Major milestone marks one of Europe’s largest Open RAN rollouts, starting in Germany
Samsung Electronics today announced that Vodafone has selected the company as a primary partner for deploying Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) solutions across Germany and other European markets. This collaboration represents a major step forward in Samsung’s expansion across Europe, driving the next wave of mobile network innovation through its virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN technologies, enhanced by AI and automation capabilities.
Transforming Mobile Networks in Germany and Beyond
Germany will be the first country to implement the new Open RAN solutions, becoming one of the largest Open RAN deployments in Europe. Samsung will equip thousands of sites, with the first site already live in Hannover and the city of Wismar set to become Vodafone’s first fully Open RAN–equipped city by early 2026. Over the next five years, Vodafone and Samsung plan to expand Open RAN coverage across multiple European countries.
Samsung’s long-standing collaboration with Vodafone has been instrumental in building confidence in Open RAN technology — culminating in this large-scale rollout in Germany, Vodafone’s largest market. Following the German deployment, Samsung and Vodafone will work together to extend Open RAN to additional European regions, further accelerating the continent’s Open RAN momentum.
Cutting-Edge Technology for the AI Era
As part of this project, Samsung will deliver its multi-generational vRAN solution supporting 2G, 4G, and 5G, alongside O-RAN compliant radios, including Massive MIMO units, the AI-powered Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS), and comprehensive system integration services.
Samsung vRAN’s software-based architecture delivers enhanced performance, improved energy efficiency, and intelligent automation, reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) for operators.
To ensure interoperability and seamless deployment, Samsung will collaborate with Dell Technologies (servers), Intel (processors), and Wind River (cloud platform).
“Open RAN is a key pillar of our mission to build best-in-class networks, and Vodafone has already proven the power of this innovative technology through our work with Samsung,” said Alberto Ripepi, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone. “The next step in our journey is to extend our Open RAN reach to more countries. With enhanced capabilities powered by AI and automation, we’re fostering a more advanced digital society and stronger connectivity for our customers.”
“In this transformational era for telecommunications, Samsung is spearheading the evolution of software-based and autonomous networks,” said Woojune Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “By combining our unmatched vRAN and Open RAN expertise with Vodafone’s vision, we are shaping the future of networks—starting with this strong foundation in Germany.”
Building AI-Driven, Autonomous Networks
The collaboration goes beyond expanding network coverage. Together, Samsung and Vodafone are pioneering AI-friendly, software-based Open RAN architectures that enable seamless AI integration into mobile networks.
Samsung’s CognitiV NOS suite offers end-to-end network automation — from mobile core to transport — enabling intelligent management of large-scale, multi-vendor environments. One key feature, AI-powered Energy Saving Manager (AI-ESM), analyzes site environments and traffic patterns to optimize power consumption by switching cell sites off during low traffic periods and reactivating them as demand rises. This approach improves energy efficiency while maintaining network performance.
Samsung will also provide full network lifecycle observability — from planning and deployment to operation and optimization — to help Vodafone manage its virtualized Open RAN networks more efficiently.
Enabling RAN Sharing and Future-Ready Networks
To support RAN sharing, essential for large-scale Open RAN adoption in Europe, Samsung is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of radios and software capabilities that cover a wide range of spectrum bands. These radios support wide bandwidth and high transmit power, enabling multiple operators to share infrastructure while reducing hardware costs and energy consumption.
“Through years of collaboration with Vodafone and other leading operators across North America, Europe, and Asia, Samsung has built deep expertise and deployment experience in open and virtualized RAN,” said Rémy Pascal, Practice Leader, Mobile Infrastructure at Omdia. “Vodafone’s decision to select Samsung further validates its market leadership in open vRAN.”
Driving the Future of 5G and Beyond
Samsung continues to lead the industry in end-to-end 5G solutions, including chipsets, radios, cores, and private network solutions, while driving advances in AI-powered network automation. Through continuous research and innovation, Samsung is helping mobile operators and enterprises deliver next-generation connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
