In this episode of The Signal Boost, TIP’s Chief Commercial Officer Vishal Mathur is joined by Abdel Bagegni, Head of OpenRAN Technology at TIP, and Michael Behan, Solutions Architect at Zinkworks, for a practical conversation on rApps, SMO/RIC readiness, and the future of AI-driven RAN automation.

The following statement outlines MANTRA’s current interest in the upcoming IETF IVY Hackathon, the standardization gap it sees for IP domain inventory, and its continued alignment with TAPI as the target model for optical network inventory within the TIP MUST subgroup.

TIP’s OpenRAN Solutions subgroup has released Version 2 of the Small Cell End-to-End Test Plan, providing a common framework for validating disaggregated 5G NR small cell solutions across interoperability, performance, energy efficiency, operations, and resiliency.

TIP Executive Director Kristian Toivo moderated a panel on the path toward programmable and autonomous networks, bringing together a knowledgeable group of senior technologists from three of Europe's most advanced operators.

The Telecom Infra Project's Open Optical & Packet Transport (OOPT) community has published the technical requirements for the Disaggregated Aggregation Router (DAR) — a milestone that marks a significant step toward open, flexible, and future-proof transport networks.

TIP had a strong presence at Mobile World Congress 2026, convening industry leaders to advance open, disaggregated, and AI-ready networks. From the launch of the Data & AI Foundations Project Group to momentum around Open RAN, AI infrastructure, and Video QoE collaboration, the week highlighted growing industry engagement across the TIP ecosystem—setting the stage for continued progress leading into FYUZ 2026 in Seattle.