Vodafone and Wind River Drive Open RAN Deployment

Why It Matters

The partnership signals a major operator committing to Open RAN at scale, which could reshape vendor dynamics, speed new service delivery and reduce costs through virtualization and AI-led automation. Successful large-scale deployments would accelerate industry-wide migration to cloud-native, programmable networks ahead of 6G.

Summary

At Mobile World Congress 2026 Vodafone and Wind River outlined their expanded Open RAN collaboration, highlighting Vodafone’s blueprint deployment now being scaled across Europe starting with Germany. Vodafone emphasized Open RAN’s role in diversifying suppliers, accelerating innovation and enabling cloudified, container-based architectures that improve automation and operational efficiency. Wind River said its mature, field-proven software (deployed at ~100,000 sites globally) and partnerships with vendors like Samsung, Dell and Intel helped win Vodafone’s tender and validate large-scale rollout. Both firms positioned Open RAN as foundational for AI-driven network optimization and a step toward fully virtualized 5G-advanced and future 6G networks.

Original Description

Join us at Mobile World Congress 2026 for an insightful discussion with Marco Zangani from Vodafone and Randy Cox from Wind River, as they delve into their collaboration on Open RAN deployments and the future of telecom networks. This video explores the reasons behind Vodafone’s strategic move towards Open RAN, the role of Wind River in this transition, and the expected benefits of cloudification and AI in telecom networks. Discover how these advancements are set to revolutionise the industry by enhancing vendor diversity, operational efficiency, and network performance. This conversation is a must-watch for anyone interested in the evolution of 5G, the path to 6G, and the impact of open architectures and AI on future telecom infrastructures.

Featuring:

- Marco Zangani, Director of Network Strategy and Architecture, Vodafone Networks

- Randy Cox, Vice President, AI and Incubation, Wind River

Chapters:

0:00 - 0:40 - Introductions

0:40 - 2:08 - Tell us about the key drivers for Vodafone's recent Open RAN deployments across Europe

2:08 - 3:51 - Why did you partner with Wind River to support you in this deployment?

3:51 - 5:08 - How is Wind River further supporting Vodafone in its Open RAN ambitions?

5:08 - 7:21 - What can customers expect from the network going to cloudified RAN in the coming years?

7:21 - 9:23 - What advice would you share with other CSPs considering Cloud RAN technologies?

9:23 - 9:48 - Thank you and goodbye

Recorded March 2026

#telecomtv #windriver #vodafone #openran #radioaccessnetwork #ai #cloud