VIAVI VALOR and Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Announce Strategic Collaboration to Advance Open RAN Testing Capabilities

Viavi Solutions and the Telecom Infra Project announced a strategic collaboration aimed at expanding the testing capabilities of the VIAVI Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN. VALOR, made possible by a $21.7 million grant from the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, provides fully-automated, open and impartial testing and integration for Open RAN. VALOR provides a pathway to certification in the U.S. for new entrants, startups, and academia and ensures the interoperability, performance, and security of Open RAN components.

TIP, a global consortium dedicated to advancing and adopting open and disaggregated networks, thrives on the collective contributions of its member companies. These contributions are critical to bringing innovation to the industry and facilitating a collaborative environment where innovative technologies are developed, tested, and certified, ready for deployment.

VIAVI's involvement with TIP exemplifies this collaborative spirit. By bringing VALOR's test-as-a-service capabilities to TIP, VIAVI advances the mission of TIP’s OpenRAN Project Group and enhances the broader industry's ability to implement and certify Open RAN technologies.

TIP-authorized labs expand on the success of TIP’s network of Community Labs. This collaboration will streamline the certification process by VALOR becoming the first TIP-authorized test lab, reducing duplication of efforts and accelerating time-to-market for Open RAN solutions. TIP’s and VIAVI’s strategic cooperation promotes innovation and broad industry alignment, driving widespread adoption of Open RAN technologies globally.

VIAVI and TIP's collaboration to expand VALOR's testing capabilities for Open RAN is poised to significantly reduce integration time and costs and improve data reliability and performance, resulting in the collective progress of open and disaggregated networks globally.

Kristian Toivo, Executive Director, TIP, said, “Through this appointment of VALOR as one of the TIP’s authorized labs, we are committed to advancing the Open RAN landscape by providing robust and streamlined testing frameworks. Comprehensive end-to-end testing ensures that Open RAN systems meet high-performance standards and are robust enough to handle real-world network complexities, thereby maintaining service quality and reducing downtime. In addition to the extreme performance testing, VALOR’s Open RAN virtual testing environment brings new capabilities to TIP Labs and the community. This strategic engagement fosters innovation, improves supply chain resilience, and accelerates the global adoption of Open RAN technologies, offering operators more flexible, cost-effective, and high-performance network solutions."

Dr. Sameh Yamany, Chief Technology Officer, VIAVI, said, “The collaboration between VIAVI and TIP enhances Open RAN system maturity by addressing multi-vendor deployment challenges, ensuring end-to-end system level performance testing from different vendors. VIAVI's participation in TIP’s OpenRAN PG and Test and Validation Committee is supporting the creation of industry test plans at a global level. VALOR supports comprehensive end-to-end testing to verify performance, stability, and security under real-world conditions. Additionally, this initiative aims to reduce market fragmentation, create supply chain efficiencies, and build marketplace confidence through standardized testing and certification processes."

Source: Viavi Solutions and the Telecom Infra Project media announcement