Viavi Solutions today announced that Capgemini, a global leader in business and technology transformation, has collaborated with the company through Capgemini Engineering in Portugal to deliver an industry-leading 5G and O-RAN lab test capability, powered by VIAVI’s O-RAN Lab as a Service (LaaS).

The success of 5G open networks depends on both end-to-end performance and core testing. Open networks need to provide the same performance or better than traditional networks for operators to reap the benefits of reduced infrastructure costs, with the added pressure to deliver new functionality faster than ever. Compounding these challenges is the rise of many new entrants in the supply chain, as open networks depend on a diversity of radio types and manufacturers.

To address the burgeoning demand for 5G and O-RAN validation, Capgemini and VIAVI have collaborated to ensure successful network integration in 5G open environments. The VIAVI portfolio of test tools enables comprehensive measurements for the entire network lifecycle, providing functional, system integration and performance testing of gNBs, core networks, core network components and O-RAN subsystems, delivering true end-user QoE visibility.

Commenting on the development, Shamik Mishra, chief technology officer connectivity, Capgemini Engineering, said, “Capgemini is at the forefront of 5G and O-RAN innovation, where testing and maintaining the resilience and performance of an entire network chain is crucial. With an ecosystem of both technology and telecom partners and focus on end-to-end solutions for industries, Capgemini is committed to support our clients to take advantage of the 5G and Edge revolution, driving their data-driven transformation towards Intelligent Industry”. “We chose to team up with VIAVI to ensure we continue to deliver the best service to our clients, augmenting our 5G Lab As A Service capability in Portugal to reduce time to market and mitigate technical and business risks significantly.

Meanwhile, Ian Langley, vice president and general manager, Wireless Business Unit, VIAVI, said, “VIAVI not only delivers comprehensive 5G and O-RAN test solutions to our diverse customer base, we partner to deliver solutions tailored to their needs. Our leading position in testing new open RAN architectures has been achieved thanks to our history and expertise working with manufacturers and operators and in defining benchmarks for how high-performance networks must operate”. “We’re delighted to work alongside Capgemini to validate end-to-end network performance, providing test solutions from RAN to Core.”