NTT Docomo has begun a commercial multi-vendor Open RAN deployment with Nokia, becoming one of the first major incumbents to run revenue-generating traffic over an open, disaggregated radio access network.

The Japanese operator confirmed the launch via Telecompaper. Nokia supplies radio units and baseband software in the live configuration, sitting alongside equipment from at least one additional vendor that Docomo has not named.

What does "multi-vendor" actually mean?

Open RAN breaks the radio access network, the layer that links a phone to the operator's core, into interoperable components that follow specifications developed by the O-RAN ALLIANCE and the Telecom Infra Project.

A traditional RAN ships from a single supplier. An Open RAN setup lets operators mix radios, baseband and management software from different vendors, provided each piece conforms to the open interfaces.

The multi-vendor qualifier is the harder bar. Two vendors interoperating is engineering work; three or more on the same site introduces timing, scheduling and management overhead that has slowed commercial deployments worldwide.

Where does Nokia fit?

Nokia has spent recent years repositioning its radio business around an anyRAN architecture that lets its AirScale baseband and Habrok massive MIMO radios plug into open environments.

The Docomo contract gives the Finnish vendor a marquee commercial reference in Japan at a moment when European and Asian operators are tendering their next radio cycles. Nokia also gains a commercial counterweight in Asia to the open RAN work Samsung Networks and Mavenir have secured elsewhere in the region.

Why is Docomo the operator to watch?

NTT Docomo has positioned itself as one of the most aggressive Open RAN proponents among tier-one incumbents. The commercial switch reads as the natural endpoint of a multi-year preparation rather than a sudden bet.

Docomo is also Japan's largest mobile operator by subscribers, which gives regulators a national-scale reference point for the technology's readiness. The country's communications ministry has publicly backed Open RAN as part of industrial policy, and a live deployment on the incumbent's footprint sharpens that argument.

What does the rest of the industry read from this?

The deployment will be picked over by procurement teams at Telefonica, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom, all of whom have named Open RAN as part of their network strategies but have not reached commercial multi-vendor operation.

A working reference at Docomo's scale tightens the case for Open RAN capex in their next budget cycles, particularly as operators weigh the cost of vendor lock-in against the integration overhead of disaggregated networks. The commercial weight sits in contrast to most of today's live Open RAN rollouts, which remain single-vendor configurations on 4G anchors.

It also puts pressure on Japan's other two mobile network operators, KDDI and SoftBank, both of whom have run Open RAN trials but have not publicly committed to commercial timelines.

What should we watch next?

Docomo has not disclosed how many sites the Nokia-equipped configuration covers, or whether the deployment extends to 5G standalone or anchors to the 4G core that still carries the bulk of Open RAN traffic worldwide.

Capex commentary in the operator's next earnings release will offer the first read on whether Open RAN spending rises, holds, or retreats from its current level.