2025 Mid-Year Review with Kristian Toivo
- Briana Hamill
- Jul 26, 2025
- 6 min read
Kristian Toivo Executive Director
Driving Momentum
As we cross the halfway point of 2025, the Telecom Infra Project is proud to reflect on a strong start to the year marked by a growing community, technical leadership through committed Participants, and meaningful collaboration driving the industry forward. From advancing cutting-edge technical solutions across different network domains to exploring application of AI in telecom networks, the first six months have underscored TIP’s commitment to accelerating open and disaggregated network solutions worldwide.
Strengthening Industry Leadership
We are excited to share that three industry leaders joined TIP as Sponsor Participants in the first half of the year, each appointing a new representative to our Board of Directors:
Telus: Welcomed with the appointment of Bernard Bureau
EchoStar: Welcomed with the appointment of Satish Sharma
Amazon Web Services (AWS): Welcomed with the appointment of Kaniz Mahdi
These additions reflect the growing influence and relevance of TIP’s mission across the telecom ecosystem and reinforce our collective commitment to driving innovation, openness, and interoperability in network infrastructure.
Membership Growth & Community Impact
TIP welcomed 17 new Participant organizations in the first half of 2025, including several global vendors that bring strategic value and technical leadership to TIP. Our newest Participants include:
These organizations join a growing community of operators, vendors, and academic institutions committed to transforming network infrastructure through collaboration, openness, and innovation.
Project Group Evolution & New Leadership
OpenRAN PG Realignment
The TIP Board approved a new framework for the PG consolidating its six subgroups into two focused tracks: RIA (RAN Intelligence, Automation & Orchestration) and Solutions. Eight Co-Leads were named for RIA, and a revised PG Charter is underway to support the streamlined structure.
Explosive Growth in TIP OpenLAN Over 200,000 certificates have now been issued for uCentral-enabled devices, with more than 20,000 created in March alone. This momentum reflects TIP OpenLAN's rapidly expanding footprint and community commitment to scalable, open wireless infrastructure.
New Workstreams in OOPT The Optical & Packet Transport (OOPT) Project Group launched two new initiatives: - IPoDWDM Workstream: Focused on Coherent Pluggable Transceiver management in IPoDWDM-capable routers - Disaggregated Aggregation Routers (DAR) Workstream: Advancing open aggregation solutions that bridge the gap from DCSG to core routers
New Leadership Across PGs - Melissa Ness (AT&T) joins as OpenRAN PG Co-Chair - Sushil Rawat (Telus) joins OpenRAN PG leadership - Ravinder Jarral (Boost Mobile / EchoStar) appointed OpenRAN PG Co-Chair - Thierry Nagellen (Orange) appointed Telco AI PG Co-Chair - Steve Martin (Shasta Cloud) appointed Chair of the OpenLAN PSC
Published Deliverables & Operator Adoption
New OOPT MUST Deliverables: - Optical SDN Controller NBI Technical Requirements v2.1 >>- IP Routers SDN Detailed Technical Requirements v1.2 <View=">View" →="→</a>">
Both deliverables were approved in H1 2025 following successful PG review and validation by TIP’s TVC.
Commercial Deployment: KDDI DDBR: TIP congratulated KDDI and Drivenets on the signing of a strategic partnership agreement that will see DriveNets’ Network Cloud solution deployed in KDDI’s commercial backbone network by the end of FY2025. <Read=">Read" more="more" →="→</a>">
Test & Validation
TIP Awards First Phoenix Gold Badge: In a landmark achievement for open optical networking, NEC Corporation has been awarded TIP’s first-ever Phoenix Gold Badge for its Network Operating System (NOS) for optical transponders. This badge is a key outcome of TIP’s commitment to rigorous, community-driven validation programs and highlights NEC’s compliance with TIP’s technical standards for disaggregated, carrier-grade 400G optical transport networks. Backed by leading operators including NTT, Telia, Telefónica, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and MTN, the Phoenix initiative is accelerating the shift toward open hardware and software in the Optical and IP networking domain. NEC’s NOS, built on open-source software components, stands as a strong proof point of what open innovation can achieve when aligned with operator-driven performance and interoperability requirements.
Celebrating Innovation: Amdocs and NetReply UK Earn Silver Badges for Open RAN Apps: In March, the TIP Test & Validation Council recognized two cutting-edge Open RAN applications with the prestigious Silver Badge, spotlighting their readiness for real-world deployment and alignment with TIP’s performance benchmarks.
Awarded for its intelligent approach to RAN optimization, NetReply UK’s Traffic Steering (TS) xApp dynamically balances traffic across cells to reduce congestion and improve handovers. Validated at the BT Lab on VMware’s RIC platform using VIAVI’s test environment, this AI/ML-powered xApp features:
Real-time load balancing driven by live RAN KPI data
Seamless integration with VMware RIC
KPI-based performance insights
Proactive handover management to avoid network bottlenecks
Amdocs’ Energy Savings Management App Also earning Silver recognition, Amdocs’ Open RAN App uses reinforcement learning to uncover the smartest ways to cut energy consumption without compromising service quality. This policy-led solution supports multiple energy-saving modes, with the current version focused on Carrier & Cell switch on/off — a vital step toward greener networks.These achievements demonstrate the growing maturity of TIP’s Open RAN ecosystem and the industry’s commitment to smarter, more sustainable mobile networks.
Test & Validation Council Expands with New Expertise from Steven Hill of MTN Group Steven is a transport and optical specialist, leading FTTH design, and is active in ETSI, TM Forum, and TIP OOPT. His insights will strengthen TIP’s testing frameworks as the TVC scales to support GenAI, security, and advanced automation validation.
Regional Impact: ARIANE Completion & ARIANE II Launch
TIP’s ambitious ARIANE program successfully concluded in March 2025. This UK DSIT match-funded effort brought together a powerful consortium, including Accenture, Amdocs, Arqit, BT, HCL, Net Reply UK, Viavi, and VMware by Broadcom—to test rAPPs/xAPPs across multiple RIC platforms.
Key outcomes included insights into: • App conflict management and onboarding • O-RAN interface compliance and performance • Security posture in Open RAN • Common APIs for cross-platform portability
Delivered on time and on budget, ARIANE provides critical value for Open RAN automation. Thank you to UK DSIT, the TIP Board, OpenRAN PG Co-Chairs, and all consortium partners for making it possible. >>
Launched in April and running through December 2025, ARIANE II is once again led by TIP, with a refreshed consortium: Arqit, BT, Digital Catapult (SONIC), HCL Technologies, Net Reply UK, and Viavi Solutions.
The program will use the UK-based SONIC testbed to: • Develop and test energy management rAPPs on a Capgemini non-RT RIC • Run simulated and indoor OTA testing • Evaluate security posture using Generative AI
March 19 – UK TIN Connected Reflections: TIP’s Global Head of Engagement, Vishal Mathur, joined members of the ARIANE consortium at the UK TIN "Connected Reflections" event to share insights from the recently completed ARIANE program.
March 31 – OFC 2025, San Francisco: The TIP OOPT Project Group featured joint demonstrations with IOWN Global Forum and OpenROADM MSA, highlighting open optical transport innovation.
April 30 – TIP OpenWiFi Global Summit at Wi-Fi World Congress USA: With over 400 attendees, this summit marked key OpenLAN milestones: - Launch of community-developed Wi-Fi 7 Access Points with AFC support - Over 220,000 OpenWiFi devices deployed (with a projection to exceed 300,000 in 2025) - Expansion of OpenLAN Switching (OLS) portfolio with 15+ new switch SKUs - Announcements around OpenLAN 2.0 governance and PKI 2.0 for security and zero-touch provisioning
May 20–22 – Telco AI at NetworkX Americas: In partnership with NetworkX, TIP hosted a high-impact breakfast session spotlighting the future of Telco AI. The event featured a thought-provoking fireside chat with Rob Soni of AT&T and Kaniz Mahdi of AWS, unpacking the latest advancements and opportunities in the space. This was followed by a lively panel discussion, moderated by TIP CTO Olli Andersson, where leaders from Boost Mobile, Nokia, Telus, and Supermicro shared real-world strategies and implementation insights shaping the Telco AI landscape.
With major product showcases, working sessions, and strategic roundtables, Fyuz25 will be the telecom industry’s essential meeting point this year.
Onward Together
Whether through community collaboration, regional programs, or global deployments, TIP remains steadfast in its mission to accelerate innovation in open and disaggregated networks. We thank our members, partners, and supporters for making the first half of 2025 a success and look forward to what we’ll achieve together in the months ahead.
Join one of our Project Groups to collaborate with Operators, Infrastructure Providers, and Integrators in conceiving new and innovative ways of building and deploying telecom network infrastructure.
