Samsung has secured a role as a key Open RAN partner for Vodafone across Europe.

The Korean vendor announced the partnership this week, just a couple of weeks after being overlooked by VodafoneThree in the UK for a 5G network contract worth $2.7 billion, in favor of Ericsson and Nokia.

Samsung said that it will work with Vodafone to deploy Open RAN across multiple European countries. Vodafone operates in a number of European markets, including the UK, Germany, Spain, and Romania.

The vendor will provide its vRAN offering across multi-generational support across 2G, 4G, and 5G, Open-RAN compliant radios, including Massive MIMO radios, as well as system integration services.

"The companies are advancing AI-friendly and autonomous Open RAN by utilizing software-based architecture. vRAN serves as an optimal foundation for AI, enabling operators to seamlessly integrate AI capabilities into their networks," noted Samsung.

According to Samsung, its vRAN offering can deliver improved energy efficiency, optimized performance, and TCO savings.

Both Vodafone and Samsung have pushed hard on Open RAN deployments in the last few years. Samsung has previously signed Open RAN contracts with Orange, Telus, KDDI, and O2 Telefónica.

Samsung added that its vRAN products provide intelligent automation through its AI-powered Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS).

The company states that this allows Vodafone to have "full observability across lifecycle management of its network from installation."

As part of the partnership between the two companies, Samsung will also deliver its latest radios and software capabilities that support RAN sharing, which can be applied to a diverse variety of spectrum bands, added Samsung.