Is Open RAN Finally Crossing the Urban Massive MIMO Barrier?
Early February brought an announcement that deserves far more attention than it received.
The highlights – “1Finity will deploy 32T32R massive MIMO radios across Rakuten Mobile’s network in Japan. These radios run on Qualcomm’s QRU100 chipset, are Open RAN compliant, and are being positioned as passively cooled for energy efficiency and long-term reliability.”
Another day, another Open RAN press release!
Only it isn’t.
Massive MIMO in dense urban environments stresses Open RAN. Rural deployments are no big deal, suburban infill is still manageable. Urban macro is where the real spectral pressure can unravel architectures.
In a recent discussion with Heikki Almay, we explored whether this marks a structural inflection point.
What makes this different?
Simple. Macro massive MIMO at scale! Earlier Open RAN wins are more about conventional radio units as part of broader modernization efforts.
Dense urban macro is a whole new cup of tea:
- High traffic density demands high spectral efficiency and precise beamforming.
- Fronthaul loads in Cloud RAN environments can increase dramatically.
- Power efficiency acquires a whole new level of criticality.
Naturally, if 1Finity performs well here, one can now legitimately claim, “Open RAN can handle prime time.”
But there is a catch. That is NEC’s exit.
NEC’s decision to exit the 4G/5G business created a vacuum for Rakuten Mobile, Inc. , which had previously worked with NEC Corporation for massive MIMO.
Talk about making a virtue out of necessity, sort of!
The Passive Cooling Angle
Passive cooling isn’t rocket science. While it may sound impressive, it isn’t revolutionary by any stretch.
RUs have used passive cooling for years – its easy to see why. Fan lifetimes on rooftops (where most RUs are) are adversely affected by dust, heat, and access complexity. Due to these factors active cooling unattractive in macro deployments.
In the excitement surrounding passive cooling, we are missing the dark horse - energy efficiency.
You see, in massive MIMO, cooling arrangements account for roughly half the physical mass of the unit. There is thus a direct correlation between higher power consumption and more aluminum, more weight, more installation constraints.
It is almost compulsory for new generations to deliver 30–50 percent improvements over prior iterations to remain competitive. And they must be at least on par with Ericsson and Nokia to even be considered.
This is a challenging ask. How might 1Finity achieve it?
Most likely from silicon – enter Qualcomm.
Qualcomm: The Quiet Strategic Lever
The QRU100 chipset in particular, and Qualcomm in general, may be the most important elements in this story.
The silicon landscape looks pretty grim right now. There has been a quiet consolidation. Several general-purpose vendors have shifted focus towards greener pastures – read AI markets. Why would anyone look at custom RAN silicon development – especially when the overall RAN market is flat!
Quite eerily, the RAN silicon landscape is beginning to resemble the RAN OEM landscape!
Against this backdrop, Qualcomm’s macro entry is significant. It provides a reliable, general-purpose, state-of-the-art Layer 1 platform. Significantly, it reduces reliance on FPGA-heavy architectures. It also provides a credible performance baseline for integrators.
Against the backdrop of major player exits, QRU100 looks more like a bonanza.
In essence, Qualcomm’s presence certainly reduces perceived technical uncertainty for operators evaluating Open RAN macro deployments.
What This Means for 1Finity
This contract is more than a sales order for the Fujitsu subsidiary – it’s a calling card, embellishing it with a live macro deployment in a national network, Cloud RAN integration experience at scale and somewhat stealthily a domestic proving ground to refine the product.
So far, so good. Some questions remain though
- Can they expand beyond 32T32R into 64T64?
- Can they support multiple frequency band combinations?
- Can they build the portfolio breadth that incumbents rely on?
Answers to these questions are pivotal to bridging the gap between 1Finity and incumbents like Ericsson and Nokia.
And What About 1&1?
Rakuten Mobile happened in 2026. In 2023, there was 1&1 Germany.
Often described as Europe’s largest Open RAN deployment, 1&1 has around 12 million subscribers. Impressive, you would think. But much of that base still relies on national roaming. Owned infrastructure footprint continues to remain modest compared to Deutsche Telekom or O2.
One should remember that1&1’s architecture choices were shaped by timing and the early optimism around Open RAN’s projected market share gains.
In this context, it is reasonable to question if multiple vendors are slowing 1&1.
The financial logic behind multi-vendor Open RAN is sound net-net:
- Lower Capex through negotiation and diversification – a positive
- Potentially higher integration Opex – a challenge
- Depreciation savings offsetting operational complexity – a positive again
Translating this net positive in theory to tangible gains in practice requires technical competence and most importantly, tolerance for vendor volatility. Only and only then, Open RAN can make sense.
Should Ericsson and Nokia Be Worried?
There is no existential threat. That worry is overblown. They have bigger problems:
RAN market is flat
AI and data center investments is gulping all capital
One can see the visible impact in Nokia publicly pivoting toward AI and data center opportunities. Ericsson, the conservative one, continues doubling down on radio and antenna differentiation.
Cloud RAN with O-RAN interfaces is increasingly becoming the norm, is an evolution, not a revolution.
Thus Open RAN macro progress is structurally relevant, but not disruptive, just yet.
So Is This the Moment?
It is a milestone, no doubt. Requires 1Finity can replicate success outside Japan and demonstrate sustained performance in high-density urban environments to become a watershed.
Until then, the banana may still be slightly green!
Published on: February 24, 2026
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