The RAN is entering a new phase where the principles of openness, the flexibility of cloud-native architectures, and the power of AI converge. Open RAN has laid the foundation for disaggregation, Cloud RAN provides the architectural pathway to scalable automation, and AI-RAN represents the emerging ambition to embed intelligence throughout every layer of the network. Together, these forces are reshaping the strategic and technical landscape.
This report examines how that transition is taking shape and what the convergence of openness, cloud and AI means for the architecture and economics of the RAN.