Ric

The O-RAN Alliance is an operator-led global industry alliance, formed in February 2018 through the merger of the C-RAN Alliance and the xRAN Forum, whose mission is to reshape how radio access networks are designed, built, and operated. Where traditional RAN stacks are vertically integrated — baseband software, radio hardware, and management tools delivered as a single vendor bundle — O-RAN promotes disaggregation: separating the RAN into open, standardised functional blocks connected by published interfaces, so a mobile operator can mix DU, CU, RU, and management software from different suppliers. The alliance’s core objectives are multi-vendor interoperability, cloud-native and virtualised deployment, programmable RAN intelligence through the RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller), and operational automation at scale. These goals address vendor lock-in, slow innovation cycles, and the cost structure of legacy RAN, while aligning with 5G and beyond requirements for network slicing, edge deployment, and AI/ML-driven optimisation.