4iG Group is the biggest Hungarian investor in Albania after the acquisition of ONE Albania and ALBtelecom.

Global industry organisation founded by leading telecommunications companies to make radio communications network systems more open and efficient

• 4iG has become a full member of O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) Alliance.
• O-RAN is an industry association that provides an open platform for the development and operation of 5G radio network infrastructure.
• The convergence of the IT and telecommunications industries is a major global trend, accelerated by 5G.
• As a full member of the international industry alliance, 4iG is set to become a front runner in the convergence of IT and telecommunications.
• The infocommunications group shall enter into O-RAN targeted markets with a significant advantage, thanks to its wide capability and great capacity in IT and telecommunications.

4iG Plc has joined the O-RAN Alliance as a full member. The international alliance, which was founded in 2018, aims to make radio communications systems more efficient by creating a freely accessible, open development platform. The Open RAN initiative, supported by the US government too, will open the RAN (Radio Access Network) market, which is an excellent business opportunity for 4iG. With O-RAN Alliance's global network of contacts and knowledge base, the Hungarian ICT group can become the frontrunner of IT telecom convergence and 5G technology innovation, using the capabilities it already has at its disposal.

The market for radio transmission systems is currently dominated by a handful of large manufacturers. The O-RAN initiative, with its open development platform and publicly available standards, provides an entry point into this hitherto closed market. The key objective of the global alliance is to enable companies and organisations, including universities to develop radio network infrastructure components, software, and specific applications for transmission systems, thereby not only increasing competition but also improving the efficiency of solutions. In addition to the trend of IT-telecommunications convergence, the O-RAN strategic initiative is supported by the necessary innovations and possible development directions of the upcoming 5G era.

“We see the technological convergence of IT and telecommunications as an obvious opportunity. IT-Telco convergence is a key element of 4iG’s growth strategy, which unfolds profitable prospects for the Group as a whole”, said Péter Fekete, CEO of 4iG Group, commenting on the accession. “The O-RAN initiative is a technological umbrella over 4iG’s capabilities, as this open innovation platform and shared expertise are applicable and leverageable across all three of our business areas, i.e. IT, telecommunications and defence, together or separately”

The continuous growth of mobile data traffic makes the development of telecommunications networks and supporting infrastructure inevitable, but also a prerequisite for the deployment of 5G. O-RAN enables mobile operators to tailor existing or new network elements and systems to their specific needs. A software-centric approach will help reduce vendor exposure and costs, and improve operational, energy and cost efficiency. By decoupling the hardware and software of the base stations and creating an open development platform, network infrastructure elements can be combined, and made scalable to create more competitive and automated ICT ecosystems. The O-RAN solution can be used to efficiently implement the increasingly widespread IoT (Internet of Things) devices as well as Industry 4.0 solutions.

O-RAN is a software-centric approach in which vendors supply vendor-neutral tools to system operators, and a common, open platform provides access to any independent development.

In addition to 4iG, O-RAN Alliance members include Dish, 1&1, AT&T, Bell, US Cellular, Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile, China Telecom, Rakuten Mobile, and T-Mobile.