TIM opens Open RAN lab in Turin

TIM is one of the first operators worldwide and the only one in Italy to launch an Open Test and Integration Center (OTIC) Lab.

The new TIM European OTIC Lab has been approved by the O-RAN ALLIANCE according to its OTIC criteria and guidelines. It will be based at the TIM Group’s Innovation laboratories in Turin.

Its activities will include equipment providers, start-ups, system integrators and others with a vested interest to test new solutions and accelerate their deployment “for the new pan-European mobile network architecture based on 5G, cloud and edge computing,” TIM says.
 
The TIM European OTIC Lab offers a collaborative, open, impartial and qualified working environment and physical space to support the wide adoption of O-RAN specifications.

Test and verify

The Lab will promote opening up the O-RAN ecosystem by developing implementations and solutions, by testing and verifying the compliance of RAN equipment (antennas, radio base stations, etc.) from individual or different suppliers with the specifications of the O-RAN interfaces and by providing technical results to the community on the experiences gained during testing.
 
TIM has been a Member of the O-RAN ALLIANCE since 2018 and last February it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the main European operators to promote Open RAN solutions. This was followed by the five publishing an Open RAN Technical Priorities Document this week.
 
In the last few days, in the city of Faenza, the Group has implemented an Open RAN solution on a live network, making it one of the first operators in Europe and worldwide to do so and the only one in Italy.

OTIC will eventually be responsible for certifying products and solution as O-RAN compliant: the other OTIC Lab is in Berlin, hosted by Deutsche Telekom.