- The Open RAN Policy Coalition is closing up shop, a source told Fierce Network
- The organization formed to promote policies that advanced the adoption of open and interoperable open RAN solutions
- Coalition members include major companies, including AMD, DT, Intel, Nokia, NTT, Qualcomm, among others
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2026, BARCELONA — The Open RAN Policy Coalition is shutting its doors, a source told Fierce Network late Sunday at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona.
The coalition formed to promote policies that advanced the adoption of open and interoperable solutions in the radio access network (RAN). They believed in open protocols and interfaces between RAN components — and perhaps most importantly, a modular network design without the dependence on a single vendor.
The Open RAN Policy Coalition's membership consists of global technology companies, such as: 1Finity, Airspan, AMD, Analog Devices, AT&T, Auray, Broadcom, CHT, Ciena, Cisco, Cohere Technologies, Compal, DeepSig, Deutsche Telekom, DISH Network, Federated Wireless, Google, G REIGNS, HPE, Intel, JMA Wireless, Kyrio, Metanoia, MTI, NEC Corporation, Nokia, NTT, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Quanta Cloud Technology, Radisys, Rakuten Symphony, Reliance Jio, Samsung Electronics America, T-Mobile, US Ignite, Verizon, Vodafone, Wind River, and Wistron NeWeb Corp., according to the membership page on the group's website.
The move may be unsurprising to some considering the current state of open RAN, which is either going nowhere or still happening, depending on who you talk to.
Ericsson and Nokia, the vendors that the coalition was trying to work around, are now driving the work. And ironically, Nokia is a member of the coalition.
In fact, at Nokia's press and analyst event today, CEO Justin Hotard said: "We continue to be extremely committed to open RAN." Nokia's Chief Technology and AI Officer Pallavi Mahajan said she thought open RAN and AI-RAN are "very complementary."
"Everyone thinks they are two different things. They are not," she said.
Despite that, the future of open RAN remains unknown.
Fierce Network reached out to Diane Rinaldo, executive director of the Open RAN Coalition, for a comment on the report, and will update the story when we hear back.
Update: Rinaldo told Fierce that the organization is transferring operations over to an unspecified think tank.
“I informed the board [in] early 2025 that I was going to step back at the end of the year,” she told Fierce via email, noting that the National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) announced a fourth Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for open RAN. “Still immense interest within the government and industry.”
“I’ll still be involved with the policy aspect and the think tank will handle day-to-day operations,” she said.
Read all of our coverage from Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona here.