considerable interest and activity with huge potential, and it will be key for the future of networking, and opportunities for innovators in the UK and beyond.
Who should attend
SONIC Labs Live event is focused on Open RAN and open networks, in particular it will be of interest to:
- Companies with Open RAN products, solutions and services in development who seek integration with others
- Startups and scaleups developing early stage Open RAN products looking for ways to mature and improve their offers and find routes to market
- Companies looking to collaborate on Open RAN and 5G integration and interoperability with SONIC Labs and with each other
- Businesses evaluating the adoption of Open RAN technologies
Companies of relevance within the telecoms and wider ecosystem who should consider attending include:
- Network operators of all sizes
- System integrators
- Test and measurement products and services
- Investors in the telecoms, 5G, Open RAN and private network space
- Infrastructure providers
- Government and public organisations
- Open RAN and 5G organisations
Why attend
This event will showcase activities and lessons from the first phase of the SONIC Labs, including demonstrations of three end to end functional Open RAN systems.
Our aim is to understand the limits of interoperability, potential for swapability, and end to end impacts. We continue to seek new and interesting products and integrations to form SONIC Labs’ next cohort, as well as developing improvements to the open network / Open RAN testbed with specialised test and measurement solutions.
Agenda
10:00 – Welcome and introductions
- Paul Ceely, Director of Technology Strategy – Digital Catapult
- Jeremy Silver, CEO – Digital Catapult
- Simon Saunders, Director of Emerging & Online Technology – Ofcom
- Joe Butler, Chief Technology Officer – Digital Catapult
10:20 – SONIC Labs in the policy context
- Louise Sheridan, Head of Operations. and International in the. Diversification Unit, DCMS
- Matt Warman, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Minister for Digital Infrastructure)
10:40 – Technical presentations and Demos of the SONIC Labs Open RAN build
- Dritan Kaleshi, Director of 5G Technology, Digital Catapult
- Demo: Acceleran & Mativision
- Simon Burley, Principal, Emerging Technology, Ofcom
- Demo: Mavenir & BBC
- Demo: Radysis
11:15 – Coffee break
10:40 – Panel discussions and Q&A: Challenges and opportunities associated with deployment and integration of multi-vendor Open RAN chains
- Federico Boccardi, Emerging Technology Programme Director, Ofcom
- Natasha Tamaskar, VP Business Strategy and Global Marketing, Radisys
- Arnaud Polster, VP Sales, Accelleran
- Stefano Cantarelli, Chief Marketing Officer, Mavenir
- Dritan Kaleshi, Director of 5G Technology, Digital Catapult
moderated by Evie Ioannidi, Senior Interoperability and R&D Lead, DCMS
12:25 – Closing remarks
- Paul Ceely, Director of Technology, Strategy, Digital Catapult