The traditional, hardware-based approach to designing and deploying radio access networks (RAN) is no longer a viable solution for operators, according to executives at Mavenir, a communications service provider.

In a recent roundtable press briefing in Singapore, Mavenir executives emphasized that “hardware is far too expensive with long development lifecycles that lead to vendor lock-in, making it nearly impossible for operators to keep pace with technology and demographic transitions, especially with 5G around the corner.”