Taiwan’s Quanta Cloud and FHnet under Foxconn recently announced that they are development software/hardware integrated solutions under the O-RAN (Open-Radio Access Networks)to jointly explore opportunities in this emerging segment, Commercial Times reported on December 2. Taiwan’s IDB (Industrial Development Bureau) of MoEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs) and the III (Institute for Information Industry) have initiated a kickoff program to build an O-RAN supply chain and established two major taskforces led by Quanta and Foxconn. Under the O-RAN architecture, the barriers of entry for hardware manufacturers will be much lower as they can be the suppliers of base stations and radio access equipment if their products meet specs standards set by O-RAN Alliance.
FHnet has been relocating its production from China to Taiwan since 2018 and these Taiwan-made O-RAN application solutions have been used mainly in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors. Meanwhile, Quanta Cloud has launched different hardware solutions for O-RAN applications and is set to launch a new solution integrated with RF and antennas for base stations by May 2021.