Samsung and Orange Group are scaling up their virtualized and Open RAN deployment across Europe, moving from pilots to production after three years of testing. The expanded partnership centers on Samsung's AI-powered vRAN running on Intel's latest Xeon 6 processors, a setup that Orange says delivers performance matching or beating traditional network infrastructure while cutting power consumption and enabling edge AI applications on the same hardware handling voice and data traffic.
Samsung just notched a major win in the race to virtualize telecom infrastructure. The company's expanding its partnership with Orange Group, one of Europe's largest carriers, to deploy AI-powered virtualized RAN technology across more sites in 2026. It's a validation that software-defined networks can finally match the reliability telcos demand.
The move marks a shift from pilot to production. Samsung and Orange have been testing vRAN and Open RAN since 2023, and according to Samsung's announcement, the results convinced Orange that virtualized infrastructure delivers "performance maturity and operational effectiveness comparable to or better than those of traditional RAN solutions." That's telecom speak for: it actually works.
What makes this deployment different is the hardware underneath. Samsung's running its vRAN software on Intel's Xeon 6 system-on-a-chip, packed into a single commercial off-the-shelf server from Dell with a cloud platform from Wind River. The setup marks a departure from the specialized, expensive gear that's dominated telecom infrastructure for decades.
The single-server approach isn't just about cost savings. Orange can now handle high-capacity network loads on one box with a smaller physical footprint and lower power consumption than traditional setups. But here's where it gets interesting: Orange can redirect unused computing capacity on that same server to run AI and edge applications. It's infrastructure multitasking, turning cell towers into distributed compute nodes.
"Moving forward to the next chapter of our collaboration with Orange demonstrates how Samsung's software-driven, open solutions are a proven, robust foundation," Angelo Jeongho Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing at Samsung's Networks Business, said in the announcement. "We're committed to advancing virtualized and open platforms as beacons of innovation that can harness AI to meet the high demands of future networks."
Orange's endorsement carries weight. The French telecom giant operates networks across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, serving hundreds of millions of subscribers. Laurent Leboucher, Orange Group's CTO, told Samsung that the virtualized RAN "proved significant performance achievements in Orange's networks," adding that the company looks forward to "accelerating the transformation of Orange's networks to be AI-ready."
The partnership reflects a broader industry shift toward open, software-based network architectures. Traditional RAN systems locked carriers into proprietary hardware from vendors like Ericsson and Nokia. Open RAN and vRAN break that model, letting operators mix and match components from different suppliers and run network functions on standard servers instead of custom gear.
That flexibility matters as networks get more complex. 5G networks need to handle everything from smartphones to industrial IoT devices, each with different latency and bandwidth requirements. AI-powered vRAN can dynamically allocate resources based on demand, something rigid hardware struggles with. And as operators start planning for 6G, having a software-based foundation makes future upgrades easier.
Intel is betting big on this transition. The company's Xeon 6 chips are designed specifically for telecom workloads, with features optimized for the signal processing that network infrastructure demands. By powering Orange's deployment, Intel gets a high-profile reference customer in a market where carrier decisions ripple across the industry.
For Samsung, the Orange expansion builds on momentum in the network equipment space. The company's been a 5G infrastructure player for years, particularly in markets like the U.S. and South Korea, but European carriers have been slower to adopt its gear. A production deployment with Orange could open doors with other European operators watching from the sidelines.
The timing aligns with pressure on European telcos to upgrade aging infrastructure while controlling costs. Energy efficiency is a particular concern - networks account for a significant chunk of carriers' operating expenses, and regulators are pushing for lower carbon footprints. Samsung's claim of reduced power consumption with its vRAN setup addresses both issues.
But challenges remain. Open RAN and vRAN have faced skepticism from some operators worried about integration complexity and whether virtualized systems can handle peak traffic loads without hiccups. Orange's willingness to expand beyond pilots suggests those concerns are easing, at least for this deployment. Still, the real test comes when these systems run at scale across thousands of sites handling millions of users.
The partnership also highlights how AI is becoming embedded in network infrastructure, not just running on top of it. Samsung's vRAN uses AI to optimize radio resource allocation in real time, adjusting to changing traffic patterns without human intervention. That's different from carriers simply offering AI services to customers - it's AI baked into how the network operates.
"From our first call for the pilot project to our current phase in the field, Samsung's virtualized RAN and Open RAN have proved significant performance achievements," Leboucher said in the statement. The progression from test to deployment took three years, a timeline that reflects both the complexity of telecom infrastructure and carriers' caution when swapping out critical systems.
What happens next will be watched closely. If Orange's expanded deployment runs smoothly, expect other European carriers to accelerate their own vRAN plans. If problems emerge, it could slow the industry's shift away from traditional infrastructure. For now, Samsung and Intel have a showcase deployment that pushes virtualized networks closer to mainstream adoption.
Samsung and Orange's expanded vRAN deployment represents a pivotal moment for software-defined telecom infrastructure. After years of pilots and skepticism, a major European carrier is betting that virtualized networks can deliver the reliability and performance that voice and data traffic demand, while adding AI capabilities and energy efficiency that legacy hardware can't match. If the rollout succeeds, it accelerates the industry's shift toward open, flexible network architectures. If it stumbles, traditional vendors get ammunition to defend their proprietary systems. Either way, the move from test labs to production networks marks the moment when vRAN graduates from promising technology to infrastructure operators trust with real traffic.
